I grew up with my Dad owning his own small business. He and his business partner had between 6 and 11 employees during the 20+ years they ran the business together.
I saw the pressure my Dad was under. There were so many things that my Dad had to face: sales, payroll, utilities, workers' comp, other insurance issues, and more.
My Dad's business never had a website; he owned a tool and die company.
"I Never Want To Own My Own Business"
My Dad bought into the company in his late 30s.
I vowed never to be a business owner. I wanted to find a good company, work there for 40 years, and retire with the proverbial gold watch. My grandmother had retired from the telephone company and enjoyed her retirement before cancer took her. My grandfather was employed by the Metro-North railroad, first as someone in the rail yards and then as a conductor. He worked for them for more than 40 years.
When I married, my father-in-law was employed with Sikorsky Aircraft and he stayed there for almost 40 years.
It wasn't until I was in my 30s that I realized that being an employee was not for me.
Learning That Corporate Jobs Are NOT Safe
After I left college, I worked for various large companies, including PNC Bank, T. Rowe Price, the Tribune Media Company (at Homestead Publishing), and Nutramax Laboratories.
I went through several layoff scares. The first was when T. Rowe Price laid off people while I was a financial services representative in the early 2000s. Then, during the Sam Zell leveraged buyout of Tribune Media, there were two rounds of layoffs.
I realized that big companies were not as safe as they were in previous generations.
While with Tribune Media Company at Homestead Publishing, I was the Marketing Manager for The Aegis and other print properties. It was the early 2000s, and I knew something needed to be done to get online publications. In the fall of 2006, I began the web design certification offered at the local college. I used that knowledge to create websites for multiple magazines and publications.
Baby Steps To Becoming Self-Employed
In 2007, I launched ESGgraphics, a Bel Air, MD-based web design company.
I noticed that small businesses did not have many options when it came to marketing, web design, or web marketing.
The options seemed to be either a cheap faceless online company or a large and unaffordable local firm. I wanted to offer another option.
Since then, I have helped churches, accountants, restaurants, coaches, real estate agents (RealtorsTM), insurance brokers, human resource (HR) consultants, farmers, non-profits, solopreneurs, PTAs, artists, pest controlers, authors-writers, and more get online and build their audience.
