9-to-5 Job, 9 pm-to-Early Morning Ventures: The Parallel Worlds of Entrepreneurial Ambition

“It’s just a job…” This phrase has stuck with me for over five years. A former director said this to me during a discussion about my career. I’m a chemist by training and I was finishing the requirements of a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity Policy and Management. I was looking for a career change. The director told me that he would connect me with one of his friends who worked in the cybersecurity industry. He never did.

This was one of many instances of leaders verbally recognizing my work yet not following through with their promises of helping me advance my career. After reading several books by James Altucher (Choose Yourself, The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth, and Reinvent Yourself) and listening to Dr. Mansur Hasib’s audiobook Bring Inner Greatness Out, I was convinced that several employees have not had upper management’s support in career advancement. The main piece of advice provided in the books mentioned above is that you are responsible for developing marketable skills and networking.

Although I still have a full-time job, I work at night to develop my writing and public speaking skills. It isn’t easy and there have been nights that I have slacked off. However, now I have accountability through a coach who reminds me of my goals and deadlines. It would be embarrassing and wasteful at the regular meetings with my coach to not have anything accomplished.

The satisfaction of making a lasting impact on others and leave a business for my family to inherit are the primary reasons of my entrepreneurial ambition. My family benefits from the income received from my job; however, I can’t give them my job once I leave. I never wanted “just a job”. I want to be compensated for the value that I provide. As William H. Johnsen said, “If it is to be, it is up to me.”