Op-Ed: Create Your Own Job, Reflections on My Journey to Entrepreneurship

I know first-hand that the job of your nightmares can ultimately lead you to create the job of your dreams.

Let me explain.

As a teenager, my reality was blurred by what appeared to be the natural flow of life and adulthood. We learn by example, and for years I watched my family prepare for a long workday, return home, and follow the same routine day in, day out.

I grew up surrounded by people who chose a traditional career route – teachers, factory workers, and other nine-to-five employees; so it was only natural for me to envision success through the attainment of a traditional job.

But one day everything changed.

I discovered entrepreneurship – it was completely new to me.

“Could this be a career reality?” I thought.

Today, I realize that it can be a reality, but I didn’t always think that way. Thus my journey from being a traditional employee to developing an ‘entrepreneurship state of mind’ has been an eye opening experience. One definitely worth sharing.

The Road to Entrepreneurship

As the last months of my senior year of college approached, the task of finding the “perfect career” after graduation became a full-time job.

I remember my Public Relations Writing professor dedicating his last few class lessons to teaching us how to dress, behave and prepare for a job interview. Like many new graduates, I entered the real world in search of a company, culture, and position that I could fit in to. It never occurred to me that being an entrepreneur was an option.

I was lucky enough to find a job a few weeks after graduation, but it turned out to be a job that nightmares are made of. Instead of fitting into the company’s culture, I got lost. I found myself in a negative environment, investing all of my energy into someone else’s dream while sadly neglecting my own.

I was miserable in my “perfect career.”

So, what did I do?

If you guessed that I immediately started my own business, not quite.

I sent out more resumes and then went on interview after interview searching for another position — another company that would make me happy and fulfilled. After dozens of interviews, I realized that my “dream job” only existed in my head. And it was in this downtrodden moment that the seeds of entrepreneurship began to take root and grow.