When times are good it’s easy to feel like entrepreneurship is the only path for you, but what about the times when your hit with multiple crises at once? We wondered if all entrepreneurs have moments when they wonder whether they should have gone with (or stuck to) a more standard job where they worked for someone else.

Alonna Davis.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a business owner. Besides motherhood it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also very rewarding. I’ve been a business owner going on three years. We started our business at the start of the pandemic, not knowing what to expect with the world shutting down. At the time, I had been in real estate for about 4 years but I also had a full time job as a project manager. I walked away from my full time job in February 2020 to be a full time realtor and open the brokerage 30 days before the shut down. Read more>>

Eddie Talley

I began my legal career as a prosecutor. During law school I traveled around the U.S. participating in mock trial competitions and trying cases. However, my love for honing my trial skills to become a great trial attorney did not come from trying cases in a “make believe” world with far-fetched facts, but from the very real reality of learning that African Americans make up only 13.6% of the U.S. population but 38% of the U.S. prison population. This statistic shocked my conscience and propelled me into action. Read more>>

Jackson Henderson

I think about being an employee of a large music label instead of being a label owner almost every day. It would be way less stressful and much less work for me to do. I am so proud of how far I’ve come with my business partner Ryan Olson, and I have to continuously have to remind myself of what I’ve done. I believe I have accomplished everything that most people only dream of in a very short period of time. Read more>>

Tony Milian

For several years I worked in the corporate world. It definitely had it’s perks like a steady paycheck, insurance, predictability. I had achieved what I had set out to do, I went to university as the first born from immigrant parents and became the first engineer in the family. I used my degree daily in my corporate career. However, I was unfulfilled, I felt it in my heart. There was a gnawing idea that I could create something from nothing and begin to control my destiny by starting my own business.  Read more>>

Mikayla Elrod

I am very happy as a business owner. I ofter say that I was a terrible employee because I went through PTO like it was candy and called in every chance I could. I have absolutely thought about what life would be like if I had a regular job. The last time I had this thought was actually this week. It was Monday, November 7th. The day was absolutely beautiful. Bright blue skies and around 66 degrees. Now November is the start of my “slow season” because I have no wedding schedule, however November should really not be considered apart of my slow season because I have all of the edit from the weddings I had during September and October that I have to catch up on. Read more>>

Elyse Valdes.

I am extremely happy and grateful to be a business owner, but I’d be lying if I said I never thought of going the conventional route. When I was in college at Florida International University, I struggled with deciding my career path. I always knew my true passion, but I was afraid of what others might think. What if the business fails? What if people talk badly about me? What if I wasn’t successful? Read more>>

Julia Gates.

It’s easy for us small business owners to attach our identities to the success and progress of the business. Since so much time, money, and energy is dedicated to this work, burn-out is extremely common and sometimes it feels like we can’t catch a break. The only times I find myself regretting my decision to invest my everything into a small business are when there are plateaus or it feels like nothing is working in my favor. Otherwise, I don’t have time to think about what could be or what should have been. Small business owners have to constantly search and latch on to any opportunity we get. Read more>>

Max Born.

I tell my wife quite often these days, that it might be better for me to go back and find a job. My last position was six-figures, with a lush office and awesome team to lead. I was Vice President, with a comfortable and stable job in a growing company. I had 401k, health insurance, but a strict schedule and fast-paced environment. I was responsible for food safety audits, which could make or break many of our client relationships with national brands. Read more>>

Sarah Toulan.

Being a business owner has it’s ups and downs. Owning a business means you are your own source of motivation to keep the business growing. It also means freedom and plenty of space to create your own vision that fulfills your purpose. This freedom doesn’t come for free though. Unlike having a regular job, owning a business does not offer financial stability on the get go or a structure on how to do things. It sometimes becomes a struggle to keep going when things gets tough; but these are also the exact times when you realize your own strength, conviction and potential. Read more>>

Alicia McKie.

To be honest, the idea of being a business owner was always terrifying for me. To this day the title makes me uncomfortable. But Covid was the first time that I really thought to myself “Is this really what I want?” The pressure of leading a team of women, constantly trying to scale your business, uploading a quality experience for your customers all of it can be overwhelming and overbearing. Read more>>

Rick Byrd

Being a business owner is really all I ever imagined being. When I attended school for architecture and interior design at MICA in Baltimore, I worked for a general contractor learning the trade. I saw the challenges he faced every day. And even then, I knew what I had to offer the world was different and I would never truly be happy working for anyone but myself. Read more>>

Alanna Fulford

Being a business owner comes with a lot of ups and downs. Within that, I believe that happiness comes from understanding your WHY for being a business owner. For me, it’s not because I enjoy being a hairstylist, it’s being able to enjoy the freedom of setting my own schedule, making the rules, and being able to set the tone for the lifestyle I want to have. The feeling of wanting to go back to a “regular” hasn’t happened for me in a very long time, well over 5 years ago. Read more>>

Valeria Martinez

Yes, I am much happier being a business owner! Although it always hasn’t been that way. I’m a mom of 2 beautiful smart girls. Being an Event Stylist my work consists of working weekends. There were many times especially in the beginning of my journey, when I was trying to figure out time management, I thought to myself I could just go back to work and work the necessary hours go home and leave work at work. At the beginning I had to work during the week to get things prepared, getting supplies, waking up early and going to bed late, then to just work all weekend, come back home clean and repeat. Read more>>

Shelah Salazar

I love being a business owner. I got to create my dream work environment. I wanted The Style Studio to be the opposite of my experience working in a corporate salon setting. I try to never make my staff feel like I’m their “Boss”, we are a team and I do my best to be a good leader and mentor for them. I also wanted a environment that feels relaxing and welcoming for our customers, not a rushed environment like I had when I was working in a chain salon. I may work 24/7 now but to answer your questions, I definitely do not think of working a “regular” job ever again. Read more>>

Devin Brinkley

I AM happier as a business owner because I have the ability to make my own schedule, work from anywhere in the world, or not work at all. I have control over which clients and projects I take on, if my workload is too much, and when I wrap up for the day. Don’t get me wrong, there are times that things get slow and I have considered going back to a full-time corporate job. Read more>>

Meg Christian

In a short answer, 100,000% yes. I am so incredibly passionate about my craft and I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like had I taken another path. However, this is such a layered question for me and I feel that a vast amount of fellow Business Owners out in the world will be able to relate. Read more>>