Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, and that's OK: The Carlos Gil story

"I didn't understand the stakes of being an entrepreneur and that changed everything," says Carlos Gil .

What if the entrepreneur's dilemma wasn't finding the balance between focus and growth? What if it was not wanting to be an entrepreneur anymore. Not because you weren't crushing it, but because it was crushing you.

This was the arc for Gil, who did the right thing — twice. He started a successful business and then realized it was ruining his life, and his family's life, and so he left it all behind.

The backstory of his startup is a familiar tale. Throw a dart and you'll hit a story about people who happily gave up the security of a job to start a business. Entrepreneurship has always been part of the only-in-America dream, but the last couple of decades have been a golden age. Shark Tank's impact is not coincidental.

So when the pandemic hit and limited his options, the social media marketing pro thought: Why not me? And why not make it a family affair, with my sales pro brother-in-law?

"We thought, 'What if we opened a store, the Hype Section,'" Gil told Catalyst. "We envisioned our store was going to provide sneakers, sports cards, collectibles, clothes, and tap into hype culture at a very high level. With my marketing background, his sales background, we had like the perfect bits.?

They're a big hit. Athletes are customers. They do a million dollars in sales their first year. But the dirty little secret was that it was a grind. Long days, little income. He gained a lot of weight. His marriage was suffering. He sees less and less of his family. His wife has to take a job she did not like. "I'm getting in a car and driving 45 minutes to a job for our family to have health insurance," she tells him, tears in her eyes.

So that was that.?

Any regrets? Embarrassment? Nope. "It doesn't matter what other people think about you, it matters what you think about it," Gil told Catalyst. "Businesses come and go and jobs come and go.”

"There are so many stories of successful exits and successful entrepreneurs, but at the end of the day, your happiness and your peace is what matters the most."

Have you ever made a major career move that you just had to walk back on, no matter the consequences? Tell us more in the comments!

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