The 5 Reasons Why I Started My Own Business
If you’re currently reading this from the comfort of a cubicle, or perhaps from the frantic chaos of a home office, you know the feeling. You’ve got that itch. It’s the creeping thought that there’s something more you could be doing, or perhaps a different way you could be doing it.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been right there with you. I spent 20 years climbing the career ladder, from my early days earning my stripes at a boutique studio in the mountains of Colorado to the corporate grind at companies like DISH and AXS TV. I’ve built brands, managed teams of talented designers I now call friends, and navigated the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing. By all accounts, I am successful. But I was also following a roadmap that someone else had drawn.
Leaving the comfort of a steady paycheck to start my own business – CauseRoads – was the scariest decision I’ve ever made. I had worked very hard for a sense of stability, and starting something new meant leaving that all behind. However, once I pushed past the fear, I opened up to a level of professional fulfillment I didn’t think possible. It’s been the best career decision I have made yet.
So, whether you’re a designer feeling the plateau, a marketer looking to align with your values, or just someone ready to build your own “thing,” here are 5 reasons why you should seriously consider starting your own business.
1. You Finally Get Control
In the corporate world, “creative direction” is often a polite term for following marching orders. You become a master at executing someone else’s vision, which is a great skill to have, but it eventually leaves you wondering: What would this look like if it were truly mine? Starting your own business means you are the one making the calls. You set the direction, you choose the partners, and you define where the road takes you.
By early 2025, I was suffering from pretty severe career anxieties, not knowing which direction to take next. I wasn’t sure if I still had the passion for brand building and design, and I was considering starting completely over in a different career. After a fly-fishing retreat with one of the non-profits I support – Fishing the Good Fight – where I got to work out life’s challenges on the river, I realized it wasn’t the work that was the problem. It was my environment. I was ready to break free and do things my way. I needed a change of scenery…big time. I encourage others who have found themselves in a similar rut to look at all options before abandoning their passions by mistake. A change in your environment and being your own boss may be just the ticket.
“I realized it wasn’t the work that was the problem. It was my environment.”
2. You Can End the Boredom
We’ve all reached that stalemate. You’ve mastered the software, you’ve handled the project types, and you’re just “going through the motions.” I realized that my need for a challenge wasn’t going to be satisfied by learning the latest plugin or taking on another project that looked exactly like the one I had finished last month.
I am a creative person by nature. I love making things from scratch, bringing something into the world that didn’t exist before. I am a weekend warrior in the woodshop and love making things with my hands. That same love of creation extends to the kitchen with cooking, building raised garden beds for my gardening hobby, and creating things for friends and family. Once I realized that I could take that same passion and channel it into creating a business, I was off and running! It’s a never-ending project to build, shape, and mold over time. There’s no time to be bored!
3. You Can Make an Impact
As I can attest firsthand, a profound shift happens in your 40s. You can look back at a reasonably accomplished career, but start to question the impact of your work. For me, it was a gut-check. Print ads go in the trash. Social media posts vanish in seconds. Even the brands you pour years of your life into can disappear or be rebranded into something unrecognizable. I realized I wanted my professional life to result in something more than just billable hours.
Looking at my family’s careers made it even harder to swallow. My father spent 30 years protecting Colorado’s air quality, and my mother worked at Kaiser as a Physical Therapist helping patients recover; both made direct, positive impacts on the world around them. My career impact, however, was only as good as the clients I served, and I hadn’t yet worked for a company that made that kind of difference.
That led to an ‘aha’ moment: by starting my own business, I could change that. While design and marketing don’t traditionally fall into the ‘do good’ category, I realized I could make a difference by focusing on supporting businesses that were doing good themselves. I could help strengthen their identities, clarify their stories, and help maximize their real-world impact. That’s how CauseRoads was born.
4. You Can Find Your People
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to work with talented colleagues who have become lifelong friends. There is a unique camaraderie in the corporate world that I truly cherish. However, as my focus shifted to bettering the world and my community, I realized I needed to make new connections. Starting my own business gave me the opportunity to seek out the partners who share my mission. I quickly realized that my mission-driven goals weren’t going to be achieved in a silo; I needed a support system of mentors, connectors, and like-minded collaborators who were all heading in the same direction.
So I got out of the home office, I got off the internet, and I started talking to people…in the real world. What a concept! I attended Colorado Startup Week and was supremely inspired by the entrepreneurs I met, which fueled my own ambitions further. I then started to reach out to people within the mission-driven space – like Dani Dotterosa at Auctions by Dani – and discovered a whole new world of passionate people who had found a variety of ways to make a positive impact that I had never even considered. I walked away from those networking events and conversations realizing two things: 1) I couldn’t do this on my own and needed a support system of mentors and connectors who could educate me and help me grow my business; 2) I could make much more of an impact if I didn’t try to do it solo, and instead partnered with those same people and organizations.
“I got off the internet, and started talking to people…in the real world. What a concept!”
5. You Can Be the Change You Want to See
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the state of the world today. Economic pressures, rapid technological shifts, and environmental issues can make anyone feel like they have lost control. I certainly feel that way sometimes. But one of the most powerful things about starting a business is realizing that you don’t have to “fix the world” to make a real difference. You just have to fix your little corner of it.
My “aha” moment here came from my personal life. My 14-year-old daughter came home fuming after a typical day of high school drama. Instead of trying to “fix” the problem, I took her for ice cream at one of our local favorites, Howdy Homemade Ice Cream (which deserves a special shout-out for creating sustainable jobs for people with special needs!). After a huge hug, it was obvious that the small gesture went a long way. I realized that’s all I needed to do with my business. I didn’t need to change the entire world; I just needed to make an impact on a small scale. I can make a difference in my community by providing agency-level creative support to the smallest business owners and the most generous non-profit organizations. I’m doing my part with CauseRoads, making an impact where I can because I see the direct results in the people and communities around me. I hope to inspire you to do the same. Go out and make a change, no matter how small it may seem, because together we can move mountains.
Where Do You Go From Here?
Starting your own business isn’t about jumping into the unknown without a plan. It’s about creating a foundation that aligns with your passions. It takes discipline, courage, and a willingness to learn as you go… as I’m learning every day.
If you’re considering making a move of your own, or if you’re just curious about what the transition looks like, I’d love to hear from you. Reach out, ask questions, or let’s grab a coffee. If you’re interested in following my progress and gaining resources for your own entrepreneurial path, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow my channels. I’d love to build something meaningful together.
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