How to Know If You're Meant to Be An Entrepreneur | Kiki Ayers | TEDxBuckhead

TEDx Talks

25 Jan 202116:45

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThe speaker discusses how entrepreneurship is oversaturated and often glorified today. She outlines common traits of entrepreneurs like loving control, never being satisfied, and hating being told what to do. She shares her personal story of working unhappily in corporate jobs before becoming homeless while pursuing journalism. She realized the key was to take risks and try entrepreneurship herself. The number one way to know if you should be an entrepreneur is simply to try it.

Takeaways

👋 Many people identify as entrepreneurs without fully understanding the definition or the realities of entrepreneurship.
💡 Entrepreneurship is often glamorized, leading many to aspire to it without acknowledging the harsher realities involved.
💻 Skills for entrepreneurship can be learned through workshops and mentorship, but the innate drive and resilience required cannot be taught.
💰 The decision to pursue entrepreneurship involves accepting the risk of losing everything and working tirelessly, often more than a traditional job would require.
💯 Entrepreneurship has become oversaturated, similar to other glamorized careers like acting or music, leading to unrealistic expectations.
👨‍🎓 At a young age, future entrepreneurs often exhibit traits like selling goods or services and an inherent dissatisfaction with being told what to do.
📚 Real-world experiences, including failure and dissatisfaction in conventional jobs, can be pivotal in realizing one's entrepreneurial spirit.
📍 The journey to entrepreneurship can involve significant personal struggles, including financial instability or homelessness, as part of the learning and growth process.
💁‍💻 Entrepreneurs must possess survival instincts, creativity, and a strong self-drive to overcome challenges and seize opportunities.
🙏 Overcoming fear and taking the leap to try entrepreneurship is essential; success often requires facing and accepting the possibility of failure.

Q & A

What is the difference between the perception and reality of entrepreneurship?
-The perception is the appealing parts like making your own schedule and creating a business with legacy and generational wealth. The reality includes working 24/7, risking all your money with no guarantee of success, and dealing with stress and depression.
Why does the speaker believe entrepreneurship can't be taught?
-She believes the persistence to work hard with no supervision, chasing rewards despite risks, is innate and can't be taught. Skills can be taught, but not that innate drive.
What are some common traits entrepreneurs exhibit even at a young age?
-Selling things for money early on, never being satisfied and always pursuing the next thing, hating being told what to do, wanting control over their time and income.
How did corporate jobs make the speaker feel and why?
-She hated them and felt depressed and angry because natural entrepreneurs dream big and want to do the impossible, but corporate jobs restrict that and give false power.
What ongoing signs was the speaker ignoring regarding her career path?
-Her unhappiness at each new job after a few months in. She kept ignoring it and looking for the next job, rather than recognizing entrepreneurship was her calling.
How did the speaker end up homeless and what did she do?
-Pursuing journalism full-time paid very little so she couldn't afford rent. She condensed her belongings over 16 months of homelessness before building her publicity company out of survival instinct.
What mindset shift empowered the speaker to build her business?
-Realizing she'd sacrificed everything and worked tirelessly for others' companies, so she owed it to herself to try that hard for her own company.
What was the speaker's 'a-ha' moment regarding her career struggles?
-A sermon saying depression comes from reality not matching imagination. Corporate jobs restricted her big dreams and natural drive.
What is the #1 reason the speaker believes people don't pursue entrepreneurship?
-Fear of failure and wondering if they are meant to be entrepreneurs. The speaker says to just try rather than overthink.
What lesson does the speaker hope people take from her journey?
-Don't ignore the signs life gives you to make a career shift, even if scary. With drive and scrappiness, you can build a business out of nothing.

Outlines

00:00

😃 How we define entrepreneurship

The paragraph discusses how people often glorify entrepreneurship without understanding what it really means. It talks about the difference between perception questions (wanting freedom, money, status) and reality questions (hard work, risk). The speaker argues entrepreneurship is more of an innate drive that can't be taught.

05:00

😂 My failed attempt at ice skating

The speaker shares a story about how as a child she wanted to become an ice skater after seeing it on TV, but failed miserably her first time on the ice. She realizes she wasn't actually passionate about it, just enamored by how graceful it looked. We all have moments where we try something and realize it's not for us.

10:01

😞 Why I hated corporate jobs

The speaker shares how she kept changing corporate jobs trying to find happiness, but kept getting miserable a few months in. She hated being told what to do on a fixed schedule, the office politics, and passive aggressive co-workers. This made her realize she was meant to be an entrepreneur.

15:02

🙏 A sign from God

The speaker shares how after being miserable in yet another corporate job, she went to church and heard a sermon that resonated. It said being depressed comes from reality not matching your imagination. This made her realize entrepreneurship was her calling, but she ignored the sign at first.

😨 Hitting rock bottom

After continuing to ignore signs entrepreneurship was her path, the speaker ends up homeless for over a year in LA. While hiding in a hotel bathroom stall, she has an epiphany to finally start her own PR company. This instinct to find a solution was the ultimate sign she was meant to be an entrepreneur.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of designing, launching, and operating a new business. The video discusses how entrepreneurship is often glorified in today's society, with many people aspiring to become entrepreneurs without fully understanding what it entails. Examples from the script show how the speaker believes entrepreneurship involves great risk, requiring traits like the willingness to lose everything financially and work incredibly long hours.

💡passion

Passion refers to a strong enthusiasm and eagerness to pursue an activity or interest. The speaker emphasizes how true entrepreneurship requires passion - one must be dedicated to putting in hard work chasing the rewards and vision behind the risks they are taking. She uses the example of initially thinking she could become a professional singer before realizing she lacked passion for the difficult work required.

💡signs

Signs refer to indications or messages one receives pointing them toward or away from a particular path. The speaker discusses how there are often signs in our lives steering us toward our true calling, but we ignore them, instead making decisions like sticking with an unsatisfying job. The pastor's message represented a 'sign' that made her recognize the mismatch between her imagination and reality.

💡fear

Fear refers to anxiety or trepidation about potential negative outcomes. The speaker cites fear as the number one reason people don't pursue entrepreneurship and other vocations they feel drawn to - fear that they may fail or won't be able to make it work. She had to overcome her own fears before launching her business.

💡reality

Reality refers to the practical day-to-day experience of a situation vs. one's perceptions or imagination of it. The pastor spoke about how depression can emerge when someone's imagination for their life and work doesn't match the reality. The speaker emphasizes how aspiring entrepreneurs must consider realities like financial risk and demanding hours, not just perceptions of freedom.

💡persistence

Persistence refers to continued effort and steadfastness toward achieving a goal despite difficulties or delays in progress. Even when the speaker was homeless, she persisted in working toward her vision, conducting business meetings in coffee shops and continuing to apply for jobs until she ultimately launched her own company.

💡traits

Traits refer to distinguishing qualities or characteristics, often inherent rather than learned. The speaker discusses common traits she observes among entrepreneurs, including always hustling/selling growing up and never being satisfied - always chasing the next thing.

💡failure

Failure refers to lacking success or falling short of one's goals or expectations. The speaker highlights how potential failure is inherent to entrepreneurship, and emphasizes that those drawn to entrepreneurship must be willing to risk failure on their idea in order to have a shot at building a successful, sustainable business.

💡calling

One's calling refers to a strong inclination toward a particular career or pursuit, often present from childhood. The speaker details how she - and successful entrepreneurs she knows - consistently exhibited distinctive traits and behaviors from young ages signaling their calling or 'meant to be' status as entrepreneurs.

💡purpose

Purpose refers to the reason, function, or mission behind actions and behavior, giving them intentionality and meaning. The speaker implies that pursuing entrepreneurship specifically because one seeks the sense of purpose and meaning it can provide (vs. perception-based reasons like flexibility or status) is crucial.

Highlights

Entrepreneurs have common traits from an early age like selling things and loving making their own money

Entrepreneurs are never satisfied, always looking for the next thing even after big goals are achieved

Entrepreneurs hate being told what to do and love being in control and managing their own time

Working corporate jobs made me transform from a bubbly person to an angry woman by Wednesdays

I isolated myself and felt depressed on Sundays just thinking about going back to my corporate job on Mondays

A pastor said "When your imagination does not match your reality you often find yourself depressed"

That sermon resonated because my corporate job didn't match my big entrepreneur dreams, making me unhappy

I eventually quit my depressing corporate job to pursue journalism despite way less income

I ended up homeless for 16 months after quitting corporate, condensing my life to one backpack

One night in a hotel bathroom I went into survival mode and started my own publicity company

I realized I worked crazy hours for others' companies so I can do that for my own company

Fear is the #1 reason people don't pursue what they were meant to be

I had to let go of the fear and just try entrepreneurship since I had nothing left to lose

My publicity business ended up working out beautifully after I took the risk

The #1 way to know if you're meant to be an entrepreneur is simply to try it

Transcripts

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