What even is a “regular” job? Semantics aside, the heart of our question is about those moments when the stress of entrepreneurship is mounting – do you ever sit back and wonder what if you had just been working for someone else, what life would have been like without all the stress?
Zarie Baker
Being a business owner is not for the faint of heart! It takes a lot to build and maintain a business. I’m proud to say that on July 29, 2024, I will celebrate five years in business. Woohoo! For the past year, I’ve been working full-time as an entrepreneur. There were many times I considered scaling back and returning to a regular job for financial stability. At the beginning of 2024, I faced months of piling bills, low funds, and the threat of car repossession. However, I reminded myself of the benefits of self-employment, such as flexibility and working directly with my students and their families. I don’t have to deal with toxic workplaces or tasks I dislike. These reflections motivate me to continue my entrepreneurial journey and enhance my networking by attending events to showcase my services and products. To maintain cash flow while keeping my business a priority, I decided to take on part-time jobs that allow me to stay flexible. Read more>>
Marshecka Rodgers
When I reflect on my journey from a regular job to becoming a business owner, it’s clear how different the two experiences are. In my regular job, I found satisfaction in my work, but there was an underlying frustration that often went unnoticed. Despite my dedication and willingness to go above and beyond, my efforts were rarely appreciated. Instead, this extra mile was often perceived as a weakness or an opportunity for others to take advantage of my hard work. This made me feel undervalued and taken for granted. Read more>>
Arica Sutherland
Prior to starting our maple syrup company, I was a Dental Assistant for about 5 years and soon after getting married and having a baby. We realized that it would be best if I stayed home with the kids. We have a total of 3 kids! That was my job being an at home parent. We started out making maple syrup as a family, which soon turned into a business. I love having a job that I can walk right out my front door! No commute time. So, yes I would say I am happier being a business owner. I can set my own schedule, take vacation when I want and be home when I want. Read more>>
Gerald Bakasa
I have at times thought about giving it all up and going to do something “regular” but I’ve done that before and it showed me that I’m quite the ‘irregular’ individual.
Before I gave up on trying to fit my rounded self into a square hole, I used to work at a family restaurant and do creative work on the side. I’d show up late, thinking about making paintings all day instead of tending a bar for a living. It drove me crazy, honestly. I couldn’t get all these ideas out of my head and I found myself sketching behind the bar when it was a bit quiet. One night when the bar was really quiet, I was sketching as usual and two of my managers saw. After admiring my work for a bit, one asked me “What are you doing behind a bar?” Read more>>
Jessy Gregg
I often joke that as a self employed person I have a terrible boss. She’s got such unrealistic expectations about what I can get done in a day, and I haven’t had a raise in years!
Of course that boss is me and I only have my self to blame. I do sometimes think longingly of a job that I can leave at the office, of tasks that don’t follow me home at the end of the day. Read more>>
Melinda King
I haven’t always been a business owner, I have worked for “The Man” as well. I held jobs as a front desk receptionist for dental office, copier sales, education department for a big box hobby store and photographer for a retail portrait studio company. I never enjoyed working for someone else who dictated my time – off, when I would see my loved ones for the holidays and would control my earning potential. Read more>>
Ana Trsic
I’ve worked 11 years climbing the corporate ladder and 3 years running my small business, and only 6 months of that full-time. The biggest difference between the two is that you’re either working for someone else’s dreams with their rules, direction, and time or doing it all for yourself. For me, I learned quickly that working for myself led to happiness. I was always a high achiever wanting to exceed goals and impress everyone thinking that would lead to faster promotions and salary increases, but that’s not always the case. More often than not, high achievers are rewarded with more work in the corporate world. Which only leads to more anxiety and stress because, of course, I wanted to always be the best at my job. Read more>>
Stefanie Castro
I am Stefani-Nicole Castro. I started my career as a Makeup Artist at 15 years old. With dreams and aspirations of being a prominent Makeup Artist, I started working on a makeup portfolio by trading services with photography students from a local art academy. During these collaborations I was expected to do makeup, hair, Read more>>
Hilary Smiley
I am so happy because I love what I do. Not a lot of people get to wake up and feel passionate about their career. I am my own boss so I have complete creative freedom and control in my job. I can take time off if I want to, no need to submit a request to my boss. I control my schedule and work when I want and make my own prices. Sure there are days where I get stressed and burnt out like anyone else. Clients cancel, running out of the color you need, or those weeks where everything feels like it going wrong and you’re taking hit after hit. Those days I sometimes question if I want to continue doing this for the next 20 years and how nice it would be sometimes to have a regular 9-5 where I sit at a desk and clock in somewhere. Always having nights and weekends free to spend with your friends and family. I love my job too much to ever change careers though. I wake up excited to go to work everyday. I get to be creative and am constantly inspired by things that I’m able to incorporate into my work. Being a hair stylist is what I feel I was meant to do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Read more>>
Colby Smith
I’m tremendously grateful and happy to be a business owner! I’ve been on both sides of the fence and I’d choose to be a business owner 10 out of 10 times. Some of the key differentiating factors between being a business owner and have a “regular job” are 1) Stability 2) Responsibility 3) Freedom. Read more>>
Maggie van Galen
I am definitely where I’m meant to be as an entrepreneur. The one thing I’d always been envious of was people who had a craft or skill that allowed them to work from anywhere. My career path as been similar to that of a cat, but with more lives! With 20+ years working for others in everything from journalism, IT sales, marketing, sponsorship, office manager at an HVAC company, to ski instructor and waitress, my biggest lesson learned was that, although I was good at my job, I never really enjoyed being told what to do. My “aha moment” came when I realized writing was my craft, and I’d always had it and could utilize it to support myself. I was fortunate enough to be able to leave the corporate world and stay at home with my boys, which eventually led me to where I am today. I took all of the lessons learned working for others, being a mom, and managing the household and applied them all to to my own business. This career path is not easy, but it’s totally worth it! I suppose the upside of having a regular job is that someone else has to take on all the pain and suffering (so to speak) of running the company, and you do get some semblance of security. In the end, no, I don’t wonder what it ‘d be like to have a “regular job”, because I’ve had many, and I prefer to do it myself and on my own terms. Readmore>>