First of all, I would like to thank everyone who viewed, commented and emailed me regarding my first post!  I truly appreciate the support.

One question I am asked constantly is “What was the catalyst for you jumping from your full-time job to being self-employed?”

Let me tackle this question by taking you back 4 1/2 years.  Back in 2012, I had a fabulous full-time job that I absolutely loved!  I was the Director of Marketing for one of the most popular and renowned restaurants in New Orleans.  My first son was 3 and I was pregnant for my second.  At this time, NolaCajun was 3 years running as well and a few months before we had been accepted into The Idea Village’s IDEAx program.

The Idea Village is an entrepreneurial organization here in New Orleans.  They focus on helping entrepreneurs grow their business.  Their IDEAx program is a 12-week accelerator program that assists entrepreneurs in creating scalable, fundable businesses.  Of over 300 applicants, our business was one of 20 chosen for the program that year.

Weekly my husband and I would meet with our mentors at the Idea Village for 1-2 hours and we would discuss different aspects of our business.  This experience was tremendous for us and for NolaCajun!  Our mentors spent numerous hours with us, going over every piece and part of NolaCajun and giving us countless pieces of advice that would help us grow our business.  At one point, about half way through the program, they brought up the idea of one of us jumping into the business full-time.  Both my husband (who also had a full-time job) and I balked at the idea.  We had a child, and another on the way, and bills, and a house note, and we liked having money in the bank…we didn’t think we were ready.

We also had a thriving business that we were staying up all hours of the night to run.  Some nights rushing to put our 3-year-old to sleep so we could try to get the work done and be able to be in bed for 2am, if we were lucky.  Maybe these guys had a point.  Would we be willing to give up some of our cushion in the bank for a little more sanity and family time in our life?

We marinated on this idea for a month or two before deciding to take the plunge.  Logically, me making the jump would make the most sense.  With the baby on the way, it could serve two purposes.  I could stay home with him in the beginning (at this point, we were still running the business out of our home) as well as do what was needed for the business.  It would also allow us to focus some time and energy into marketing NolaCajun, something that we never really got around to before because of lack of time.  So I did it.  I gave my “two weeks” (really one month) notice (which was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do) and became fully self-employed for the first time.

So that’s it, I hope you enjoyed the story!  It really was the best choice for us at the time and I am grateful we had mentors that knew us well enough to give us a kick in the butt when needed.

Stay tuned for my next blog post.  I will be posting on the 3 things you should know before making the jump to full-time self-employment!