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I have been grappling with my professional identity for the last few years.  My personal definition of being successful has evolved as I met professional milestones and realized that the milestones I set for myself did not satisfy me. Back in 1998, my central goal was to earn my Masters Degree. I figured that would provide some sense of satisfaction that would tide me over. Soon, I realized it wasn’t enough.

As I entered in the work force full time, I aggressively sought milestones that promotion/status centric. I wanted my boss’s job. I managed to achieve that is very short time-frames and as with the academic goals, most of the time, very little satisfaction was really gained. With the exception of my position as the Program Management (PMO) Director at Move, Inc., most of the promotions and increases in compensation were not enough to keep me focused.

What was the major difference was the source of innovative inspiration that the promotions lacked. While the serving as the PMO Director, I had an amazing boss and a fabulous team that contributed more than they consumed from me. I was fortunate to have that experience, but like all things in business, it was not meant to last forever.

I am at another cross road in my career.  Financially, I am extremely fortunate, but my creative needs are not being fulfilled in any capacity and I often wonder, if it is time to go out on my own. No matter what I do, I work for someone else with someone else’s agenda dictating my professional priorities, my schedule and my future. I admit, I have a need for stability and security that comes with working for someone else, but I desperately want to be able to do it right, the way I see it–on my own terms.

I have a ground breaking idea for a web application that I truly believe will revolutionize the web and the social network space, but I am constrained by my financial choices in life and the lack of true startup experience that would allow me to deeply understand all the steps needed to get my idea off the ground. 

I also have very idealistic dreams of how I would structure such a company–one that I would own.  To start, I set up shop in the community where I live and I not outsource my talent to India or any other off shore developers. Creation of local jobs has a viral impact on the local economy and I have strong beliefs that exporting our money is a huge problem in our economy. Also, the intimacy of having a local team who care about the work and the cause is exponentially more effective in the end product.  It shows when someone cares about quality and the fact that they can say “look what I built” to their friends and family. I also hate large corporate waste and indecision. This is something I think ends up leading companies to seek low cost alternatives to offset excessive overhead. 

Jared and I will be exploring the topic of start-ups and how to get the ball rolling.  This is partially because we both need input and education, but also because I know a lot of you out there also have the same questions.

I think I am very close to making this happen. I have some soul searching to do, but I think all the right answer needs are a couple solutions and I will be on my way.

~DK