Rooted in my Heritage: An Entrepreneurial Journal

This week in our Introduction to Entrepreneurship class we studied Honesty and Ethics.  As Sister Sheri Dew stated in her 2004 devotional titled, "True Blue, Through and Through", this topic, namely having cultivated the virtue of integrity can "make or break your career." Being an honest and ethical business man or woman goes beyond trying to merely stay out of prison or even trying to stay above the law.  As we read about in Elder Lynn G. Robbin's devotional "Making a Living and a Life," being an ethical person has more to do with our motivations behind our actions than it has to do with how well we follow a law or set of business rules.  Elder Robbins used the familiar grading scale to demonstrate his point where he assigned a letter grade to various employments based upon their primary motivations for how they transact business.  Businesses matching each grade level can be found in all industries and business types throughout the world. Naturally, ...

 This week our studies were centered around creating a life of meaning.  We spent time reflecting on what core values are important to us, what our childhood dreams were and maybe still are, the bucket list items that we hope to accomplish during our time here on earth and what kind of plan we want to create for our life to help us accomplish our goals. I love this kind of pondering!  This is dreaming and planning and figuring out what brings me joy.  I have been doing this kind of thing since I was kid laying in my parents backyard looking up at the fluffy clouds, wondering what my life might be like.  I'm a dreamer.  I like to create plans and put them into action.  I've been able to experience a lot of really cool things that way.  One of our readings this week was a transcript of Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture: Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams." Randy was a dreamer too.  Even though his life was cut short due to cancer, he lived a rem...

 I have to admit that I am a bit apprehensive to begin taking the Introduction to Entrepreneurship class.  This is a direction of study that is well outside of my comfort zone and is unlike anything that I have ever studied in my life. I'm a history gal, a mom, a service oriented leader, but an entrepreneur?  That's a difficult label to apply to myself.  However, as I conclude my studies for Family History Research, my goal is to, first, work as an independent researching genealogist, then add credentials in lecturing, before finally opening my own genealogical retreat center where people can come learn genealogical skills or get help with a genealogical problem in a setting that is also recreational, relaxing, and  transformative as I create an experience that is custom built according to the needs of the client. To accomplish any of these three goals would make me an entrepreneur; so here I am!   During our assignments this first week, I really reson...