Why I Never Want To Own A Business
Ryan W. McClellan, MS
Senior Marketing Manager | Digital Marketing Specialist | Entrepreneur | Author | Public Speaker | Business Consultant
“Don’t Get So Busy Making A Living That You Forget To Make A Life”
–?Dolly Parton
Step backward in time with me for a moment, dear reader.
Close your eyes, and imagine spinning the earth in a polar dictation and return to May 4th, 2017. Are you there yet? Good. Now open your eyes.
Short story long: I live in Miami, Florida, and yes, it is a disgusting city, so much so that even the trees are gray. I have been on trips from Orlando to Miami.
As you mandate closer to South Florida, the trees begin to look sick; the traffic becomes stagnant; the smell of death and sin fills the air.
Thus, it was a great relief when on May 3rd, 2017, I would find myself on a red-eye flight to Las Vegas, Nevada, where I was meeting a business partner.
This was my first successful company, so I was winded. I arrived and was greeted at baggage claim by my new friend and fellow partner.
Mind you, I stopped in one of the airport's many, many "smoke all you want" areas and gambled a bit before I met with her.
(I was a smoker back then and I knew it was my last cigarette for the next four days). We took off to her office, where we were to handle a few tasks.
One Day Later, I Saw It
Her house was huge, manifesting a sense of quiet solace. Many think Las Vegas is only the causation of "The Las Vegas Strip;" they forget that people live there.
In fact, the population is around 3 million.
But then May 4th came. I had had the pleasure of visiting her office, and when we arrived at her home, I fell asleep.
I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat at a dining room table that seemingly overlooked her main office.
The darned thing, mind you, consisted of a chair, three desks, and three desktops. I sat there, stunned, as I watched her roll back and forth, her wheeled office chair squeaking as she did so. I stared obliquely, fascinated by isolation.
Ring, Ring, Ring
Her office phone (a landline, which I always found strange) rang and she picked it up. I assumed: "Business as usual," until I heard her words:
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"Hey mom."
My partner was somewhere in her early 60s, so thus, unless her mother was 90 or so, that means she had birthed my partner at a very young age.
It may be why her two children were named: "Alpha" and "Omega."
Being the kind that always takes time to speak with family, I was exalted when her 80-year-old, possibly-close-to-death mother was told:
"I'll call you back. Very busy."
Mind you, she never did call her mother back.
The Moral Of The Story
This woman had a mansion of a home, but it was empty of people.
It was in that instance when I realized what I wanted to avoid becoming: trenched in money, yes, and perhaps a lavish lifestyle. But I have always wondered:
"At what cost?"
You see, we all have this tendency to believe happiness comes with fiscal gain. Idols such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg (well, not so much of an idol) teach us to work hard, to grind, and to maintain constant "hussle."
This is a short article, but I wanted to take a short moment today to update The Content Marketer's Diary with a tale of what you do not want to become.
Do not be the person who has everything and nothing simultaneously.
For today, ask yourself if you would hang up on your own mother because you were too busy running a business. If so, comment with your justification.