Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Passion into a Career

This post is part of a series inspired by Pathways to Progress, a Citi Foundation initiative that works with community partners, city officials and Citi employee volunteers to help low-income urban youth develop the leadership experience, professional skills and the workplace know-how they will need on their path towards college and careers. Follow the conversation on social media using the hashtag #Pathways2Progress 

There is no single path or silver bullet to becoming an entrepreneur. For me, the myriad of meaningful opportunities throughout my Citi career allowed me to gain the valuable skills and experiences I needed to take the next step in my professional life - opening my own business.

My entrepreneurial story was years in the making, but ultimately materialized when I homed in on my desire to help others develop their leadership skills to improve performance and productivity and create better work environments. I channeled this passion into opening my own consultancy and have learned quite a few lessons throughout my journey.

The great thing about entrepreneurship and starting your own business is that you are not tied to a particular area; entrepreneurship is in the DNA of a person, the physical location doesn't matter. What matters is tapping into your creativity, optimism and discipline.

I am incredibly excited that I have the opportunity to focus my career on what I am passionate about, and urge others to do so as well. When asked what I think makes an entrepreneur, my response is this: someone who is not afraid to follow his or her dreams, and is innovative, dynamic, and incredibly hard-working. Similar to how I turned my vocation into my job, people become entrepreneurs when they tap into what they are passionate about and make it their careers.

For those who are looking to follow their dreams and become successful entrepreneurs, I recommend that you keep the below in mind:

• Dream big. Entrepreneurs create a different world.
• Tenacity: Never give up on your vision to succeed. Success requires tenacity. Tenacity requires self-confidence and discipline.
• Teamwork is best. No individual can be good at everything.
• Work hard. Take responsibility.
• Deliver a great customer experience every time.
• The goal is to build a strong connection that clients treat your brand identity as their own.