Being a 21st Century Entrepreneur
Waking up everyday and not knowing my entire schedule has been my life norm for a little over 15 years. I have prided myself on being an Entrepreneur because my drive has always been to succeed at working for myself and figuring out the best way to do that. By starting out my brand InsideKT as a handle on Instagram I was able to showcase my writing and personal creative talent as well as link my new businesses to my already growing following. I have an immense passion for the screen and acting, but when the covid pandemic halted life I took more to modeling, writing and reeducating myself on how to live life in a different dynamic. While having my own small businesses has yet to bring me financial freedom, I welcome their ability to teach me how to manage my time while allowing me to meet all kinds of people to inspire and motivate along the way. I am working now at making InsideKT a cross platform brand that can carry all I do and hopefully make room for a ton of future events that include products and public speaking. This focus is where I’ve ultimately centered after a long history of entrepreneurial experimentation.
Speaking of exposure, I’m sure I can equate a ton of human interaction to my part as sporting host for Toursport Toronto as well. While this company was seasonally paired alongside football and hockey, it gave me the chance four months out of the year to make epic networking connections and bring home some great cash. It was the “side gig” for over a decade and it’s long days and drunken escapades leave me with not so inspiring memories you could only imagine seeing on TV. I met tons of people, watched a lot of football and quickly grew to getting used to having a USD savings account for vacation excursions. This gig quickly grew to be one I looked forward to every year and the exact same one I wanted to escape right before covid-19 rolled into town.
I suppose by now you’re considering my “diversity” to be all over the map and truly, it has been for many years. This array of random scheduling, scattered events and last minute bookings has been the wake of my existence all the while carving out the humanity in who I am today.I mean it seems almost impossible to imagine my life without small business or side gigs in some aspect of it. I love bringing great service to my local community and engaging in creative outlets but I found myself over the years gaining an awareness for the fact that working hard doesn’t always necessarily mean you’re working smart or filling your pockets.
It would only seem natural then, that I would eventually turn my future branding into some level of product I could market or sell. Lofty Events was providing a service, but it quickly exposed me to another market of creative ability that could even be cross marketed to these same clientele and possibly give me another outlet to earn. Enter, Mason Jar Moments.
Rewind a couple of years ago to when I attended a local networking event to bring together small business entrepreneurs. Motivated by seeing others my age creating their own personal freedom, I was inspired to ensure I stopped at nothing to succeed at working for myself, whatever the cost may be. This very past weekend I got a taste of that cost once again while I experienced my very first local vendor market for Valentine’s Day 2022 with Mason Jar Moments.
It seemed exciting and lots of work as the cost of outputting an entire table of products for this market started to build. Bringing fresh floral bouquets and candy arrangements to life I was able to create a host of love themed, beautiful bouquets ready to sell for the rush. And rush it was not! All I sold was candy and not a single fresh flower bouquet! The market was a total tank and I mean TOTAL. I had to completely detach from the fact that this venue did a terrible job at marketing this event to the public and I would probably make no ROI. The very first time I put my new business out for success and I was met with resistance from the universe. Needless to say, my personal resources always save my ass and I was able to sell off the rest of my product by Valentine’s morning strictly by knowing the right people. Years of connections and good impressions will do that, so I advise keeping it human wherever you roam. You never know when knowing the right people will be just one call or sale away.
I am a big believer in signs. That ultimately we have some greater force guiding us and that sometimes it steps in at moments we need to be shifted to realize that this section of what we thought the bread and butter to be, may very well just be a creative hobby that shouldn’t take up the majority of my time. Mason Jar Moments is the ultimate in maker freedom for me. It allows me to invent products, showcase gift ideas and ultimately provide everything from simple bouquets to wedding centerpiece ideas that I never even imagined possible. It is the clay I can mold whenever I need to just break off from the seriousness of life and bring others a little more joy with flowers and candy. The return in smiles and customer reviews are enough of a payback to know that whatever creative outlet I choose to touch can seemingly turn to gold if I want it too, return on investments or not.
This extravagant way of Entrepreneurial living will never be for the faint of heart. I know it isn’t motivating to hear but it is wise to come built with the thick skin it takes to accept rejection and detach from outcomes if this is the way of life you lead. I’m unsure if I came built this way or it just formed over the years, protecting me from everything outside my exterior because giving you the breakdown of what I do is just a start to understanding why I function this way. Or maybe why I chose to 360 mid-30s and completely change directions by going back to school. What doesn’t work for me becomes apparent very easily and I listen closely to my happiness. Maybe this reality hasn’t dealt me the richest of outcomes but it has taught me to go with the flow and to forever stand tall in confidence knowing I honored that which was true to me.
Creating bouquets and serving beers might not be what’s for you. Caring for overly drunk people takes a level of patience I wasn’t born with and after all these years I wonder if post-pandemic life will return me to those coachlines and crazy parties, serving out the public once again or if I’ll shelve what I’ve known and allow a new wave to rise.
It is this reflection that gives me faith that I know what I’m doing, that eventually a spark will come so bright that I won’t even recognize it when it hits. All the pieces of my hard work inspiring along the way will click together and the world as I know it will shift. Mason Jar Moments and Lofty Events staffing service are simple steps on this staircase of my life. There are too many of us in this world that are just ok with being ok, but that definitely isn’t me. If you’re still reading this and made it through this far then it will be motivating to hear that you probably have the ability to read a heck of a lot more to help catapult you into a different reality too. Don’t take being out of school/work for granted, your freedom now allows you the ability to choose what you learn and build on, rather than being forced.
Making something of yourself for YOU rather than just your boss and career expectations is what life is about. Take away your job, minus your responsibility and what are you left with? Make something of that piece, create moments you can be proud of and above all else, never shadow the creative bits or happiness that live inside you. For in this exact moment, if you sit unhappy and unable to find meaning it’s because that little piece of you waits in the darkness wondering if you’ll ever remember to shine the light.
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