My Entrepreneurship Story

I've been exposed to the realm of entrepreneurship in business through my mother. When I was a child, my mother always used to talk about her dreams of launching a small business that would become popular in our local community. Her business idea was to sell jewelry and other fashion accessories. She was absolutely fascinated by adorning her outfit with a variety of bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings, and more -- many people that noticed would often compliment her and ask where she had bought her jewelry. As a young child I'd often sit next to her and toy with the trinkets on her wrist. She had a variety of ornate jewelry that came in a variety of different shapes, colors, and details.

Slowly, she began expanding her inventory in order to make her entrepreneurial dream come to life. Soon thereafter, "Mimi's Fashion Jewelry" began gaining small revenue from frequent customers. My mom would often visit many places with her friends around town such as gyms, restaurants, and apartment clubhouses to showcase her business, display the eye-catching jewelry, and network for customers. She ended up opening a small store on the other side of town -- and I vaguely remember accompanying her to decorate the interior of the store, my favorite memories being the Christmas decor during the holidays.

During the 2008 recession, the business had stopped becoming profitable and growth began to slow down. My mother stopped working as hard to keep things going as she had previously done so for many years, as income significantly struggled for her customers and even for herself. The small shop closed down, and the remaining inventory was quickly sold off. Today, my mother often reminisces on the great memories she made by chasing her entrepreneurial dream -- and we admire how far she was able to go for something she was truly passionate about. She worked incredibly hard, dedicating entire years to expanding her business and consumer outreach. Even now, she often thinks about starting up Mimi's Fashion Jewelry again -- as every time she runs into a friend or past customer, they ask her if she has continued to sell her glistening accessories again.

My mother definitely serves as a source of inspiration for my own entrepreneurial and business dreams. She treated all of her customers like good friends -- allowing her to develop a close relationship with them and thus deeply understand their wants. Her primary focus was on putting the customer first, and by taking their perspective to give them access to the most demanded, popular accessories on the market. She created a community of hardworking women that loved to adorn their fashion -- she found her niche, and that is ultimately one of my biggest goals as an entrepreneur.

I'm enrolled in this class as a finance major to better understand the importance of entrepreneurship in the field of business -- as they serve as the creative minds that introduce new products, ideas, and advancements to markets. I've always been fascinated with the hard work that is behind every successful entrepreneur, and I hope to develop and learn more about those skills in the class. I want to learn how to become a creative thinker -- and come up with innovative ideas to solve problems and improve the tools we use in our society.

** This is not an actual image/jewelry piece from her business, but it is very similar to the types of accessories she used to sell.