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?

Kiki Behr

First, let me say—I absolutely love being a business owner. The freedom to shape my own schedule, to steer the business in whatever creative direction I choose, and to build a strong, supportive team is something I truly cherish. Watching my team grow and succeed alongside me is one of the most fulfilling parts of what I do. Read more>>

David Hercenberg

What is happiness? Happiness is the emotional state of feeling fulfilled and I can honestly say that working with a camera has brought me and my clients a sense of happiness and purpose. Being at the right place at the right time to capture a specific moment allows me to document life and in that process I am able to tap into my creative energy as well as capture something nobody else in the world is able to capture, because it’s happening at a specific moment. It’s a limited time, maybe once in a lifetime opportunity which creates a lot of pressure to deliver. However, after doing this line of work for 20 years I know the struggle and it’s something I welcome with open arms, because it makes me happy. Read more>>

Joanne Hanson

After being let go from my corporate job as a Marketing Director in 2022, along with my entire department, it reminded me how dispensable we are when working for others. At the end of the day, however hard we work, however well we perform, we’re just a number on the expense sheet.

I’d always wanted to work for myself and start my own business, but it’s hard to leave a comfortable job, with great salary and benefits. So when I was getting nowhere in my (half-hearted) search for another corporate job that I honestly didn’t want, I decided to make the jump into starting my own business. Read more>>

Sally Bunting

Oh, absolutely—I love what I do, but I’d be lying if I said I never wonder what it would be like to have a regular job.

The last time that thought really hit me was a few months ago during one of those overwhelming weeks where everything seemed to pile up at once. I had multiple deadlines for galleries, commissions stacking up, an art show approaching, and on top of that, my kids were sick. I remember standing in my studio late at night, exhausted, trying to finish a painting that just wasn’t coming together. My hands were covered in paint, my inbox was overflowing, and I had a moment where I thought, Wouldn’t it be nice to just clock in and out of a job, get a steady paycheck, and not have to juggle a million things at once? Read more>>

Alex Costa

Honestly, I’m incredibly happy being a business owner. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had, hands down, but it’s also the most rewarding. You are in command of your own destiny and you get to forge your own path. Of course, that means if I don’t put in the work, things don’t happen, and failure just isn’t an option when you’ve got a family relying on you. But what I’m most grateful for is the flexibility. Being self-employed means I can be there for my wife and kid when they need me. If they need me to drop everything, I can, and that’s something you just don’t get working for someone else. Read more>>