Empowering.

"I am #PoweringTomorrow by following my dreams and building my own business."

This morning I came across an interesting article in my newsfeed that, quite frankly, drew me in to click on it because of the cute graphic it had right next to it. I clicked on it and read the article which discussed some amazing facts about women entrepreneurs and the impact that women-owned business are having in the American economy. 

Wait, before you think I have gone crazier than usual and going to babble about economic development, policy, and success among other fancy financial terms you are wrong.

Sort of.

What I am going to discuss and share with you are some of the interesting facts I found in the article and what I, as a small business owner myself who is a woman, have experienced on my journey. 

Deciding to build a business out of something I loved has made my career dream come into fruition. The very first step, deciding to do this for a living and do it well, catapulted me into a vague, unknown, and very often scary stratosphere. Me, a business owner? I still find it hard to wrap my head around it. I have always known I wanted to be an entrepreneur; from my second grade career paper, I have never thought otherwise. What I didn't write in that paper was exactly what I wanted to do as an entrepreneur. As I have come into my own and discovered the woman, the human being, and the person that I want to become my dreams of have become much more streamlined and, quite possibly, found a streamline trajectory path to entrepreneurial-ship that I strive to follow. Please note that my path, although streamlined, is still not completely known to me. What would be the fun in that?   

Part of the success in building a business is figuring out how. That, my dear friends, has always been tough for me. But through trial and error and multiple mistakes, I slowly garner the knowledge required to keep going and to keep building. Each step often followed by fear and a headache. 

Some of the biggest mistakes I have made when starting out is not trusting myself; allowing the little bit of fear inside me to take over and lead me on a diverted path. The final destination is the one I originally wished to attain but getting there was much more difficult and headache inducing. I wasn't originally prepared for sales taxes, franchise fees, property taxes and a multitude of other things. But, again, trial and error have nonetheless served me well. 

My road to photography, to owning a business, has been exciting. I am now looking forward to the next step. As a business owner, I strive to make goals so that I can work hard to accomplish them. I feel great when I can smile, throw my fist in the air and do a little booty-shake when I realize I accomplished something I worked hard for. Don't you?

To grow, I need more knowledge so knowledge is what I am garnering. I have so many ideas to incorporate into my business. So many places I want to see and visit... 

I am planning my next big step... moving. Stay with me, I am not moving this summer (I already did that, ha!) or in the fall. But I am planning and strategizing for the next big city I will sink my teeth into. This means research, research and tons of research. It will be a challenge of course, but really to me understanding the sales tax monster has made me a tiny bit tougher. Who knows what I can conquer...

You can read the article here: http://www.openforum.com/articles/celebrating-women-entrepreneurs-the-magnitude-of-the-movement/?extlink=sm-openf-womensbiz-2012

Are you, dear reader, a business owner? If so, what was the toughest thing you learned about being the boss? If you're a photographer, feel free to share with me some of your experiences. 

Now my friends, go out and conquer!