It’s five am, my alarm rings, I wake up redundantly and prepare for a long day of heat and toil. Am I going to build financial A.I or work for a global nonprofit? No, I am going to sell Belgian waffles at some kid’s three million dollar twelfth month old birthday party. Younger, I would ponder: “why did my father, a successful interior designer, choose to drop everything to found a waffle company?”. This was mostly do to my sheer hate of the tedious necessities of running a business. To be frank the first 2 years of most businesses are tough, a business is almost so demanding that the owners work for it rather than the other way around. I will never forget the many hectic multi-day work days of the young company. Those 24-48 hour non-stop shifts were the biggest wake up calls of my life and taught me hard work pays off. I have matured since the founding of the company, as I see I have progressed along with the company. I understand now that the complexities of a business is equally present in large tech companies as it is in a growing franchise and greatly developed my character. As I have seen the progression of a small company from selling on cold streets in small carts, to opening storefronts and catering VIP events, I can be proud to say that I was part of it. In sum, this little waffle company taught me that if you take anything seriously and work hard to innovate and expand it, anything is possible. My father would always tell me, “take every job seriously and think of it as an opportunity, even if you are a garbage man. With time you can find an innovation or issue that could be the basis of a successful company”. Thousands of waffles later I can fully appreciate that principle through personal experience.
Thank you, and let no one tell you what area to focus on, all fields have avenues for growth; from garbage collection to algorithmic trading software.