My name is Lili and I started my entrepreneurial journey four years ago.
I had been with the armed forces before. 14 years with the police. Detective first class, to be precise. I investigated murders, abductions, white-collar crime, you name it. And because I spent a lot of time talking to suspects and informants, I thought Well, I guess I know how to handle people. I should be perfectly able to sell (as everyone was telling me sales was the number one skill if you wanted to make it in business). And because my confidence was pretty high (how difficult can that be? I can run a business, I’ve been running cases, after all…), one Friday afternoon I decided to leave. I mean, the decision was somewhat in my head for over a year by that Friday but I never really decided. But for some reason, on that Friday I walked into my captain’s office and turned in the notice (which I had prepared in my drawer, as well as most of my colleagues. That piece of paper is something you find in almost any detective’s drawer, ready to be used when an opportunity comes). We talked a bit, he was not happy, I was excited, and that was it. After a two-month period, I was free. As a bird, ready to take on the world.
I started working with my friends, who already had a consulting company. I was green so I actually didn’t start with consulting clients (I needed lots of consulting myself 🙂 but I took on online marketing for the company. I did some Facebook advertising ( I didn’t like it much, to be honest) and spent almost one year doing that before I really started learning how to become a consultant.
I basically started learning from my colleagues, signed up for some online courses, read a ton of books, you know how it goes. And then, one day I left the company and started my own consulting business. Sure, it was not as easy as it may sound but I made it through the tough times. I persevered and started actually making money. Which, by the way, is an incredibly empowering feeling.