Entrepreneurship
What Inspired You to Become an Entrepreneur? 14 Short Stories
What Inspired You to Become an Entrepreneur? 14 Short Stories
From falling in love with the business and mission to making something other people can enjoy, here are 14 answers to the question, “Share your short story of what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?”
- Started as High Leadership, Then Became the Owner
- Passion for Bridging Gaps in the Podcast Industry
- Saw an Opportunity to Help People and Went for It
- Determined to End Workplace Bullying
- A Desire to Stay Ahead of the Trends
- My Inspiration Genuinely Came from Frustration
- From Undervalued Developer to Entrepreneur
- A Lost Smartwatch I Ordered Online
- Inclination to Fulfill the Needs of Others
- Witnessing a Close Friend Succeed
- The Need to Control My Own Time
- My Personal Health Experiences
- Influence of Shark Tank and Mark Zuckerberg
- Fulfillment in Creating Impactful Content
Started as High Leadership, Then Became the Owner
My entrepreneurial journey is unconventional compared to most. Many founders start from the ground up and design their own companies from scratch. I came onto Museum Hack as an operations specialist and helped the young startup build its business by managing the logistics of creating an organization, such as staffing and running museum tours in different cities.
I fell in love with the business and the mission, and my partner and I eventually bought the company from the original founder and took over. Many entrepreneurs start a business from scratch, but you can also purchase an existing business and make it yours. The most important step is to find something that you’re passionate about. In my case, being on the leadership team was a great “soft start” to becoming an entrepreneur.
Tasia Duske, CEO, Museum Hack
Passion for Bridging Gaps in the Podcast Industry
I was always a podcast fanatic and a creative with ambitions that went beyond just the day-to-day. I identified a noticeable gap in the podcasting industry and wanted to offer services that took podcasts from good to great, right from the start.
No matter the size of the company or brand, my mission has always been to bridge that gap with unique and impactful content that delights the audience. Ultimately, this passion fueled me to start Lower Street and eventually work with big names like PepsiCo and Booking.com.
Harry Morton, Founder, Lower Street
Saw an Opportunity to Help People and Went for It
I became an entrepreneur to help people who were experiencing challenges I saw them commonly facing on the legal side of creating a business. There was an opportunity for me to start a business that provides easier access to legal services, so I did just that.
I focused my business on providing solutions to the most common challenges that people faced when starting a business so that I could be a part of making someone else’s entrepreneurial journey go smoother.
Mark Pierce, CEO, Cloud Peak Law Group
Determined to End Workplace Bullying
I was the Director of HR for a nonprofit organization, and during that time I experienced workplace bullying—defined by academic researchers as psychological abuse at work.
Besides being bullied, I also dealt with the organizational damage bullies cause. It was exhausting to feel bullied as an individual while also trying to address the organizational end of it as HR.
During that time, I began graduate school, and I had to write a paper for two of my courses. As I began my research, I came across the phrase “workplace bullying” and I was intrigued—I’ve never looked back.
I discovered a debilitating problem that needed to be solved, and despite so many people telling me not to build a company focused on solving that problem, I did it anyway. I was determined to build a company that could make a difference, which led me to find Civility Partners and start my entrepreneurial journey.
Catherine Mattice, Founder and CEO, Civility Partners
A Desire to Stay Ahead of the Trends
Entrepreneurship is about seeing a void in the market and going for it. For me, it was the early advent of the Internet. In 1996, I could see that it was about to change the entire recruiting industry — and yet, not all the companies I worked with were on board. We were still training recruiters in technology that was about to be obsolete.
Opening my firm allowed me to move ahead of trends; that’s a big part of finding the perfect placement for any role. I pride myself on staying on the cutting edge, whether it’s in the sources I use or my marketing campaigns.
Now, I’m able to say with confidence that every worker I send into the industry is prepared for a fast-changing future.
Rob Reeves, CEO and President, Redfish Technology
My Inspiration Genuinely Came from Frustration
After graduating from university with a hop in my step, excited by the challenges and joys of the working world, I encountered a marketing job in a large organization that offered nothing of the sort.
Feeling merely a cog in a machine I couldn’t climb, colleagues arrived moaning over Monday and spent the week thirsting after Friday, at which point I asked myself, “Is this all it is? Doing your time and living for the weekend?”
My inspiration was this frustration and the challenge of creating a workplace where people actually went to bed on Sunday excited and not worried. A workplace where workers felt valued, enjoyed having responsibility, and could see the real-world results of their actions at work. That continues to be my inspiration and motivation to this day.
Kate Jones, Account Assistant, Lumen SEO
From Undervalued Developer to Entrepreneur
Many moons ago, I wrote a software application for which they paid me $3,000. I was happy enough with that—it was working and I got paid a decent amount.
I found out later that the client I wrote the software for made $16,000 in the first month using it, and $16,000 every month after that.
I was not too happy to find out about this. I felt they had taken me for a fool. But the client and I had an agreement, and it was honored, so in the end, there was no ill will.
It was at that point I realized it was better to use my skills to make money for myself—rather than for someone else.
Since then, I have launched a successful SaaS website for the Horse Industry that is doing great things for horse owners and for retired racehorses!
Andy Ide, Founder and Director, HorseRecords
A Lost Smartwatch I Ordered Online
A few years ago, I ordered a cool smartwatch online, but during the shipping process, it got lost after a wrong delivery, and the experience got to me. I shared my concern with a friend who suggested I think of a solution to that problem, and that’s when the idea of a parcel tracking app that allowed customers to track their orders from a customized page was born. I joined a business incubator and nurtured my idea there, after which I launched my product with my co-founder.
Liam Liu, Co-founder and CMO, ParcelPanel
Inclination to Fulfill the Needs of Others
I’ve always considered myself somewhat entrepreneurial. As a 10-year-old, I went to the store, bought soda and candy bars, and then went to the youth soccer games on Saturdays to sell them for fifty cents. I mowed lawns, shoveled snow, and did various other activities for neighbors while growing up.
At 13, I started giving private music lessons. At 18, I went to different public charter schools and set up after-school music programs. My parents taught me how to find needs and fill them. These are a few examples of the kernel that eventually led me to become an entrepreneur.
However, I didn’t consider myself a true entrepreneur until I identified a problem that I was extremely passionate about—increasing access to tech education—and went all in. I started teaching in the evenings and eventually left my job to launch Promineo Tech. My passion for fulfilling a genuine need that changed lives inspired me to become an entrepreneur.
Nick Suwyn, Founder and CEO, Promineo Tech
Witnessing a Close Friend Succeed
Growing up, I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. From playing “store” in my childhood bedroom to making money in high school, I always enjoyed creating my own opportunities.
But my real inspiration came when I watched a close friend launch their own business. Seeing the passion and dedication they put into their own venture was incredibly inspiring, and I knew I wanted to do the same.
So I started researching, learning the ropes, and planning for my venture. Now, I’m proud to have my business, and I’m enjoying the journey of being an entrepreneur.
Ranee Zhang, VP of Growth, Airgram
The Need to Control My Own Time
I started my business when I realized many businesses expect people to work the same eight hours a day, five days a week, no matter how efficiently work is done. This just wasn’t for me. Some days I left work in tears because they actively encouraged me to “stretch out” my work because I was completing it too quickly.
So, I started out as a freelance writer and started writing about my process. Soon, I launched a content writing agency and my finance website, The Wallet Moth, helping people to manage their money more effectively. I am 100% in control of my own time, and that’s invaluable to me.
Yasmin Purnell, Founder, The Wallet Moth
Personal Health Experiences
When I was younger, I was fairly ambitious and found success in my calling as a competitive triathlete. However, my health and lack of nutrition caught up with me through Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which led to brain fog, muscle weakness, and other illnesses.
I tried various nutritional products and greens but realized that I had to dive deeper and create my supplement to meet my nutritional needs. After I discovered the perfect blend, I decided that the market lacked a product as potent as this, and that’s what drove me to share it with the world and start my brand, Human Tonik.
Adam Wright, CEO, Human Tonik
Influence of Shark Tank and Mark Zuckerberg
Ever since I was a kid, I always felt that I was smart and could accomplish a lot for myself. Early in high school, I grew up middle class and I remember thinking it was weird how I rarely heard about people making an income of more than $200k/yr.
Then I started watching Shark Tank and seeing how much the sharks had accomplished and how people like Mark Zuckerberg had become significantly successful through technology.
That inspired me to go into technology, so I became a Software Engineer to learn the tricks of the trade with an ambition to build my technology product someday. Along the way, I learned a bit about economics and business, which gave me the knowledge and confidence that I could make it as an entrepreneur.
I worked several jobs, and the jobs were mostly great, but there are always things to find and dislike about any job. This all led me to create my own “job”.
Nathan Zed, Software Engineer, RentZed
Fulfillment in Creating Impactful Content
The ability to create something that other people can enjoy. There’s no better feeling than someone wearing your T-shirt or being affected by a blog post you wrote.
I remember feeling frustrated with where I was with my business and would listen to the EOFire podcast religiously each morning, knowing I’d get inspired not to give up.
Fast forward a few years, and I became inspired to start a podcast and interviewed the host of EOFire. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, and often when we put our best work out to the world, we never know who we’re inspiring.
Chris Alarcon, Journalist and Owner, Financially Well Off
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