Fired By Family

My Entrepreneurial Journey - Part I

How I Became an Entrepreneur

Every entrepreneur has a story about how and why they went into business for themselves. For some, the story is textbook. The journey well planned and thought out, with a business plan, investors and the perfect business school path. However, entrepreneurship arrives unexpectedly for so many others, often through hardship or pain. My story falls in the latter category. Here is how I became an entrepreneur. 

I graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in French. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I didn’t want to teach. Then, a knee surgery brought me home to Oklahoma City, where my grandfather had a small business he was willing to hand over to me to run. Lacking any other viable options, I accepted the position. 

I quickly learned that studying French had taught me nothing about business, so I went back to school at night and got an MBA at OU while working full-time at the company I was running. That was a great experience, and I made some lifelong friends, but it was hard work and a lot of long late nights. Nonetheless, studying business in an environment where you can practice what you learn is a great exercise. For me, it was much more relevant and meaningful than if I’d tried to study business during my college years. But I digress.

I wasn’t officially an entrepreneur at this point in my career, but I was acting a lot like one. My grandfather and his two brothers owned the family business, so they ultimately had decision-making authority (and veto power over some of my fantastic business school ideas). But my grandfather and I together ran the day-to-day operations. We developed a great working relationship during the five years we had together. I learned a lot about myself and developed some cherished memories I will never forget. And Papa gave me a lot of freedom and leeway to make decisions and do my own thing. It was a great working relationship that made me feel like I was large and in charge, but at the end of the day, I was still just an employee of the company. 

I found that out the hard way when one day my grandfather became ill. Deathly ill. The family shareholders moved in to decide who would run the company in his absence. They did not fully understand my role, the work I had done to grow the company, and the relationship my grandfather and I had. Very unfortunately, they saw me as a young woman who had too much power and was making too much money. So they let me go to save money and put someone more qualified in charge of the business. Overnight, the company I had worked so hard to build was no longer mine to run.

Their move did not work out as they had envisioned. In addition to building a relationship with my grandfather, I had also spent time building rapport with my underwriters. When they found out I was on the street, they broke an exclusivity contract that I had with my (former) family to bring me on as an additional agent so they could continue to work with me. By law, I had to have an attorney on staff, so my dad and I teamed up and started our own business. And just like that, I was a true entrepreneur. 

While this was a great situation for me, it put my ailing grandfather in an untenable position. He now saw his family at war with each other, and I’m sure felt caught between the two sides. He was still partners with his brother and nephews, who owned the original agency (and who had fired his granddaughter), and was being invited by his son and granddaughter to join them in their new venture. One day he locked all the doors to his house, laid down in the middle of his living room floor, and quietly went to sleep. Never to wake again. 

In the meantime, I graduated from grad school, and all my friends moved away to find higher-paying jobs in other cities. This included a guy I was dating at the time, who I was pretty crazy about. So in the span of less than a month, I lost my job, my grandfather, my boyfriend, and most of my closest friends. Those were some dark days that I am glad to have behind me. 

While that was a very difficult period of my life, getting fired by my family ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to me. Becoming my own boss gave me a level of control over my business that I would not have otherwise had, and I could grow it in ways I would not have otherwise been able to do. I also got out from under the control of some pretty outdated and antiquated chauvinistic ideas that would have never allowed me to thrive. 

I don’t hate my family for what they did to me. In fact, I’m grateful. If they hadn’t let me go, I would have never become the entrepreneur I am today. 

So, what’s your story? Did you have a controlled entry into the entrepreneurial world, or were you thrust into it by unforeseen circumstances? Post about it, because I’d really love to know.