Why Did You Become an Entrepreneur?
Have you ever had that moment when out of no where a question pops into your head and you have no idea why but find you must answer that question no matter what? It's called an epiphany. I am standing in the midst of the most extreme joy and unconditional acceptance of the me that I am this day, and slowly but surely comes creeping in the monster of "indecision", the beast of "I don't know what I'm doing" and the humility of "I need some HELP!" I ASKED MYSELF THE DREADED QUESTION; "WHY DO I KEEP DOING THIS? WHY DID I BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR?" There it was, I said it, I had a moment, to be truthful, moments, of despair. Just as clear and almost as soon as I mouthed those questions, the answer was there, on the tail end of my rant, just as feisty and determined as ever....
It was my father's birthday, January 31,1966, I was eight years old, turning nine in March. That morning he gave me $20 dollars to buy him a birthday present. This was Daddy's custom. He was a Senior Pharmacist at Harbor General in Torrance. I write this because I am proud of my Dad, he's gone now, but I wanted to give respect and credit. It was from my Dad that I learned the value of a dollar. He was an avid horse gamer. Every weekend he was off to the track. On many occasions he would take my brother and sister and me to Santa Anita race track. What fun I had helping Daddy pick the right horse. My Father had taught me how to "Handicap" based on stats and history, size and age of the horse, and all the other little nuances one should take into consideration when making the decision to place your money where your gut tells you.
The morning that Daddy gave me that $20 dollars, a light bulb came on. I thought to myself, 'I could give this money to Daddy and he could parley it into $200.00'. I ran down the drive-way to catch him just before he turned onto the street. I told him, "Daddy, take this $20 dollar bill. You can parley it into $200.00." He laughed, gave me a wink, went to the track, came home with some goodies for everyone and gave me the $20.00. He had won $1200.00 that day.
From then on I began creating new ways to make money and have fun doing it. I began crocheting and selling scull caps to my brother, an American Muslim, who re-sold them to his fellow Muslims at the Mosque. I made candles, using the old beautifully made Avon bottles, back when the bottles were classic designs. It also gave natural beautiful scents to the candles. By the time I was ten, I had increased my businesses to three; I had begun braiding hair. I started on dolls, then used my sister, Carla and cousin Tammie, to practice on. I remember the first time I charged someone for the service to this day. It was my cousin Tammie. She came to me one day and said she needed her hair done. I told her as I hadn't called her to be a practice head that day, she would have to pay. I charged her $10.00 and hooked her up.
I decided I liked the freedom of doing what you wanted; making a difference in someone's life, making money doing what you loved and gave benefit, was a turn on. This is why I decided long ago to become an entrepreneur. I'll be 53 on March 21, 2011. I'm doing it large and in charge. I am performing, speaking, living life and enjoying the journey. Come visit my site and get to know me more. I have a word for you.
Denise L. Cook, The ORACLE
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