Then, two good personal friends started their own businesses and I started to see what might be possible.
That was the tipping point, and the point where I realized how dependent your career "options" are on WHO is your circle.
My new business owner peers and mentors weren't smarter than everyone else.
They didn't describe themselves as big risk takers. They didn't have venture capital funding or a patent to their names. Some of them were starting or growing businesses with young kids at home.
ALL of them shared a drive for growth and a passion for making an impact through their work.
I was intrigued by the whole idea of making money online, so I signed up for my first online course - at a cost of $2000 - where I learned how to write and self-publish the book that became the Amazon.com category bestselling book She Engineers. I spent an additional $5000 to attend a business intensive long weekend where I went from general idea to the makings of a business plan.
I decided that my business would be an online business model from the beginning because I had watched many of my friends in professional services (accountants, lawyers, engineers, architects, doctors, teachers etc.) continue to trade dollars for hours, even into their 70's and older.
That's not my idea of success.
I wanted a flexible schedule, where I could work whenever and where ever I pleased.
I wanted autonomy over the type of work I did, so I could play to my own strengths instead of my role being dictated to me by other people.
I didn't want to have to tell my kids that mom was spending another weekend or evening in the office and wouldn't be home for dinner.