Anti-Entrepreneurial Bent

When I was a child, my parents owned their own flower shop. From the time I was around 6, I remember going to the shop with my parents, hanging out in the Montgomeryville Mart, and playing under the displays. By the time I was 10, I had convinced my Mom that it was a good idea to let me run the cash register.

Along with the happy memories, I have even more distinct memories that were not so pleasant.

• Mom coming home on Mother’s Day so tired from making and delivering arrangements for other people that she had no energy to enjoy the day herself.
• Getting a call in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner that the storage van was on fire.
• Overhearing conversations about employees who stole, didn’t show up, or caused other stress.
• Periodically seeing the financial situation at home change.

As a result, I grew up knowing that there was absolutely no way that I ever wanted to run my own business. It was my goal to work for someone else and have a steady and reliable pay check each and every week. So I became a management accountant. (One that works inside a company, keeping the books.)

My husband spoke to me wistfully at times about farming full-time; about having a produce stand that would provide his income. I told him he was nuts…but he kept dreaming.

And then, one day just before I turned 40, I woke up and realized that I didn’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I needed a change.

I quit my job, and to make a long story extremely brief, after 9 months of soul searching, I decided to start my own business. And so, Jett Excellence was born. Not too long afterwards, my husband left his job also and started farming full-time. Today, I am where I never, ever envisioned being – an entrepreneurial family!

What is your story?