As KD/PR Virtual Celebrates Ten Years, I Reflect on What Has Motivated Me the Most in Business

This week, I celebrate 10 years of owning my own business. I actually can’t believe it’s been a decade since I left the agency world and struck out on my own. I wouldn’t recommend anyone do it like I did – with a three-week-old new baby, no savings and no plan – but it still remains the best decision I ever made.

In celebration, I thought I’d share two of the things that I think have contributed most to my success.

1) Determination to succeed in the face of competition

The agency business can be competitive and after I left, my previous employer went out of the way to discount my abilities and at times, to come right out and ask potential clients not to work with me. It’s a small town, and I lost some valuable business in my early years. I’ll never know why they treated me so unkind, and probably never will. But that adversary sure did motivate me! By staying positive and not joining the cat fight, I even gained a client or two who didn’t appreciate the negativity on the other side, and appreciated my taking the “high road.”My advice for business success? Think of the couple of doubters, competitors or whoever really doesn’t want you to succeed. They’ll motivate you like nothing else.

2) Seeing too many people having to choose between their career and raising a family.

Some companies have figured it out, but let’s face it, most managers still doesn’t value family enough, and it’s downright hard to juggle a job and babies. I found a way to make it work for me, and having a chance to help others figure out that balance out has been a huge motivation for building my virtual firm.

While I initially thought that money and a flexible schedule would be the biggest rewards, it turns out, those were just the necessary parts. What has been most fulfilling is the chance to help other men and women who want to stay home with their children, or who seek a more balanced quality of life, to go into business on their own. My virtual firm now subcontracts to 10 other amazing entrepreneurs. Many of them have young children who are a priority. The members of my team are some of the best at what they do, and they’re happy to be working on their own terms, instead of working for someone else. They have life/work balance, and that makes them better workers and better parents. Their happiness shows in the quality of work they do. I hope they value the support network we’ve built for each other as much as I do. Seeing them be successful is the greatest reward I could ever receive.

My business success strategy so far hasn’t been the one that is paved with the least emotional pain, but it continues to work, and I’m thankful for it. What are the factors that made you successful? What motivates you the most?

 

Welcome to the Virtual View!

I’m diving into blogging with lots of reservations. After looking at blogs I follow, I know that I don’t have the wit, humor or knowledge that many who are blogging possess. There are enough people out there giving advice on public relations, and I don’t see room for even one more mommy blogger.

What I do hope to share are my unique insights as I work with clients, virtual team members, friends and family. I consider myself a newbie on the social networking front, but I hope to show how KD/PR Virtual is using social media successfully (or not so successfully). 

Along the way, I also hope to share some of those “ah ha” moments that seem to be coming more frequently these days. I’ve been a woman-owned, small business owner for nearly a decade in Anchorage. KD/PR Virtual is thriving in the down economy. Virtual PR firms are on the rise. I waited to have kids until I was 38 and 42 years old. I am still playing competitive sports in my late 40s. In all of these ventures, I have consciously chosen to not follow the same path as many would take. Perhaps I’m just crazy, but hopefully I can share a different perspective!

Are there other things you’d like to see in the Virtual View? Send me your suggestions.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.