First, I enrolled in an 8-week certificate program in Entrepreneurship designed to teach you the fundamentals of starting your own business. Second, I took a position with a small, family owned business. The certificate program enticed me with the dream of becoming a business owner, but it was my time with the family owned business that allowed me to experience entrepreneurial fundamentals first hand and become deeply involved in the use of software to create business leverage. Ultimately, this opened the door to my first software consulting job.
Despite my years of planning and mapping out a corporate career, I suddenly found myself taking an unexpected left turn. I had just completed my MBA and had lined up two job interviews on the same day - one as a financial planner and the other, lesser known to me, as a software consultant. To my surprise I took the later. Nearly 16 years later, I have consulted with hundreds of organizations worldwide and started three successful companies. Hands down, the most valued assets along the way have been my personal mentors.