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?

Liz Fogarty

Owning your own business is the best and hardest at the same time. Even though having my own business allows me to have all the flexibility in the world, sometimes I find myself checking email 24/7 and working all nonstop. So I had to set boundaries, specially when it comes to social media since we need it to grow our businesses. If I am honest, sometimes I do wonder what it is like to have a job where I can clock in and clock out and leave work at work. Because I care so much about my business and clients, it’s so hard to turn my mind off sometimes. But I am extremely happy having my own business. I can block off months I need off and have flexibility during the week to spend time with my kids. And after doing this for over a decade, there is no way I can ever go back to having a boss. Read more>>

Hasan Jafri

I really enjoy being a business owner. It brings me great joy to wake up everyday and work in a family business. We are constantly trying to innovate and change but all the innovation and change that is done in the business needs to support our mission which is to bring the best products and best service to our clients without sacrificing on quality in either of those facets. I do wonder what I would be doing if I were not in the family business. My favorite thing about this business is people and product. I enjoy working with everyone in the process from the weaver all the way down to the client and everyone in between. Read more>>

Whitney Gladden

That is a daily battle I have truthfully. The independence, sense of accomplishment and community I have built are like no other-but the never ending grind is grueling. I am a wedding planner, I work in a high emotions world. It is what drew me to it to begin with. The fact that I get to be a part of peoples “once in a lifetime moments”, gives an emotional payoff I cannot begin to describe. I help craft the best day of someones life. With that comes expectations from clients, and I unfortunately am constantly dehumanized in a lot of ways. Boundaries crossed. Once I had my son I really had a wake up call to how I am viewed. I hid my pregnancy out of fear that my clients would be upset and think I couldn’t do my job. Read more>>

Laverne Amara

Yes, I am happy as a business owner – but it’s a different kind of happiness, than one might experience when working a traditional job – it’s rooted in passion and endless possibility. Launching NVLX Labs has required me to lead with creativity and resourcefulness; there’s no manual, no checklist, no blueprint- for how to grow a clean beauty brand from scratch. Read more>>