As a child, I was fixated on being an inventor. I was convinced that I was going to invent the greatest apparatus the world has ever known. And then one day… Boom. There it was. The most brilliant idea known to man. I had figured it out. I was going to create a toothbrush that had a built-in Toothpaste Dispenser Thingy®. With the "push of a button" your toothpaste would automatically dispense into your mouth, and it would eliminate the VERY daunting task of squirting toothpaste onto a toothbrush.
With this life-changing idea of mine, I did what any self-righteous 8 year old would do, and told my biggest fan—my grandma. And in real grandma-esque talk, mid-cigarette puff y todo, she said “mi hita, that’s a wonderful idea,” knowing good and well that my idea was trash. God bless grandmas. They really are the world’s best encouragers.
Anyhooo, somewhere in between my 7-8 year old self and my, at the time, 29 year old self, I realized that I'm what people would call an entrepreneur. When I found that out, I began embracing my crazy ideas instead of suppressing them. And let me tell you, friends, it felt good. Real good.
While driving during my 9-5 job selling ads for Univision, I got to thinking. If I were to have 10 clients and charge them $250 each to manage their social pages, I could make $2500 a month and have time to be Mom. It sounded glorious.
So I talked to my husband about it, and he listened, like my good man always does (probably rolling his eyes on the inside). Imagine this crazy girl just coming home with yet another idea. At some point, it gets old, so bless him for always being on board for an adventure.
He said, "Let's pray about it." So we did. We prayed and prayed and prayed. We didn't want to rush it and do something stupid. Then the day came where we knew a date: March 31, 2018 would be my last day working in corporate America. We prepped financially. Paid a couple of debts, canceled a few bills, saved our tax return, and even hopped on mom's Netflix plan.
And there I was… 3 1/2 months pregnant, quitting my full-time, well-paying job to start a "digital media company". With abundant resources—aka a used ASUS laptop and a corner in my bedroom—I started my own "company.” It was foolproof. Until it wasn't.
Things got hard, you guys. I've never said this out loud until now, but less than a year in we almost had to foreclose on our house. We struggled financially for a long time. Countless times, I teeter-tottered about going back to corporate land, but in the end, I resolved that I would do whatever it took to make this thing work. Quitting wasn't an option. So I did my best to not even let the "q" word cross my mind. My hubbs carried us in ways I could never repay him for.
So there we were. That round belly eventually turned into a newborn baby. About to foreclose on our house. Christmas coming up with other kids to provide for. Milking my mom's Netflix. Our pet's heads were falling off. Jk Dumb and Dumber reference, but you get it. Things were bad, but our hearts were at peace. We knew that God wanted us there, so we embraced the hard times. It was simple. It was in lots of ways fun having no money. It definitely solved the whole “what do you want to eat tonight” drama lol.
And then the company began to grow. We made some connections that helped us so much early on. Fast forward to 2 years later, we've gone from liddo bitty business to still small but mighty business. I've personally grown so much as a human in the last 2 years. I'm so grateful. We've been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. My husband is about to quit his job to come work for Mariposa. Another giant leap.
We have not arrived, nor will we ever. It's not about "when we get there" for us and never will be. For us Mariposas, it's about the messy, gritty, yucky process and learning to love it. This life is messy, change is messy, and my hair is also messy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope you won't trade your dream for comfort either, friend.
We're here to encourage you today, entrepreneur.
Let's take it back to AmEx in the 90's, y'all.
Crazy ideas: so helpful.
A no quit attitude: a must.
A LOVE for what you do: priceless.
Keep sparkling & shining,
Laurene
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