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Why I’m Starting My Own Business
“Am I on brand?”, I asked myself as I looked in the mirror.
I was set for two client meetings and two pitch meetings, drinks with friends and a show that day. I wanted to look my best, both professional and confident. It was Friday. I had publicly launched my own business the day before. So, here I was on my first day of Victoria Cairl, Inc. wondering what the future would hold and hoping my wedges (not heels) would help get me through a very long and ambitious day. (I am smart but not too graceful, let’s be honest).
Then I realized, I determined my own brand. I would build my own culture. Everything that happens next, the good, the bad, was up to me. All the things I wish could be done differently or approached a in new way, were up to me. Everything was about to begin and for once, I was in the driver’s seat.
It felt amazing.
I wasn’t the first. Among my friends, several had started their own venture in the past few years. My peers in the industry (I work mainly in theater) were running large ad agencies, general management offices, press firms, tech startups, marketing and ticketing companies. What was I waiting for?
I’d spent nearly twenty years collecting all the “slices” as I thought of each job as a means to an end, filling the pie on a Trivial Pursuit game piece, getting my grad…