Dating an Entrepreneur
"Money gives you more opportunities to create memories."
I never knew what an entrepreneur really was or what it meant. Until I met this cute guy in college. He was the life of the party and everyone knew him. He played many active roles on campus. He was a member of Greek life and was on the IFC board with Community outreach and recruiting positions. During his time in college he implemented many projects on campus and organized fundraisers to raise thousands of dollars for philanthropies. He was a natural born leader. As he and I grew closer we talked about our hopes and dreams. He always expressed to me how he wanted to be an entrepreneur. He wanted to own his own businesses and have financial freedom. That has always been his ultimate goal. He was interesting and his dreams were exciting. I had never met anyone like him. He had the biggest heart and the kindest soul. I instantly knew he was someone I didn't want to let go of, so I held onto him. We've been writing our love story ever since.
I graduated college in 2016 and a year after, his graduation followed. I had been working at a marketing company to save up money before making the leap and moving into the city. He worked various independent jobs his senior year. Then once we were ready we began putting out applications in the city. We landed our jobs that propelled us into our careers.
Now fast forward here we are today and the reason I am writing this blog for you all to read.
My boyfriend began working for a sales and marketing company in the winter of 2017. This job was his forte. (I swear, he could sell ice to an eskimo.) He trained and developed colleagues, grew a team, and stayed motivated to achieve every promotion. He went from a sales representative to assistant manager and now he's the owner of his OWN business. Cool, right? I am so proud of him. From the outside looking in it may have looked like an easy transition from sales representative to being a CEO. But there have been many ups and downs with this entrepreneurial lifestyle. By definition an entrepreneur is "a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so." By being in this relationship, I've learned all of this to be true.
Let me start by saying, there has to be a level of commitment, support, and understanding from a significant other to make it through these post-college changes together. We're still in the prime of our lives and trying to figure out our next move (literally). And if you or your partner don't have those qualities for one another it will never work. Mikey and I don't always agree with one other's choices, but we talk about it, compromise, and then move forward. That's all you can do when you want to be with the person you love, but you also want them to chase their dreams as fast as they can.
I'll be the first to tell you-- it's not always easy. Dating an entrepreneur you get the good, bad, and sometimes ugly. The biggest bump I've hit is our time (not spent) together. Right now, we have opposite schedules. He works 8am-8pm and I work 2pm-11pm and we don't have days off together either. Hands down, this has been the worst part about this experience. We try to do little things to simply spend time together, like grab dinner on my breaks or wake up early and go for walks. If we didn't fit the little moments in, we would just pass each other like ships in the night. But when we do have our time together its extra special to us and we cherish those moments because they don't happen often. He also travels a lot. He drives to different offices and flies to annual conventions out of state. I am so excited for him because he gets to travel, but I miss him while he's gone and I'd be lying if I didn't have serious FOMO (fear of missing out) sometimes.
He is always busy. Whether he's texting his colleagues, on a business call, or recruiting new employees. He's always working even if he's out of the office. This was tough for me to understand at first. But in order to be successful in this business he has to be fully committed. It's a full time job being an entrepreneur but all the hours will be worth it, if it means having financial freedom the rest of your life.
The upside of being an entrepreneur is Mikey is his own boss and has the independence to call the shots. He will eventually create his own schedule too. This will be so convenient for both of us because there are so many things we want to do and we need time and money to make that happen.
Whenever the tough times begin to weigh me down, he reminds me to focus on the big picture. Everything may not be perfect right now, but we have our future to look forward to. We have to make these sacrifices now... so it will pay off later.
(Literally will pay off later = $$$ *Cha-Ching!*)
We both want the same things out of life. We understand each other and we support one each others dreams. I think that is so important! It's healthy to have this understanding of each other in a relationship in order to be successful in life (and even business!). I've learned that the things he does or doesn't do is never intentional to hurt me. But he's doing it for me... for us.
My advice to you:
Be Understanding. Even when you don't understand and in those moments you don't-- ask questions! If this is a world that is new to you like it was for me, don't be afraid to ask your S/O the details. They should want to include you as much as possible in their plans.
Be supportive. An entrepreneur is starting from scratch and building their business from the ground up. They need all the support they can get. And when they are getting that support from the person they love and want to build this future with, it means so much more.
I've never had a doubt in my mind that Mikey wasn't going to be successful. I am mesmerized by his work ethic and his effortless trait of being a leader. He has touched so many lives and continues to be an influence on so many young professionals. He's so business-oriented, hardworking, and driven. He has all the qualities of an outstanding entrepreneur. He just has to work a lot (for now) and I know that. Through this journey I am going to be there to support him and cheer him on. He has opened my mind to this business world I never knew existed. He's taught me so many things about life and how to make your dreams a reality. He lays it all out on paper, so it makes sense to me. He even has me thinking about all the businesses I want to start! We're constantly throwing out different ideas and business propositions to each other. I'm just so thankful for all I've learned being in his life the past few years. He's an incredible person with incredible dreams and I'm looking forward to our bright future together.
So you may wonder if it's all worth it?
late nights
early mornings
long phone calls
conferences
recruiting
marketing
My answer is: Yes.
Dating an entrepreneur may be tough sometimes, but I'll tell you what, loving him is the easiest thing I've ever done.
I'm so proud of you, Michael! I love you!