Reflections from Melanie Spring:
One year ago, on May 1, after years of giving my skills to help entrepreneurs & corporations, I went back to what I was meant to do – be an entrepreneur myself. It’s been one year of hiring, setting up an office, growth, pain and excitement. The knowledge that you and those working for you are relying on you and your decisions is scary but can show you who you really are.
Over the last year I’ve gone from having an office in my bedroom and being a jack-of-all-trades to being a boss with employees and an office in downtown Bethesda. Being salesperson, project manager, admin and accountant is no easy task for anyone so I found people to replace my lesser skills and every one of them excelled. Thinking you know everything is one of the biggest hurdles any entrepreneur has to get over.
Starting #DCTweetup and watching it grow has been a wonder in itself. In June 2009 we had our first, consisting of 10 locals. Our April event had 90 attendees and now we’re sponsoring #TEDxPotomac’s pre-party & after-party. The amount of incredible people I’ve met through these events is astounding. Networking & friend-making at its finest.
Setting up an office seemed like it would be cut and dry until our painter turned out to be the maintenance guy who knows less than I do about painting. After having the flooring installed and throwing painting parties to finish the paint, we started ordering furniture. Every day brought a box full of goodies. Waiting in painful anticipation for 100-year-old door desks custom-made by my father, as we worked at our conference room table while sewing curtains between projects, had its own set of excitement and drawbacks.
While I sit here looking out my big open windows reflecting on the last year of clients ranging from restaurants to coaches and international non-profits to government contractors, I smile that things have gone so well. We've even been interviewed by CNN! I wouldn’t be a true entrepreneur if I didn’t have knots in my stomach about what’s to come but with the ups and downs that have already happened, I’ve learned I can’t worry about what I can’t control.
Being an entrepreneur has taught me so much about my personality, how I deal with good things and bad, and I’ve grown from being an employee for someone else to running a full-grown company in just a year. Thank you to all who have brought me to this point. Sisarina, my once imaginary friend, is now my life and I have all of you to thank you for that.
