Hey, @darnscotty, happy for you that you've taken the liberating step! As someone who's on the second round of her own company (I resigned from my job in 1999 working for a Canadian company which wanted to repatriate me from South Africa to Canada - I was 37 at the time), I can testify to the deep satisfaction we can get from turning our creative juices to creating value on our own terms.
So why second, you ask? Well, 9/11 hit my little company hard - and let's face it, I couldn't even spell risk management at the time - and I ended up joining one of my South African clients as an employee again. I was retrenched middle of last year from another company and decided to use the opportunity to create a new venture, hopefully wiser or at the very least more knowledgeable on how to build a well-governed, value-creating initiative.
All of this to say it sounds like you've started on an exciting path with a lot of potential to create value in your world! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy the journey. Thanks so much for sharing it on Steemit - in many ways a global community of entrepreneurs, so a built-in group of cheerleaders, coaches and oracles who can share their own experiences and learnings. 😊😊
Thank you for stopping by @kiligirl, it's refreshing to see the enthusiasm here on Steemit. Even more interesting is the fact that we all have our own stories a& our own paths and to listen to where a lot of us were and where they have grown from. There is a lot of support, knowledge, guidance and information sharing on this site, but the global sense is the same. To have a means of an income.
The last couple of days since I posted this, I have to admit that I have noticed that my emotions and stress levels are going haywire. My personal pendulum is swinging around and I have to learn how to deal with centering myself.
The path will be a rockier one than what I am accustomed to, but luckily for me it has been travelled a couple of times.
So you were born in Canada? Besides work, why did you decide to move to the South of Africa?
Hi @darnscotty, for what it's worth, you might need to work on the nerves of steel part as you get used to not having a steady, predictable income in the short term. Cute young things offering you credit cards and all you have to do is provide 3 months of salary slips as proof of income...things like that are reminders that you've joined the other world of Not Salarimen. I'm not surprised your emotions are going haywire. You'd be a little odd if they didn't. You're finding a new normal and it's weird. There will be lots of support and guidance available! A big part of being an entrepreneur is psychological...and cricket. Getting 1s and 2s on the board instead of waiting for sixes. Those 1s and 2s can build into steady income in a shorter time than you expect. And just like in cricket, keeping your eyes on the ball. In this case, the ball is the question "Why am I doing this?" Thinking about what value you, @darnscotty, entrepreneur extraordinaire, can create with your unique talents and capabilities. A lot, I'll bet!
On me: I was actually born in England, and moved to Canada when I was 6 (ok, that was the parents moving - we followed along). I moved to South Africa for many reasons, starting with work (was transferred here by the Canadian company I was working for at the time), but I was waiting for that opportunity to open up as I'd been working off and on in Southern Africa since 1989, with Zambia as the hub of my work activities. Saw poinsettias growing as big as trees and "flowering" without having to be put in cupboards for 12 hours a day, and was hooked by Africa. The story was a bit more complicated than that, including a couple of dignity- and butt-bruising falls on the ice in January as I was walking to work in Montreal - I just decided to respond to the pull of Africa. When the company closed the office in Joburg a couple of years later and said "We're bringing you home," I had a light bulb moment that this is truly home, warts and all. So here I am. Home.