Gratitude sprinkled with hard work: That is how I become an entrepreneur. How about you?
Being an entrepreneur is not just a career, but a personality that develops for years and impacts every aspect of our lives. At some point, we all are entrepreneurs, and it is our environment that determines if we nurture that for our future.
However, there is always that person that leaves a mark on our lives: a family member, a friend, a teacher. In my case, it was my grandfather, Don Antonio Tomecich Poetz. Always in gratitude to him, I nurtured my entrepreneurship trait from the very beginning of my life, and here I’d like to tell you the complete story. I hope my story encourages you to share who that person was in your life and how it impacted your life, or how you influence the new generation and their entrepreneur personality.
Let’s begin!
My father figure was my grandfather. He was always there. Due to my father’s work, we traveled a lot, and my grandpa came with us. My grandpa was a very humble person, and he did everything with his hands. He taught me how to work in the land, pick the vegetables from the fields, work in the workshop, and paint. What I remember most was getting my hands dirty cooking with him. While my father was busy working and my mother buying me clothes and dressing me, my grandfather taught me about real life.
When we moved to the capital to start at school in the nineties, children made fun of my small-town accent and little chubbiness. To be honest, I didn’t have a very good time, but later at home, that wasn’t really in my mind because my grandpa was teaching me what really matters.
I also wanted to play soccer, and my parents wouldn’t let me. In the tournaments, the other parents would get together and let their children play. As my dad was always working and wasn’t a friend of them, I never played soccer.
During the summer, with the schools closed for holidays, the beach was always full of kids having fun with games and activities; but I had different plans. As a 10-year old kid, I found myself in the U.S., helping my aunt in her garden by cutting flowers and picking oranges from the trees, earning some money. I also helped my uncle in the badminton club by cleaning the courts and bathrooms of a small club that he managed. That way, I learned how to earn some dollars from a very young age.
The next summer, I returned to Los Angeles to do the same, but this time before returning to school, I bought clothes and accessories to sell to my friends and make more money. The next few times, I found myself in North Carolina, working in demolition and construction. I earned a lot more. I brought in more exclusive merchandise from the U.S., which I then sold to my classmates for a high profit.
I wouldn’t lie if I said it was fun to earn brownie points from my teachers because all my classmates had shown up with beautiful art masks that I had made for them while collecting them. I remember selling artwork, but I also sold maths work that no one wanted to do.
As you can see, my focus was always different from everyone else, and yes, that made me feel weird and sometimes bad. Still, I moved on to a different type of kid, a different type of person… an entrepreneur. I’ve been thinking about that lately, thanks to the “new normal.” A decision I made 35 years ago gave me the tools to adjust to this global pandemic, and I can tell you, it is not an easy adjustment.
Gratefulness is gaining popularity, and rightfully so. The art of gratitude develops a vital sense of humility, while the discipline of gratitude seeks greater mindfulness and awareness. It calls us to be more present and sharpen our powers of observation and thus discover more layers to everyday life. It turns our gaze outward instead of inward, which helps us realize that we are not entirely independent and instead exist in a web of interconnected relationships. I think it’s a good time for all to share our stories and inspire each other to keep us motivated to accept the change we are living in our lives.
In the following blog posts, I would love to indulge in my stories from Elementary Schools and how those experiences influenced my personality and what I became today.
What about your story? Would you share yours?
Let’s get connected to know more about what made me who I am and for more practical entrepreneurship advice. Let me know which advice helped you the most by commenting below. I can be reached out at https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-tomecich/. Till then, stay safe and well!
