The Myth of ‘One Thing’, and Your Right Not to Choose

I've spent the last decade of my life navigating a question that many people answer before they leave nursery school: What do I want to be when I grow up? 

From a young age, many of us are told that we need to be ONE thing. You grow up in a household and usually see specific representations of work and livelihood. Your decisions might be based on what your parents want, or maybe what you think will pay the bills. The message is clear: You need to pick a job, and then work hard at that job for at least four decades. How else will you pay for student loans, then rent, insurance and all the elements that make up the life that you want?

Yet now, in my 40’s, the more I think about it, the more I realise that I'm not ONE thing, and I never will be. But it isn’t an easy realisation. I've worried about how to talk about all that I am without confusing people; without confusing myself.  

My Lightbulb Moment

Then, a recent newsletter from Kait LeDonne changed everything for me. She wrote about personal branding and how one might approach this topic as something she called a “multipreneur.”

"Multipreneur!” I thought, "Is that an actual word that I can use to describe myself?" 

Relief set in. I'm not crazy at all. Or at least, there's a name for my kind of crazy. 

Over the last 3 years, I've launched three businesses. The first business, YO Marketing! has since merged with a business development consultancy to become Doqaru, my second business. Doqaru is a business consultancy specialising in supporting energy and technology companies that seek to start-up, grow and diversify over 12-24 months. We do this through strategic sales, business development and technical content marketing.

My most recent venture is Yo Couture, an African-inspired fashion brand that creates the '18-hour' outfit for the busy, creative woman. A key part of the brand is to support female-run African businesses by sourcing and manufacturing the outfits in Africa. The current production sites are Ghana and Nigeria, with a new site planned in Malawi.

What do Doqaru and Yo Couture have in common? I don't know. Except that I love them both, and they are both a part of who I am.

Looking back at my education, perhaps I was never destined to be just ‘one thing’. At 17, when asking myself that same fateful question: “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I chose a degree in Chemical Engineering. I went on to earn a Masters’ degree in Petroleum Engineering and then, years later – I completed my MBA. Not your average educational path. Then four years ago, I became a published author on the topic of social media employee advocacy. Again, not typical for my background.

The Quiet Pressure of ‘One Thing’

I should be proud of myself for everything that I’ve achieved in education and in business. And yet, society often appears to frown on people, like myself, who don’t embrace the ‘one thing’ mentality. Sometimes, people with multiple interests are perceived as not being focused or assumed to lack commitment in one business with the onset of a new project.

I want to change the negative perceptions I had around not having ‘one thing’ to call myself. I want to start embracing the idea of being a multipreneur, and look to role models who've followed similar paths, such as Richard Branson, Jack Dorsey and Eli Walker, who writes about her experiences here. 

I've reached out to Kait LeDonne, and following an initial conversation, I hope to have many more with her. She's helped 75 multi-skilled entrepreneurs identify and develop a personal brand so that it puts together all that they hold dear. I’m beginning to realise all the positives about being a multipreneur, such as being uniquely capable at splitting my time, excellent at delegation, wide passion for varied subjects, and the ability to look at the world differently. 

Are you an entrepreneur or a multipreneur longing for the right not to choose just one path? What's your view on owning multiple businesses? Share your own story in the comments.