Entrepreneurship is Kind of Like Kissing

Courtesy of Stock Vault

Last week I spoke on a panel about “Entrepreneurial Spirit” to a group of Hillsborough Community College students and future entrepreneurs. It was part of HCC’s Startup Toolbox series through The Coleman Foundation.

It was great to hear from all of the other entrepreneurs on the panel (Pam French of Pami Pocket; Duane Spires of World Class Fight League, Art of Grappling USA and Extreme Youth Sports Inc.; and Leon Roubekas of Tropical Smoothie Cafe)  and from the students who were excited about their futures. One of the students asked what a typical day was like for each of us, which is always an interesting question for me (and anyone in our industry), as no two days seem to be alike.

I mentioned the value of systems and routine, which is important for me because as much as I enjoy change, I know that too much whirling around makes people run for cover. There’s also great value in being flexible. So routine, but flexible. Makes sense, right?

After all the entrepreneurs shared their ups, downs, tips and tricks, I could see that some of the people in the audience had that bewildered look of, “Now what?” Which is pretty much how launching (and sometimes running) a business goes sometimes.

I left them with the fact that there is nothing like experiencing entrepreneurship and putting one’s self out there. They’ve heard all of this valuable information and they’ll learn more over time (and keep learning continuously if they’re smart), but in a lot of ways entrepreneurship is like kissing. You can read all about it, research, and observe, but until you plant one on someone (or vice versa) – you won’t know if it’s like “Whoa! Hello!” or “Meh.” And this goes for the journey in entrepreneurship, as well as every project, new product launch, new service offering, etc. that might come your way. Thus is life.

Oh, and speaking of no two days alike. Yesterday, I sat around the office most of the day catching up on paperwork, doing some writing and pitch outreach and today we have a client in from the West coast, media interviews, plus model prep, pitch follow-up, a drop off at a style session, three conference calls and if things go as planned I’ll get to pick up a few new outfits today with a fab stylist we rep because…you never know what the days ahead will bring, but I know I’m going to need something fabulous to wear!

How would you describe entrepreneurship?