Lessons From A Life Of Entrepreneurship

 As I sit to write this article, a strange and unfamiliar thought passes through my mind—aren’t you a little young to be writing this?  It is true, if you glanced at my license it would betray my mere 24 years on terra firma. 

 However, since before my first steps I’ve lived within an immersion of business education.  My curriculum didn’t come from a book or formal classroom; in fact, you couldn’t find the lessons I’ve learned in any academic setting.  They weren’t derived from theory; instead they were borne of application.  You see, I come from a family of entrepreneurs—on both sides.  I’ve spent my life listening, asking questions, absorbing.  My family, whether they know it or not, have given me something that can’t be bought—a real world MBA. 

It’s incredible to think how quickly technology has changed things.  For instance, even at my mere 24 years, I grew up understanding business as something that was done largely face-to-face.  Where you looked into the eyes of your customer and you often knew them by name.  Perhaps even stranger, when my father, uncles, or grandfather gave their word and shook someone’s hand you knew it was as concrete as any contract. 

When I look around now, I realize I’ve been thrust into a very different world.