PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
Failure is nothing more than life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course.
— Sarah Blakely, Founder and President of Spanx
Thanks to s2 art for sharing their work on Unsplash
By Shelly Buckland
WHAT FAILURE HAS TAUGHT ME
I
don’t think it is much of a secret that I am an entrepreneur, but what I don’t think most people know is that I am | 12
a serial entrepreneur. Yup, I LOVE starting businesses, or buying them, or just having them! Over the past 26 years, I have owned and operated over 10 businesses. Now, that sounds like a lot, and it is. With that many businesses, you might assume that I have been very successful at them, or at least most of them. But here’s the thing, I have failed at more businesses than I have been successful at, and honestly, it is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Honouring Failure Yes, you read that correctly: I honour every failure I have ever
had. Don’t think for one second that any failure didn’t hurt - in fact, they all bruised my ego, tarnished my pride and caused me great embarrassment! But that’s okay, because what I gained from all those failures far outweighed all of that. My first business was an auto trader, and although we were somewhat successful (we could pay the bills and ourselves), when we sold it, I was on top of world. I felt like a real entrepreneur, you know, one who could do anything, and that overnight success was in my grasp. I immediately started a real estate magazine and then proceeded to fall flat on my face. I published one magazine and that was it. I was crushed, and very embarrassed. I thought, “I guess I don’t know as much as I thought I did about business! Now what will I do?” There was one thing that business did give me, which was skills I didn’t have
