01 Mar Live beautifully, dream passionately, love completely

A few months ago, my daughter and her friends created a three-minute short for the school film festival. The festival theme was, “What’s your story?” And they followed a narrative that emphasizes, “Passion moves us…. Live beautifully, Dream passionately, Love completely.” That sounds so moving and gratifying. How can we find our own life passions?

Passion is something that we often talk about to drive our daily mantras, our lifelong aspirations, and purpose in life. It is supposed to be the foundation of the story we are creating for ourselves, isn’t it?

At our Imprint incubator, we would even talk about it as a criterion for identifying founders that we want to work with. Entrepreneurs had to show visible passion so we would know that they would be driven to succeed and persevere wholeheartedly.

Is everyone lucky enough to have stumbled upon their true passion? When does it come? How is it found? Do we know it when we feel it? Can it be grown and nurtured? Can passions pivot and twist over time?

I often thought that passion has to be an earth altering, crusade to change the world type of noble cause. Mother Theresa or Malala Yousafzai. Or innovators such as Elon Musk or The Honest Company. That’s honorable, sure.

But what about real, raw, honest passion for the rest of us? What if you haven’t figured it out yet? That’s okay — because you have a lifetime to try different experiences and discover interest areas along the way. Dream big or dream incrementally or dream differently. Some of the most famous founders were later bloomers. Believe it or not – Vera Wang didn’t entertain the idea of becoming a designer until age 40, when she was frustrated with wedding couture. Julia Child didn’t learn to cook until age 36 and then opened her first cooking school in her 40s. John Pemberton didn’t create the formula for Coca-Cola until age 55. And Ray Kroc didn’t open his first McDonald’s until age 52.

Passion for pastries. I’ve been cooking pies, tarts, and pastries since I was age 9 or 10. I have pictures of myself taking photos of my delicacies with a white sheet backdrop and exquisite looking props in the background. Planning, prepping, baking, and consuming, whether mine or some respectable French patisserie is decadent. I know the subtle texture differences of emulsifiers and flavoring combinations and techniques. I’ve taken Pepperidge Farm to town by making my own puff pastry from scratch following Nancy Silverton. This is something I do year-round, for myself, friends and family. In another life, I could be very happy doing something in this arena. In another life…. which is okay because one can have multiple lifestyle passions (cooking, hiking, skiing, family), and these outlets are fulfilled as extra-curriculars. Sometimes this intersects with our chosen field of work, but not necessarily. Only you can tell if you have enough zeal to pursue an interest full time.

In terms of my career, my personal interest areas have defined my path pretty clearly. It began when I was six when I had the reputation of being, “the girl that asked a thousand questions.” I kept in touch with my amazing first grade teacher, Mr. Hilgert, and he revealed that this was not necessarily a label of pure endearment, but truthfully I was a bit annoying with my relentless inquisitiveness. I was never satisfied. Asking questions is something that I just do, and if I can’t find the answer, I will research it until content. Yes, I abuse our Google Home device, and yes, our pediatrician demanded that I stop bringing absurd questions from the Internet.  I recall being in sixth grade and drawing a picture of myself in a suit with a briefcase, whatever that meant. In high school, I knew that I wanted to be an Economics major, and my teacher Mr. Kennan brought me his own personal college Econ textbooks to check out. Business is what I was always going to do, period. So what am I passionate about? Economics, business, analysis, strategy, strategic marketing, and market research. I didn’t learn all of these disciplines until I experienced all of this in various projects, roles, classes. I’ve literally hand drawn (age 27) concentric circles of strategy, marketing, and consulting to try to discover the intersection. That’s the part of the story that leads me to Imprint Venture Lab and now, Built By She.

In the last handful of years, I have found that my adrenaline rushes when we are working with founders, running a strategy session, helping them visualize their future impact. I am infatuated with finding this idealistic glory and optimism. And then the next fun part is to help problem solve, identify priorities, and determine how to achieve their dream. This is what I am insanely passionate about. Facilitating this and helping people get there. Turning their idea it into something real. My emerging passion is using all of my insight, experience, and energy to help women entrepreneurs make their mark.

That’s my story thus far. Remember that your story is unfolding as we speak too. Always a work in progress, your story can pivot into new chapters, anytime. Building on old passions, new flames, core talents, or emerging aspirations. That is a beautiful thing.