Do Leave Home Without It

I have read zero books on entrepreneurship. Maybe I should have before I started down this path, though I doubt it would have prepared me for learning and integrating what I now see as essential, not just for success, but also for survival: leaving home without a map.

I should back up.

Most of my life I knew I wanted to change the world with words, but I didn’t appreciate that talent alone is not enough. Writing is not something you talk about; it’s something you do. I felt empowered by the time I got to law school, where language was reinforced with rules and authority. I co-founded a student-run project to bring legal services to newly-arrived Latino immigrants in Baltimore City and this taught me how to turn my vision into something real.

Over the years, I got better at implementing things: a literary journal, writers’ retreats in Mexico, galas and gatherings. It all prepared me for the rough and unpredictable terrain of running a small food business. So, reading the books may or may not have oriented me on the journey. But I’m the type to toss out instructions, preferring instead to navigate with my intuition and honed skills, be they creative, legal, or just plain life.

I will allow for the possibility that this has made my entrepreneurial journey a little bumpier than it needed to be. When I’m lost, it takes me longer to find my way back, and some forks in the road have turned into real dead ends. I’ve spent money on the wrong equipment, too-expensive butter, silly chef shoes I didn’t need. I’ve invested time and effort into farmer’s markets and other events that cost me more than the revenue I brought in. And I’ve pivoted, sometimes in the opposite direction of where I needed to go.

But I’d rather dream out the window than read the safety instructions in the seat pocket in front of me.

And I’m still traveling, making pies, meeting people, figuring it out as I go along.

So should you.