My goal is to provide encouragement to entrepreneurs as I maneuver through my entrepreneurial journey. I’ve determined that my formal education is a useful baseline when starting a business; however, emotional intelligence, personality traits and a true moral compass have a significant role in entrepreneurship.

As an entrepreneur, it feels like you’re on a mythological quest where the process of achieving your goal contains a multitude of obstacles resulting in lessons not about the problem but about you. Since July 2015, my business partner and I have toiled to birth our auto shopping website. While moving through the process, we’ve had joyful and distressed times after meetings with prospective investors, partners and collaborators. Our business plan, the programming code and my concept of starting a business has evolved. What’s in business books has certainly assisted me, I’ve listened without prejudice to mentors, investors and friends yet the lessons learned on this journey aren’t about SEO, ROI or marketing, the lesson was to clarify my self-perception and the business’ vision and mission.

My vision is to create an online application where women direct and enjoy their car buying experience. The mission to create the best priced, safest and easiest online auto shopping experience for women hasn’t changed from day one but the path to our March 2017 launch has changed several times. I’ve discussed, researched, received feedback, completed more research, recalculated projections, revised investor presentations, awakened before dawn to be early for 7AM breakfast meetings, called on friends for favors and have gone through my contacts to map out who would likely assist me with introductions, string-pulling, etc., all this activity has a purpose and price.

Your self-perception, emotional threshold and mental vigor will be further developed as an entrepreneur. Along the mythical journey as challenges are successfully accomplished; the entrepreneur’s purpose is to discover, accept and refine her talents, strengths and moral compass. It’s through this adversity that the shero indisputably understands herself and subsequently through success realizes her value.

Planning a business, securing capital and launching a business are generally formulaic tasks which thousands of books have detailed explanations and case studies as reference. Formal and continuing education are essential when preparing and sustaining your business. However, to endure and succeed in starting and launching your business, it’s not in a book, it’s in you. You’ve pulled the sword from the stone, so now begin your quest.

May your path be illuminated.