Despite the fact that my grandmother, my mother, and my mother's sister were successful business woman, being one myself was always the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm wondering if it was it in my blood. Both my daughters are in business, not necessarily for themselves. But, nevertheless, they are in business.
In undergrad school, I changed my major several times, from art, to English, to education, to English, to music. I ended up with a degree in music education, all the time saying "I will never go into business"! I have always loved the arts and have dabbled in all of them, including theater and dance. As many of my friends went to business school and started climbing the corporate ladder, I stuck to my guns, "I will never go into business".
My grandmother was a crackerjack business woman and owned four rooming houses in Detroit, all at the same time. My mother was a realtor and had her own real estate business, and my aunt was a successful stock broker. But, watching them work long hours and go through all the ups and downs of having their own businesses only re-enforced my determination not to succumb to the lure of what turned out for many to be a profitable career.
I wanted to create! Of course, I didn't realize you could create in business. In fact, some of the most creative people are in business. Look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and, not so well known, Mark Breitbard, chief merchandising and creative officer at Old Navy. “Mark is an amazingly talented retailer — and we’re thrilled he’s joining us to infuse an even higher level of creative spirit to the Old Navy brand,” said Tom Wyatt, President of Old Navy. “Both within Gap Inc. and at other top specialty apparel retailers, he has achieved success creating clothes for each member of our target customer’s family.”
Well, anyway, to make a long story short. I woke up one day, around 15 years ago, and I was the owner of a small bed and breakfast in Louisville Kentucky. It all came to be by happenstance. It was very straight forward. I wanted this house, a 4008 sq ft historic, Victorian brick with five bedrooms. I had to justify buying a house that large for myself ( I live alone). I needed a business I could run from home in order to afford the house, which as it happens, certainly lent itself to becoming a bed and breakfast. Voila! You're an Innkeeper!
And how did you get into business? Did you go to business school, did you follow in your family's footsteps or did you just fall into it like I did?