Why did you go into business for yourself?

I get this question a lot. I'm sure nearly every business owner does. This is an easy one!

I was in the military for 7 and a half years. It was a great experience, and even knowing what I know now, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! I may have handled a few situations differently over the course of that career, but I otherwise wouldn't change a thing.

However, toward the end of my time in the Air Force, I suffered under the command of a couple of real jerks for about six months. It was the most miserable 6 months of my entire life thus far (I'm 42 as I write this today), hands down, worst days of my life. That was in part the impetus for me to get out of the military as soon as my active duty commitment expired. As luck would have it, my first child was born two weeks before my active duty service commitment expired. I went on maternity leave, then terminal leave, then was out on the last day of 2006.

So I gleaned from that experience that I didn't ever want to work for jerks again and maybe couldn't blindly follow orders very well either. The only way to have that choice is to be the jerk at the top...

I was a stay at home mom for six years before I started the cleaning businesses. Before those, I had a couple of hobby quilting businesses that I did in my 'spare' time such as it is when you have little ones. I also volunteered a lot with my husband's various squadrons. Perhaps I could have lived that life indefinitely. But something in me felt I was supposed to do something else.

In 2010, I decided to use my Post-911 GI benefits to go back to school to get a Master's Degree. I looked at English literature or creative writing, but that looked too hard to get into 12 years after my undergrad. I'd have to have writing samples and references and such! But University of Phoenix was happy to take me as I was into their MBA program. And I was glad! The rebel in me always says, "hey, don't you judge me and tell me what I can and can't do! Let me prove myself. Throw me in the deep end, and let me swim. I'll swim better than all you all!" A lot of traditional, brick and mortar schools won't do that. They want you to take all kinds of tests and jump through hoops. One local university told me I had to take 8 refresher courses since I had been out of school for more than 7 years!!!! That's just a racket, right there. So, University of Phoenix was right for me. And it worked out great! I enjoyed it and learned a lot. Again, the rebel in me says, "don't judge where I got my degree. It's not where I got it, it's what I do with it that counts, and I'll show you!"

So here I was with a yearning to do something, a whole lot of self confidence (and rebelliousness) after solving the Chinese Drywall problem, a shiny MBA, and residual nightmares from working for a couple of real jerks. I also had a 6 year gap on my resume and didn't want some HR department to tell me my worth.

And that is why I went into business for myself!