$1.5 Million in Funding: The Easy Way to Success, Was It Worth It?

A young doe-eyed girl, notebook in hand, walked into my office. She was there to learn my secrets of running a successful company.

It was a simple high school assignment: shadow someone in the position you want to pursue and write a report. As we begin talking, she wants to know about what I do and the easiest path to get there.

I began describing my entrepreneurship journey and what led me to my position and she asked, “Why did you do all that? Isn’t there an easier way?”

The Easy Way to Success

There is no secret, no class to take, no degree and no easy way to just get there.

The sense of easy answers and handouts is a myth. This myth is becoming an epidemic among young people and adults alike. In our industry of digital marketing, where applications programmed out of garages and overnight web celebrity are rampant, how do we explain the true value of earning it, let alone working hard for your goals?

This sense of entitlement is causing a plague and strain on fresh new ideas and future problem solvers, and robs them of the true meaning of success.

It worries me.

The Quick Answers

I remember when I was 16, walking up to a board on a teacher’s window, fingers and toes crossed (if that is even possible while walking).

Did I make it? Did I get in the class?

What if I didn’t? What would I do?

I played soccer, ran sprints and drills every afternoon, but couldn’t make it off the bench. Worked day and night to train to sing, and it turns out I am effectively tone deaf. My last chance was DECA, a popular marketing club in my high school, and I was desperate to find something I could be good at so I was ready and willing to work hard, but I just needed a chance.

Jackie Normington, on the list! PHEW! Now the real work begins.