Destined to be an Entrepreneur….

As a child, I did not have it in mind that I was going to be self-employed. Now that I look back on my life, I remember reading “World Magazine”.  I loved those magazines!  I especially loved the section about kids who were running their own businesses, and I always kind of wanted to be like those kids. 

Through my childhood, I had various small businesses.  I made those plastic bracelets (made from gimp, or at least that is what we called the plastic lace), I made friendship bracelets, and I also made a few painted sweatshirts, although those were mostly gifts.  I sold these different bracelets to my schoolyard friends and made some money.  I was more interested in the making of the bracelets and feeding that habit than making money, so I charged very little – but I did make some money!  I remember every time I made a dollar I would trade it in to my parents for a looney (a one dollar coin here in Canada), which is gold in colour. This way I could pretend I was earning gold.

In high school, I started performing for weddings with my friends as a string quartet.  I started playing solo for weddings when I returned from university in the summers.

I have worked very few conventional day jobs through the years, and I find it very interesting to think back to those world magazines and the fact that I was drawn to these kids who were entrepreneurs.  As much as that was never a plan for me, perhaps it was an indicator of what was to come!