My journey to entrepreneurship has been quite a ride. As a small child I practiced school performances on my grandmother's back porch everyday. At the end of each week I would sell tickets to my family and neighbors to watch a preview of the school's upcoming show.
I learned two valuable lessons from my first business. First, adults rarely have change for a dollar. Secondly, happy customers are repeat customers and your best advocates.
I have always possessed a deep desire to solve problems and exceeds expectations. Most of my family members worked during the school day and couldn't attend my shows. I saw that as an opportunity let them see the show without coming to the school. I made snack and ice cream money in exchange.
I would often overhear my family gushing about my performances and in term my audience grew larger every week. By the end of the school year I had a yard full of supporters. This experience has stuck with me for over 30 years.
Professionally, I am a media strategist. I studied marketing and general management before landing a role in advertising where I got my negotiating chops. After two years of negotiating multi million dollar advertising deals for global brands such as Lexus and AztraZeneca I moved into business development.
I wasn't afraid of hearing no. Instead of taking no as the final answer, I developed the habit of helping my clients solve short term problems to add value before the closing a deal. In under one year I was named salesperson of the month for top billing.
Fast forward 20 years and I found myself leveraging the skills I learned during my first business as a child. Solve a problem and meet a need. Delight your customers, win repeat business and referrals.
Thanks for reading my story. I believe everyone has an entrepreneurial spirit. Some people just have to dig deeper to find and harness it. I'm LeJeanne, Head of Brand and Product of Atlas Candle Co. I'm happy you're here. I've been waiting so long time to share this story.
Do you have a business? Ever had a good idea? I'm sure you have and I'd love to hear about it. Drop a line in the comments to share your story.
LJ
