When I launched my business Web site (www.VeronicaDeschambault.com), the Man made an interesting observation: "A lot of people in your family own their own businesses."
I'd never stopped and thought about it, but he's right.
My Irish grandfather ran a dry goods store in East Northport, New York. My Italian grandfather came to America with nothing but started a successful flower shop. When the Mafia pushed him out of the neighborhood because he wouldn't pay for "protection," he shut down the shop and began working as a gardener on some of the big estates on Long Island. He plowed money into real estate and owned several rental properties at the time of his death.
At one time after the war, my father had a dry cleaning shop but for most of his life he worked as a union electrician. When he retired, he began his own business, doing electrical work and repairing heating systems. He also taught night classes at the local vocational education school.
In his 20s, my oldest brother had a business doing electrical work and installing vinyl siding before joining corporate America as a technician. My other brother worked for two international corporations before starting his own business providing editorial services. He's been working independently for about 15 years now, and we've worked together on projects a few times.
My sister has been very successful running a sales business from Atlanta, and her son began his first business when he was in his second year of college. He has at least three different enterprises in motion now. He's a whiz at promotion. The product he designed while still in college is sold in the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop and in well known catalogs. He has been on the front page of USA Today and on CNN news. He's not even 30 yet!
While still in her 20s, my niece, a self-taught potter, had a successful shop in Hilton Head, SC, and also sold her wares to major hotels there. Now a mother of three very young children, she's on sabbatical but hopes to return to pottery in the future. Another niece, Granola-Grrrl, supports herself and her three boys with her green cleaning business in Texas. My kids, aged 14 and 12, have a business doing dogwalking, car washing, and yard work in our neighborhood.
Last night Granola-Grrrl and I were discussing our businesses and our family's tendency to be self employed. We joked that we didn't like to be bossed around by someone else, but that was truly a joke. Neither of us has major issues working for someone else. Besides, anyone who has been self-employed knows that you're not really working for yourself, you're working for your customers/clients and they can "boss you around" in their own way. Working always demands cooperation.
I think the reason my family spawns entrepreneurs and business owners is not because we don't fit into the workplace but because we're passionate about how we live our lives. We have a strong sense of self-determination and quiet confidence in our abilities. A few of us are highly ambitious, hardworking, risk-takers, but most of us work more modestly.
We're self-employed because we are trying to strike a balance between work and family, between income and self-fulfillment. We like to chart our own course and meet our own standards in quality of life and quality of work. We know what satisfies and what sucks the life out of us. We have reserved the right to say "No."
Sometimes we create jobs for ourselves out of necessity. Like my immigrant grandparents, we make our own opportunities. American culture encourages drive, innovation, and independence. It is one of the things I love most about being here.
Are you self-employed or do you work for a family business? Any entrepreneurs in your family? Quietly self-employed or hard-charging? Happy working for someone else or dreaming of doing it yourself? Tell me about it!
March 11, 2010 at 9:54 