As a kid you are constantly asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And you have your rehearsed answer: “Astronaut, fireman, teacher, etc.”
For me though I only knew one thing for sure, I didn’t want to do what my parents did. Don’t get me wrong they had and have respectable careers, but I had no interest in becoming a social worker or a lawyer.
My dad ran his own law practice writing wills and estates and while you might associate this with rolling in the money, this was not the case. We were a solidly middle class
family. Growing up I learned that running your own small practice is expensive and time consuming. My dad worked long hours and most weekends. He intensely cared about the people he served, almost to a fault. He didn’t raise prices when he probably should have. He over committed himself to obligations eating up more of his already so precious personal time.
When I was really young he would be home to read with me every night. However, he started missing these nightly get-togethers more and more often. Impatient to get on with the story, this sparked me to start reading these big chapter books on my own. This had the side effects of making me an avid reader and teaching me to be comfortable by myself, something many only children learn early on.
As I’ve grown older, although I still don’t want to become a lawyer, I’ve realized I am moving towards the work life my dad has always had and becoming more like him than I ever thought I would.
Last October I started my own company, Sci Chic. I have found myself happily working long hours and weekends and fixating on numerous ideas and commitments at once. I am adopting the intense work style that goes along with running your own business that I witnessed growing up.
In realizing this, I have been able to reflect on my dad’s experiences and apply these lessons to my own life now.
Building personal relationships is your biggest reward. My dad is a huge people person and a great listener in a business environment. He always said, “You should leave a conversation having learned more about the other person than they learned about you.” The friends and connections I have made in the past eight months have been the most valuable part of this entire process.
Find the right balance of time for you. This balance is allowed to change. It is up to you to decide what amount of time you should be home and what amount of time you should be at work at different points in your life. It is ok to push and be driven, but it is important to take time to sit back and reflect to make sure your lifestyle is still working for you. A few years before I was heading off to college my dad decided running his own law practice was not conducive to spending more time with me before I left home for school. This led him to choosing to leave his law practice to apply his legal skills in the environment of banking.
Find a partner that respects and supports your dreams. My mom has done everything from doing the books at the law practice to attending events when my dad had other commitments. She is a wonderful and supportive partner. In looking for someone I want to spend the rest of my life with it was crucial to me to find someone equally driven, independent, and excited for helping support my dreams.
You will hit setbacks along the way, and they will seem unrecoverable at first, but they will pass. My dad overcame everything from financial struggles to employees quitting with no warning. I saw him deal with these seemingly derailing events and somehow make it past these obstacles. It gives me inspiration to know I can make it through tough times too.
Despite to my aversions to the law career of my father, I have become more like him than I ever imagined. Networking with people, brainstorming and tackling new ideas, pushing for more and better. Entrepreneurship. That is who I am. It’s in my blood. Whether it’s in law, engineering, or in jewelry, the concept is all the same.
I have never understood my father more than I do now that I understand the long nights and weekends he spent away from home making his business and life work. I have never been more proud to carry some part of him as I move forward into tomorrow.
Happy Father’s Day.
Erin Winick
CEO Sci Chic
