THE EMPTY SUIT: HOW I TRADED EGO FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

At one point in my life I had networked my way into the position of: Senior Sales Associate in Investment Sales. It came with a cubicle in a downtown high-rise. I wore a nice suit everyday to work (expect Friday’s of course), talked a lot of fancy numbers and financial jargon, attended high-brow meetings, and was part of the crazy downtown lunch hour. I was really embracing my inner finance bro. My ego was fed everything it ever wanted. The reality of the situation—I had less money, less time, and less fulfillment than ever before. I stopped and asked myself one day: “would I do this if I wasn’t getting paid to it?” I mean, would I really do this, pushing paper back and forth in a nice (but oh so tight) suit if I wasn’t hoping for a nice commission check at the end of it all? HELL NO. The reason I thought to ask myself that question was because of a Warren Buffet documentary I watched in college. He’s such an adorable, humble man. He said the key to being happy in his eyes is to work a job you’d work even if you didn’t need the money. That really stuck with me.

If you want, I found a clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7RPsGCmByE

So I made a choice to lean into the gym venture that had occupied so many pages of my personal journal. I’ll try to find a picture. If there’s a picture and you’re still reading this it’s because when I write I just let my thoughts flow. I don’t want to stop to find a photo and if I don’t find the photo then the reference wouldn’t make sense so I had to explain it and now I’m rambling. Anywho, fast forward to today. My title is “small business owner.” Or at least that’s what I have to put on any and all forms I fill out. And let me tell you… there are so many forms. Literally just always forms to fill out and I don't even know why.

So small business owner isn’t exactly as sexy as Senior Sales Associate—that one makes parents proud. But it’s more real. It’s actually wild to think about how caught up in a “position” I was. A job title. A status. But literally for what? Oh young Bonde so silly and ignorant. I think I just wanted to feel good about myself. Sometimes the feeling of success is just as pleasurable as success itself. Except then the feeling fades and you’re left with nothing but reality… I think about how easily I could’ve gone down that road and yeah probably made great money, but all for what? To buy shit I would ultimately lose interest in like the job title that got me those things in the first place?

Now, I personally prefer the title entrepreneur. Not because I think it’s sounds cooler, but because I own multiple small businesses, so it’s more representative. Some of the ventures generate more revenue than others. Some have employees, partnerships, some are online, in-person, etc. I just like to do stuff and sometimes people like to pay for that stuff. That’s literally my best explanation of me and what I do. It’s my life. It’s who I am. One minute I might be writing an email, then I might be working out, then I might be on the phone with a new software company, then I might be doing yoga, then I might be checking in U-Haul trucks. My brain just jumps from thing to thing. When I was younger it almost got me kicked out of grade school. Now, it’s a tool I’ve learned to craft over the years. One that doesn’t belong in a suit and tie. At least not everyday.

My favorite part of it all is the creative component. I am the least artistic one in my family. My dad, my sisters (all three of them) can draw so well. Me… well, I was always athletic. I’ll try to find a photo of a hand-drawn portrait I made for my mom as a child. It’s bad. And when I say it’s bad, I mean she looked like the evil magic wizard from Avengers Infinity War that was Thanos’s right hand man. The sad part is I gave it to her for her birthday thinking it was good… We’ve all been there. The point of the story is this: I like to think I have a creative brain, but my ability to translate it doesn’t come out in the way most think it would. I feel like I can express my creativity through business. I love branding and I love figuring out different ways to do things. It’s like problem solving meets creativity. Just don’t ask me to draw shit.

What am I even talking about at this point? The moral of the story is this:

I was blinded by my ego on an empty journey for status. Don’t fall prey to it. Figure out what you’d do if you didn’t have to work. Try to find a way to monetize it. I coined a phrase a little bit back called “Monetize your hobby.” I made a series of YouTube videos before the ADHD got the better of me. Making money as you is the most fulfilling career path you can take. Notice how I didn’t say easiest. It’s simple, not easy. Many people make their wealth and then get bored or lost. You achieve the financial goal but don’t love the work… now what? Entrepreneurship doesn’t just allow you to be you, it calls you to be you. It’s the greatest way to express oneself and build a career in the process. It’s literally you putting your value up for judgement in front of the world. It’s a terrifying thing, but damn is it rewarding. Don’t chase titles. Figure out what’s meaningful to you and find a way to craft a life around it.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Pain & Gain, one of my favorite movies:

“A "doer" is someone who takes action and makes things happen, while a "don'ter" is a person who hesitates, doubts, and stays on the sidelines, ultimately creating regret instead of results.”

Go be a doer,

~ Bonde