Idea to Reality

The idea was implanted in my head at an early age.  Get good grades, go to college, go work for a big company, retire.  That was the plan and what being “successful” looked like.  My dad had worked for a Fortune 100 company and was very successful so that made sense.  I had a real-life example of what that would entail.  One thing I had asked him sometime in either high school or once I had started my college journey at Florida State was, “Looking back, would you do it all the same?”  His answered surprised me, he said the only thing he would change was he would find a way to work for himself. 

At that age I couldn’t understand exactly what he meant and why.  I looked at his success and career and thought, why would he want to work on his own, he couldn’t possibly replicate all of this by going out solo.  It stuck with me though. 

When I graduated college, it was on the heels of the Great Recession and jobs were hard to come by.  One day my dad mentioned to me again, what could I do that would be a business that I could run.  So I tried to start a sports training company.  I had coached baseball at the high school where I played and had connections in the area.  I had also picked up golf in college and was surprisingly pretty good at that!

In my head though I still had the idea that, this wouldn’t be successful.  This isn’t how you build what I ultimately wanted for myself as a “success.”  Because of this that quickly flamed out.

I ended up getting a corporate job and was able to move up the ladder pretty quickly.  In my first 5 years with the company, I was able to work hard, show my value, and learn lots of new things.  I was promoted 4 times, and more than doubled my salary.  From the looks of it I was on my way to that “success.”

Then 2020 came and everyone’s world was turned upside down.  Thankfully I was able to keep working the entire time but I saw dozens around me both at work and just in my personal life have their lives upended.  That is when, what my dad said to me all those years ago came back into my head.  If he could change anything he would work for himself. 

I looked around at the landscape of the world and what did I know that I could do to be successful but also help others.  I have always tried to lead by example.  My mom instilled strong values in me growing up to treat others with kindness and help others.  I saw so many people in need and thought, what could I do that could give me security and at the same time help.

That ultimately led to the idea of Pillar Consulting Group.  Small businesses struggled very much in the pandemic.  Small business owners worked so hard just to stay afloat and run their day to day.  I realized there was a need.  With most people quarantined and not leaving their homes, no one was going to physical businesses.  While this was a trend that had been developing for years thanks to the internet, the pandemic sped this transition up even more.  The need was the ability to have a presence online.  Having a clean website and place that businesses could be discovered virtually was more important than ever.  Having a social media presence was necessary for success.  This is what I could do, I had found it!  Something I could build my own success in.  Another thing the business world had taught me is processes are developed but rarely fine-tuned or tweaked.  This would be another arm of the business.  Consulting with companies to help them evaluate their processes and think through successful strategies to improve them!

Now I had my business and the idea of working for myself was becoming a reality, Pillar Consulting Group.

Join us along the way as our next entry will be about the starting of Pillar Consulting Group!