The airport limo will be here in a few hours and tomorrow morning we'll land in my second favorite place in the world, Paris. Tomorrow is our 25th anniversary. The trip was a surprise for my wife, which I sprung the night before Thanksgiving. (I was going to tell her on the way to the airport but my kids convinced me to give her some notice.)
A quarter century ago, on the day we got married, I was a corporate executive working for a fast-growing media company. I was too busy (actually, too paranoid) to take off work for a honeymoon. Married Saturday, back to work Monday. In fact, I felt a little guilty for not going into the office Saturday morning. My boss used to say (half-kidding), "If you don't come in on Saturday, don't even bother coming in on Sunday."
Three children followed. The first two were born on Sundays. Baby on Sunday, and I was back to work on Monday. That was my mentality for the next few decades. Many of us who grew up in corporate life in the Eighties and Nineties felt the pressure, the paranoia of career ladders.
I fell off the ladder in 2001. I half-jumped, and was half-pushed. I started my own business ventures. I can't say I felt good about entrepreneurship at the time. Mostly, I felt defeated, exhausted and scared, but tried my best to buck up and make a go of it. The first few years of being in business were pretty miserable. I was working more than before, making no money and watching my savings evaporate.
But about four years into it, things started to change. I was able to begin paying myself, my businesses were profitable, and I started believing I could do this for the long run.
Since then it's been incredibly fun. The hours are still long, but I set them. I spend almost every night at home, instead of traveling on business, which I hate. I got to see my kids grow up, and they got to see me smiling. We got to be a family the way families are supposed to be.
The money is pretty much back to what it used to be during my corporate days, but that's not the most important part. The most important part is Paris. Not the city itself, but what it represents. Even though we're flying coach, and we don't have any dinner reservations at fancy restaurants, I feel a sense of having earned this trip from the ample profits of our work (my wife is also my business partner).
Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, and it's not romantic. But Paris sure is. See you in a week
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