Don’t Let Your Mind Get in the Way of Your Book Deal

I am the daughter of two entrepreneurs.

My mom and dad ran a small, independent insurance agency in North Central Wisconsin for nearly 40 years. I grew up answering the phone like a 8-year-old secretary, learning how to smile politely while my dad sold policies to farmers, and watching my mom ask for receipts on anything and everything that could be considered a business expense.

Growing up, my mom and dad always seemed like confident entrepreneurs building the life they wanted. So it surprised me a couple of years ago when my mom told me that she and my dad had an opportunity to expand their business in the mid-1980s.

They could have grown the business, she said, but were scared about what it would mean to hire employees. She worried about having to move locations and not being able to work from home anymore. At the time, she had a super-flexible schedule that allowed her to take care of me and my brother when we were sick or had days off school.

My mom and dad liked their life as it was . . . so they chose not to expand the business.

When I heard this story, I was reminded of The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. (If you haven’t read it, you really should. It’s one of my favorites. And a backlist bestseller.)