I was on a podcast today, and the host asked many questions about my leadership journey. He was curious about experiences that shape a leader’s growth over time. It certainly was something that I don’t usually think about.
In answering his questions, I recognized that my years as a small business owner and entrepreneur have shaped much of who I am today.
Reflecting on this reminded me of the early days of one of our businesses. Some of the memories are fond and some…not so much.
I thought it would be fun to share some of my recollections of how our E-Commerce company went from an idea to running us out of our home.
It started with a few extra commercial mower parts stacked on the basement floor, a little catalog (I typed using a typewriter), a tiny desk, and a little spare time.
The few parts became hundreds. The hundreds became thousands, and the basement quickly filled with custom-built heavy-duty shelves to hold our growing inventory.
The little catalog became a little bigger catalog. The little bigger catalog became a lot bigger and quickly took over our first-floor living and dining room. We used our first floor as our bulk mail room, where we sorted by zip, bundled and bagged, and hauled them off to the post office, knowing they would make the phone ring.
Our front porch became the UPS shipping/receiving site with boxes piled high, where the not-so-good memories started to come back.
Hauling incoming products downstairs and outgoing products right back up got old fast. Giving up most of our first floor to catalog mailing projects frustrated my business partner and wife when guests were quickly escorted past the home-based business.
The neighbors began to ask what was going on with all the deliveries, and finally, the incoming phone orders couldn’t compete with our barking dog and two young boys in the background. That was the beginning of the end of our home-based business as we knew it.
With mixed emotions, we eventually said goodbye to the tiny home that was the birthplace of that business. I’ll never forget the final walk-through with my wife some fifteen years ago.
It had been over ten years since we moved the business out, but the shelves were still in the basement, worn thin by the tens of thousands of products that spent some time there. The little desk was still there, and the scratches on the walls leading up the stairs brought back memories of our early start. The barking dog had long passed, and the two young boys were men now, raising their own families.
It was a day I will never forget and memories I’m sure many successful entrepreneurs can relate to.
If only those walls could talk…
Hat’s off to all entrepreneurs, the face of the American dream. Those gutsy with a big idea and the dogged determination to muscle through when the world thinks you have it all wrong. Just know, good days or bad, it’s in the experience of doing where the learning happens.
What life experiences have shaped your leadership journey? Please share.
Soar, Don’t Settle.