When Steve Jobs recently passed away I listened to his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech again. Jobs described how he felt like a big disappointment when he was fired from Apple, but that he later realized that this was the best thing that could have happened to him; that he was once again a beginner and less sure about everything. Jobs kept on doing what he loved and now entered one of the most creative periods of his life.
This reminded me of an event that I recently attended with Herringbone called WomenRock. WomenRock was sponsored by an organization called Fearless Women Entrepreneurs, which is a network for entrepreneurial women founded by Starla Sireno and Laura Guy. The event was very TED like in nature, dynamic and engaging. Many women in attendance were on the edge of becoming entrepreneurs, able to do what they are truly passionate about and to start a new chapter in their lives. Many were also scared of taking this gigantic step, scared of starting a new life, scared of stopping what they are doing now, scared of being failures, and scared of starting all over as beginners and less sure about everything.
Fearless Women Entrepreneurs had gathered some very inspirational speakers that once took this gigantic step in order to show that it is ok to have these scary thoughts and that the speakers once had them too. For example, Megan Casey from Squidoo was once afraid too, but explained that starting your own business takes a lot of things, but mostly it takes guts. Guts doesn’t mean you’re not afraid; it means you do it anyway, she explained, which I found very inspiring.
Not only were there speakers at Women Rock, but also exhibitors functioning as another example of women who once took that gigantic step and started their own businesses. Herringbone was one of the exhibitors. Johanna gladly shared her story of starting Herringbone and how she made her dream come true and we both explained how other companies can get heard in the social media jungle by engaging with Herringbone. See photos from the event on our facebook page.
Steve Jobs probably didn’t attend any Women Rock events, but he sure felt like a big failure when he was fired from Apple and was scared of what was to come. Looking back, we’re all glad Jobs’ life took a different turn and that he continued doing what he loved. I’ll end my blog post with this quote:
“Work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
-Steve Jobs (2005 Stanford University Commencement Speech)
Anna
