Why Did I Choose To Be An Entrepreneur Over Working A 9 to 5er

I’ll answer this in several stories. I originally wrote this on Quora but they deleted it lol.

1. I remember being in school having an conversation with a higher up in my major. Unfortunately, there was (and still is) a lot of racism, stereotyping, and labeling. No matter what I did, certain people saw me a certain way. I told this person that I hate being labeled and stereotyped. If they really want to help me, they should quit treating me like a victim and treat me like a student. [1] Every chance I could, I addressed it. It struck a chord with this person, because they didn’t know how to respond to me. I have never seen someone go so pale white in my whole life. Can you imagine a 20 something shutting down a 50 year old with racist ways of thinking? For the rest of the time I was in school, this person avoided me in the hallways and acted like I didn’t exist. Entrepreneurship doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t care if you have a degree or not, it doesn’t care about your back ground or skin color. The amount of income you make is up to you (and how much you are willing to learn). I really love that you can control your own destiny.
2. I’ve seen too many stats on people getting paid less because they are a woman or a person of color. I hear the horrible stories from family members about the office politics, cliques, bosses with these huge egos, and people taking credit for your hard work. Ive watched people be loyal to companies for years just for them to be dumped out the door because of a bad economy, or simply because a boss wants to give their friend a job instead of keeping you. Instead of just hoping it will work out for the best at a regular job and leaving it to fate, I make my own fate. Again, entrepreneurship doesn’t judge you because of race or where you come from. If you know me personally, I'm not a race card person or use race as a clutch but will acknowledge when it happens. Ironically, the most racism I experienced was in the formal education system, and I can venture to say I’m learning more about financial freedom as an entrepreneur than I ever did in school.
3. With a regular 9 to 5er, there’s a limit to how much you earn. You exchange time for money instead of money for time. I usually don’t have this conversation with most of my family and friends because they don’t understand it and I suspect they think I think I’m better. No, it’s not that. And no I don’t have everything figured out. Entrepreneurship provides a flexible lifestyle. I can partake in a bar crawl during the week or take a vacation on a Tuesday. I don’t have to wait until the weekend to have”fun”. It provides you with opportunities to multiple income streams: to make money while you sleep, eat, and play. Instead of worrying about how I’m going to pay this, I have time to give back to causes that mean a lot to me.
4. I had my experience of losing a main income stream through a scholarship in school, and I promised myself from that day forward to never rely on a single income stream ever again. It takes you being burned in that capacity to understand that there’s no such thing as job security, you can be fired for any reason, and the landscape has changed. And the way to financial freedom is not working for someone else. It’s not saving, working 2 to 3 jobs and going along with the old school model that we are being taught in school. The reason why I lost the scholarship? Because of medical issues and family deaths. Recently, I had medical issues and had to take a lot of time off. Do you think if I was working a regular job, can you realistically look me in the eye and tell me that I would still have my job 4 months later? I’ll be replaced and forgotten about by the next warm body they could find. Entrepreneurship will still be there providing means instead of a nagging boss asking when I’ll be back or asking me to work when I’m not healed yet. Or expecting me to be sharp right away after losing someone close to me. This experience really taught me that most people don’t care about your problems. And if I had to slow it down on the entrepreneur side of things? It will be there for me to pick up right where I left off.
5. Being an entrepreneur allows me to mingle with some heavy hitters (won’t name drop lol). If an issue arises in any project, I can approach someone who’s been there and done that for advice.
6. Most people conform to whatever environment they are in, even if that environment directly contradicts their value-system. Are you doing things because people in society (family, friends) told you to do that, or are you genuinely being your authentic self? Have you forgotten who you truly are because the world told you how to be? In entrepreneurship, you have full permission to go against the status quo because you are surrounded by people trying to accomplish similar goals. By surrounding yourself with people on the same wavelength, it’s easier to be successful. It’s counter-productive as entrepreneurs to continue to surround ourselves with people on a less-productive frequency who ultimately hold you back. Many times, the people that you hang around can hold you back from growing and you don't even realize it. Yes, I have my fair share of friends not in the entrepreneur world and like I said above, I don’t approach them with it. I approach my entrepreneurship friends with it lol.
7. Along with #6, this video and this video explains perfectly why it was easier for me to cut off a few schools.
8. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1058214437611871&id=125407954225862
9. I left this blank. Comment below if you're an entrepreneur.
10. I had my fair share of working for others, and I always used to notice people took me for granted or tried to walk all over me. I'm a fun person that loves to post food photos. Too many times in my life people have mistaked my kindness for weakness. Just because I'm nice does not mean I'm stupid. I've found that this happens less frequently when I run in entrepreneur circles.
11. Disclaimers: Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, and my response is not meant to make fun of anyone. Have I worked for others? Yes. Infact, when I book an acting gig, that’s a job. Is entertainment and entrepreneurship easy? No. But I love them both.

If you want to learn how I walked on my journey to entrepreneurship and entertainment, go here [2].