This is an internal memo I shared with our team at WP Site Care that I wanted to share with the world so they can get a small taste of what drives me every day. If you’re involved in a small business, what drives you? I’d love to hear about in the comments!
Most of you know that small businesses are important to me, and it’s why I love working at a company that serves them and helps them be successful.
What I realized recently is that I’ve never gone into much detail about why it’s important for me to support small businesses.
Growing up my mom was an office manager at an engineering firm and my dad was a welder. They both always worked. It was never weird. It was just how things were. When I was twelve years old my dad decided the long days and hard labor of welding weren’t something he wanted to do forever and he took a chance.
He went back to school to earn his nursing degree of all things. Welder to Nurse is one of the more dramatic career changes I’ve ever heard of, although I guess you’re frequently putting things back together in both professions.
During his time at school I watched my dad work part time as a welder, go to school full time, and work graveyard shifts as a janitor to make sure bills were always paid.
After working about 10 years as a nurse, he took another chance. He looked at the home care agency he was managing and decided he could do things better. Run the business more efficiently, provide better care to patients, the works. He left his full time job and started an agency of his own. Less than a year later my mom left her full time job too and joined my dad at their new company.
I’ve watched them build relationships, have success financially, and most importantly, I’ve seen all the lives they’ve impacted in a positive way.
Seeing the “American Dream™” fulfilled first hand is exhilarating. It’s my personal drug of choice :) And it’s also extremely gratifying when we’re able to play a role in that success. Creating these stories again and again are my “why” for showing up at Site Care every single day.
What’s your why?
Thanks to @igorovsyannykov for the awesome photo of the construction worker that reminded me of my dad.