“Our family lived in Chicago until I was 5 or 6 years old. We had a nice house and pretty much everything we needed or wanted, but then my parents separated, my mom moved us to Memphis, and we had to live with my grandmother for quite some time until my mom could get on her feet financially. We didn’t have the things we were used to anymore because we no longer had my dad’s income. I was kind of resentful of the experience, but it taught me a lot. Without it, I don’t think I would have the passion for entrepreneurship that I have now. I saw entrepreneurship as a way to avoid staying in the situation I was in. I knew people who made money doing things that were illegal, but that’s not the path I wanted to go down. I wanted to do something legitimate to provide for myself and help my family move forward. I promised my mother when I was very young that when I made it big, I would bring her along with me. That’s what I strived for. That’s what motivated me during those early years.
“I didn’t really know how individuals started businesses, but I did a lot of reading about it while I was still in high school. I knew that education and finding a job were important, but I didn’t want to take the traditional college path; I wanted to try out entrepreneurship on my own. Then the bottom fell out of the financial market, and I realized I needed to get my degree. Another student and I set up a small company while we were in college, which was amazing practice for later on. I learned about weighing the risks involved in a new venture and that it might be better to have a steady job and work on growing my business as kind of a side gig at first. That has worked well for me. I’ve had my own business for several years now; I specialize in helping other companies develop websites and build their social media presence.
“Starting off, I was very selfish, thinking only about myself and my family and not much about helping other people, but that has changed over time. I realized I should share my knowledge and help make a difference in other people’s lives. Now, in addition to my own company, I’m a Business Specialist with the Tennessee SBDC (Tennessee Small Business Development Center) teaching entrepreneurship to other people.
“The classes are offered free on a continuing basis, and I think they make a huge difference. There are a lot of responsible individuals with good ideas who just want a chance. They want to be educated and to advance themselves or they wouldn’t be here. My hope is that people will be able to pursue the careers they want, experience financial freedom, and be able to give back to the community. Knowledge opens doors.”
“I didn’t really know how individuals started businesses, but I did a lot of reading about it while I was still in high school. I knew that education and finding a job were important, but I didn’t want to take the traditional college path; I wanted to try out entrepreneurship on my own. Then the bottom fell out of the financial market, and I realized I needed to get my degree. Another student and I set up a small company while we were in college, which was amazing practice for later on. I learned about weighing the risks involved in a new venture and that it might be better to have a steady job and work on growing my business as kind of a side gig at first. That has worked well for me. I’ve had my own business for several years now; I specialize in helping other companies develop websites and build their social media presence.
“Starting off, I was very selfish, thinking only about myself and my family and not much about helping other people, but that has changed over time. I realized I should share my knowledge and help make a difference in other people’s lives. Now, in addition to my own company, I’m a Business Specialist with the Tennessee SBDC (Tennessee Small Business Development Center) teaching entrepreneurship to other people.
“The classes are offered free on a continuing basis, and I think they make a huge difference. There are a lot of responsible individuals with good ideas who just want a chance. They want to be educated and to advance themselves or they wouldn’t be here. My hope is that people will be able to pursue the careers they want, experience financial freedom, and be able to give back to the community. Knowledge opens doors.”
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