The Entrepreneurial Spirit

We love public libraries. My youngest grandbaby, when asked by her mom what she wanted to do on Thursday of this week, requested they go to the library. I love that my kids and grand kids love books. Because I love books, of course. One of the books they brought home is “Start Your Crafting Business.” Our six year old picked it out, and it’s written for children, so I was intrigued and read through it (I had to bargain to do this by pumping up another book called “Making Your Own Paper” to get her to read that one so I could have first dibs on the starting your own business book. Abuela’s are crafty like that. Um. Pun unintended, actually).

We’re also a very crafty family (literal crafts, not sneaky). Our dining room table has to be cleared for dinner, or if we’re really invested in a project and don’t want it to be moved, we all eat in the living room, which I know isn’t supposed to be good for a family but hey! Needs must sometimes. I had a grandmother who was crafty. She always had a project going on, and she always taught me whatever she was working on…sewing, crocheting, tatting, making weird tabletop thingys that looked like bunches of grapes but were made from glass balls…does anyone else remember the 70’s? She taught me how to make sock dolls, and Barbie clothes, I mean, the projects were endless. She had 13 siblings and every year all of her sisters came to stay with her, and they had a week-long craft binge. I was always invited, of course.

My sister and I had a thriving craft business when our kids were pre-school age. We made tiny sculptures and jewelry from clay and sold them around the country at craft shows, to stores, and we had a storefront for a while. I made more money with that business than I had when I was teaching at a public school. One of the ways I paid for college was by painting plastic drinking mugs and selling them at craft fairs. I would set up a card table outside of my parents’ booth (yep. My dad was an artist that worked in wood. He called it his ulcer medicine, because he had a high pressure ‘real’ job, and making art and then traveling to craft shows was a stress reliever for him), or sometimes I flew solo and just talked a craft show manager into letting me set up with a minimal or no fee. I bought plastic mugs from Target and then whatever people asked me to paint on their mug, I did so with some very unforgiving paint that stuck to the plastic even in a dishwasher. I painted a name and then whatever they’d asked for, like bunnies or horses or their school mascot or a tractor (we were in rural Texas, ya’ll). I also sold these in my dorm. I made more money with that business than I did with my part time office gig.

When I was reading my baby’s library book, I felt the same excitement I did as a kid. I was literally the kid on the block who put together plays by roping in the neighborhood kids, put them on in the backyard, and charged a quarter to attend (I recognized that parents will always pay to see their kids perform). Once I wrote a parody of Laugh In (anyone else remember the 70’s?), and the neighbor boys, Steve and Kelly, sat on top of our shared cinder block fence, refusing to pay, and my dad got up and gave each of them a quarter and told them to pay or go inside. I had my own bouncer at the age of 8. I’ve owned a variety of businesses off and on throughout my lifetime, sometimes while I was working my career as an educator and sometimes in between education gigs because I was burned out and needed a break. Most of them were successful. I mean, I never made millions, but that was never the point of any business I launched. I always made ample profit, sometimes sold the business for a profit, sometimes just packed it all up because I was ready to move on, once sold out quickly because what I thought was going to be fun I actually hated (owning rental properties is not for me), but every business launch served its purpose and fed my entrepreneurial spirit.

And yet, if you ask me about owning a business, I’ll probably tell you that I’m not really good at it. That’s the crazy tape that’s in my own head. It’s just fear talking, I know. Launching a full-time business is different from launching a side gig. I’ve done both, a few times, so I know. Full-time entrepreneuring is a hustle. You’re everything…sales, marketing, product designer, product maker, accountant, and chief bottle washer. You can’t show up to work and do a lot of nothing and still get a paycheck. It’s not for the faint of heart.

My little one wanted the library book because my daughter has decided we’re going to dive in and get a booth at one or two of the fiber craft shows we attend in our area. This decision is a little bit about her stay-at-home-mom spirit needing a purpose outside of mommying, a little bit about wanting to make some extra cash, and a lot about the fact that our crafting is prolific, and the house is filling up with our handiwork. Our six year old already has the business bug, and I love that about her. As I think back on my own career, I realize that I was born with an entrepreneurial spirit, and my parents encouraged it to a point, but they also wanted my sister and I to have stable incomes, and as children of the 70’s, that meant getting married so we had two incomes and having a job like being a teacher, which never goes out of style, and pays a modicum living wage. To my parents, that was safe, and they wanted us to be safe.

With my children, I tried to encourage them to find whatever pathway was right for them. And with our grands, we’re doing the same. If you want to sell stuff, though, you need to have a business plan. So at six, we’re encouraging our little one to be excited about sharing her art with the world while having a plan to do it.

Yesterday I took a break and just read a book. Ok, well, I finished one book, then read the afore-mentioned library book, then read another one. The third one was Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Happy Life. I read it before, but for a specific work-related reason. I read it yesterday for myself. Ikigai translates to English, roughly, as “reason for being.” I teach students and clients about ikigai as it relates to finding a career pathway that they love, are good at, is needed, and can get paid for. I re-read the book because it covers so much more about spending our days being busy at what makes us happy. Or being happy with what keeps us busy. Either way.

I decided, yesterday, that as I read my baby’s library book, I have always been an entrepreneur, and my ikigai is creating…art, curriculum, experiences, stories, blogs…and when I step away from that or am prevented from doing it, my spirit takes a hit. I’m deleting the tape in my head that makes me doubt that I’m good at owning a business. I know I am, as long as the nature of the business follows my ikigai. Being true to my reason for being is the key.

Maybe being a business owner is your pathway and maybe not. Whatever your ikigai is, I hope you find it and then get busy at it every day. If you want to hear a little bit more about using the ikigai framework to find your career pathway, I wrote more about it in December, which you can find here.

I also do professional development sessions around discovering or rediscovering your passion for your work, and I can do a bit of coaching too, if you need that. Contact me here, if you need me or want to just chat.

Cheers, and happy Easter Sunday to any of you who are celebrating today. Spring is upon us, methinks. :)