My story begins in the mid 80’s where my ex and I built PCs in a spare bedroom for businesses looking to get techno. We built 286’s right down to soldering chips on the bare boards. From there I moved more into the software side of things, teaching, desk top publishing (ooohh it was so cool and new back then), installing & configuring. After we split, I got a ‘real job’ for awhile but continued to dabble on the side.
After the split I moved back to western Canada, to a new city by myself where I knew no one and did not have a job. I remember spending my 30th birthday alone in a motel room where I was living while looking for a cheap place to live. Not as much fun as it may sound *grin*. I struggled making a living there. Tried to continue training & selling computers but really my heart wasn’t in it, so I was barely scraping by. Turned to cleaning the apartment building I was living in to help cover the rent. At one point I was so broke, my phone was disconnected and I was living on cabbage & potatoe soup (not a diet I recommend). And I was so ashamed at being such a failure, I told no one.
Then I met someone who got me into his business of conference & event management. Wow, learned a lot there about running a business - or rather, how NOT to run a business. Ended up getting taken for all my savings and ‘invested’ some of my time -read salary- into the biz. Still broke, I moved on.
Back into the ‘real world’ again selling computers which by now I hated. However my path lead me to my hubby and the first of my kiddos, so a pretty good exchange. That’s when I rolled up my sleeves and said ‘I want to stay at home with my baby. I’m going to build a business properly.’ And I did. Making natural soaps & toiletries, I did trade shows, had a successful website with tons of traffic. Did okay on the income side but it was a lot of work. And I got to stay home with my son which was the most important factor to me.
But then I did what many entrepreneurs do, I tried to grow too big too fast and lost my focus. The result? Everything bottomed out. Now I was struggling again to earn an income. So back to the ‘real world’ for another job. By this time we were in another city and my son was starting school. Another ‘real world’ lesson on how NOT to run a business and I finally realized that working under someone was just not my thing. I resented the restrictions on my time and resented having to work for people who’s ethics did not match mine.
Fast forward to today where we’ve had a second child and again I want to stay home for her. But much wiser, I’ve found my passion and that is teaching. Empowered learning. Over the years of working on the internet I’ve met wonderful people, all with the same dream - to have our own business, to have control over our time and to make a solid living doing what we love. But as entrepreneurs, mompreneurs(r), WAHMs, WAHDs, solopreneurs - whatever your label is, we are often isolated behind our computers. Trying to build and network by ourselves, grow and learn by ourselves. And it’s tough - make no mistake. That isolation is great for awhile but eventually it wears you down.
A constant thread in my life has always been giving back and that has generally been done by teaching, sharing. I’ve monitored boards for WAHMs, I’ve been interviewed & profiled by media over the years in the hope that it would inspire other people. Now, after taking some time off, I’ve finally clarified that purpose and passion. For a long time I was bogged down behind the ‘what do I want to be when I grow up?’ mantra instead of just looking back objectively at what I’ve done for so many years.
This Learning Center service is for all you entrepreneurs who have related to my story. Am I making millions doing this? Well not yet but here’s hoping :-). My goal? To have sufficient income to raise my children while I’m at home for them, to have the luxury of flexibility of time - to control my day. Yes I may actually work longer hours than a 9 to 5′er sometimes, but I can do it at 3am when Baby Girl has woken me and I can’t get back to sleep. I can work without someone spying on me, snooping through my emails or hovering over my shoulder micromanaging my every move.
The Learning Center will help you to do the same thing. Through expanded knowledge and skills you too will gain better control over your time, stabilize and grow your income, give you the flexibility of control over your day and your life.
Are you excited? I sure am.
and I know that time is valuable but skills still need to be learned. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go back to school and get that MBA, but who has the time? Who will run the business while I’m studying. Exactly.