With 2015 coming to a close, now is the time to look back on the year and reflect on what the best parts were. For business owners and entrepreneurs it may be driving their business into stability or even beginning their business in the first place. It could be having a strong family or support system around you that helped you build your brand. Or maybe you are just thankful the tough year is over with and a new beginning is on the horizon? Either way, now is the time to look back and discover what you were most thankful for this last year.
Rescue a CEO and CEO Blog Nation asked entrepreneurs what they were most thankful for in 2015.
#1 – Supportive Wife
There is a lot to be thankful for in this life. But most of all, I am thankful for having such a supportive wife. She helps me through all the tough times, which unfortunately can arise often when owning a company. Outside of that, I am thankful for a strong team of dedicated employees and a business partner who does more than his fair share. When it comes to running a business, if it is going to have any significant level of success, you need to have great people around you. Finally, I am very thankful for good health. You never realize how important health is until you run into an issue. You have to take care of yourself to be a successful and effective CEO.
Thanks to John E Lincoln, Ignite Visibility
#2 – Time to Do Things
My name is Dr. Nikki Martinez, and I have a lot to be thankful for in terms of work and career. When I was diagnosed with a serious and chronic illness, and I was told that I would have to work remotely, I feared that the work I loved as a Psychologist was over. Due to the miracles of modern technology, I am busier, and happier than ever. I am able to “see” patients through telehealth and mhealth, I am able to teach for multiple graduate programs in psychology online, I am able to write and publish articles, and I am able to able to consult and run webinars. I have time to do things I never could before, I am able to keep doing the work I love, and I am able to take care of myself while accomplishing more than I ever thought was possible.
Thanks to Dr. Nikki Martinez
#3 -Creating Joy
December is a tumultuous month for business owners and customers. The joys of the holiday season are equally paired with the stress of creating joy. As a new business, we are looking forward to creating joy for our customers and their families. We want to build relationships with our community, we want to give back, and we want to help our customers create a cozy environment. We are so looking forward to interacting with our customers and really listening to their needs to ensure we can create the perfect joyful moments for them.
Thanks to Kristen Fusaro-Pizzo & Frank Pizzo, Candle Moments
#4 – Leap of Faith
We are thankful for finding the courage to say ‘good-bye' to the security of our corporate jobs and taking that leap of faith that Punkpost needed to be brought to life. Most startup founders have to make that decision at some point, but we did it almost at the same time risking the whole of our family budget – just saying! But after all, who else is better to take such a risk with than your closest friend and partner?!
Thanks to Alexis Monson and Santiago Prieto, Punkpost
#5 – Employees
I'm thankful for our employees who left safe, prestigious jobs to enter an uncertain arena where they are asked to dare greatly, do things that have never been done before and strive to help advertisers re-invent an entire industry. I am thankful for the opportunity to stand side-by-side to represent the next generation of disruptive innovation and create a new future.
Thanks to Fred Schonenberg, VentureFuel
#6 – Work/Life Balance
I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity to work from home two days a week and have the ability and flexibility to pick up my 3.5 y/o and 4 month old from school on Tuesday's & Thursdays. I cherish that time and specifically pick them up at 3:30 PM to spend the rest of the evening with them as I often am working late in the city for my business (a digital marketing firm). I am thankful that my business allows me that opportunity to be a part of my family because it's often so incredibly tough to have that work/life balance. I know I cherish this time and am thankful to SoMe and my career here as a co-founder and I hope it creates amazing memories for my family as they grow.
Thanks to Aalap Shah, SoMe Connect
#7 – Being an Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur is one of the best journeys of life. It allows one to fully realise what they are capable of and constantly keep pushing boundaries to achieve their goals. It helps one to face their fears and grow into a wiser and stronger individual. It allows one to implement their creativity and passion into their business without limits. Failure and success are part of the risk of being an entrepreneur, hence one learns patience, perseverance and humility. It allows one to take action and break away from having life happen to them. Entrepreneurs make life happen. I am thankful because being an entrepreneur has given me the ability to learn and grow in life into a better individual.
Thanks to Ruchi Haria, OOWNIT
#8 – Never Gave Up
I’m thankful for all my lessons learned by embracing my mistakes. As a trained architect, I really had no idea what it took to build a business, but I’ve taken a crash course by building one. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve failed over the past few years. I’ve learned to welcome mistakes and even joke that I’ve learned so much from them that I’m going to keep making more of them on purpose so I keep getting smarter. I’m thankful for our recent pivot. After four tumultuous years of building my startup with the wrong partners, lots of bad decisions and some major rookie mistakes, I found the missing link from years before. I’ve gotten a very business and tech savvy CTO on board who’s helped facilitate the new face and technology behind the new Cheekd. We’ve just pivoted Cheekd into a newly launched mobile app that makes missed connections obsolete… thanks to a new low-energy bluetooth technology, the app works on the train; on a plane… anywhere—You’ll get a notification if someone who meets your criteria is within 30 feet of you. And lastly, I’m most thankful for being born so stubborn that I never gave up.
Thanks to Lori Cheek, Cheekd
#9 – Smart People
I'm thankful to be working with really smart people on a really interesting problem that can potentially improve the lives of almost everyone.
Thanks to Jed McCaleb, Stellar
#10 – Team
I am most thankful for my team of advisors. As 2015 comes to an end and 2016 is right around the corner, I am thankful for my advisors who are constantly helping me stay on track with my business. I'm in the process of selling my leadership training programs to the government and private corporations. Without the support of my SBA and WIPP advisors, I would not be as motivated and focused as I am today. One lesson that I've learned as an entrepreneur is the importance of building and effective team.
Thanks to Tiffany Mason
#11 – Supportive Family and Friends
I am thankful I am married to be best friend (a fellow entrepreneur) who really loves me for who I am, I have a supportive family and close group of friends and that my life and work go together so well and allow me to live comfortably and travel. To quote a Zen Buddhist thought “The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between her work and her play, her labor and her leisure, her mind and her body, her education and her recreation, her love and her religion. She hardly knows which is which. She simply pursues her vision of excellence in whatever she does, leaving others to decide whether she is working or playing. To her she is always doing both. With these things and good health you really have a lot to be thankful for!
Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls
#12 – Outsource Business Services
I’m infinitely grateful to be able to outsource business services. When I started my first company, Snowed Under Solutions in 2013, I did everything myself including the website, graphic design, logo creation, branding and I even tried to do the accounting. It was a steep learning curve and a great grounding in the fundamentals of these processes, but I’m very grateful that for my second company, StartUp KickStart, I didn’t have to and I knew the benefits outweighed the costs. There are very good reasons why there are professionals who can do these jobs for entrepreneurs: 1) our time is best spent on building our companies, 2) the end result is professional (first impressions are critical!) and 3) we can benefit and leverage off of industry knowledge and experience. So, unless you love doing a certain job, save yourself the headache, stress and frustration by outsourcing and be infinitely grateful that you did.
Thanks to Rebecca Collett, StartUp KickStart
#13 – Choice and Possibilities
I'm grateful for the abundance of choice and possibilities in today's marketplace. Information and resources were hard to come by for an entrepreneur when I launched my first company years ago. Now, no matter what your solution, service or big idea there is another talented business owner in the global marketplace ready to help you achieve your goals within your budget. There are no more obstacles to execution and success (except
you) and that's positively thrilling.
Thanks to Dina Lynch Eisenberg, OutsourceEasier
#14 – Client Appreciation
I give Thanks everyday in several parts: firstly, to the dedicated Associates of our firm whereby without their input plus client appreciation we would not as successful as we are 7 years later secondly, to our clients and repeat customer partners that patronize AegisFS by recommending us to others and third, to my family who puts up with my 14 hour constant contact with Associates and Clients over my career…I am blessed and sorry at the same time.
Thanks to Jim Angleton, AEGIS FinServ Corp.
#15 – Satisfaction of Serving
As an entrepreneur, the things I am most grateful for may seem odd at first glance. However, gratefulness exudes every time I speak at an event, see an article published, sell a book, consult with a company, and attend a networking event or seminar. The reason these things matter is that I am honored by knowing that I made a difference in the personal and professional lives of others. Additionally, these factors show me the justification that the sacrifice of hours of flying, standing in line, being felt up by TSA, sleeping in hotels, being away from my family, and huddled over a computer while my ear is to the phone is worth the time and energy. There is great joy in satisfaction of serving individuals, companies, and employees!
Thanks to Andrea Adams-Miller, IgniteYourRelationships.com
#16 – Gift of Life
I have a lot to to be thankful for. But none of it is more important than the gift of life. Without that none of my entrepreneurial aspirations and ventures would come to fruition. This life can be taken a step further as not simply, my life but the life that I breathed into my business creation.That ingenuity is a life form that I am very thankful for. I hope to continue to reap the rewards of entrepreneurship as I am very thankful for its fruits.
Thanks to Catherine De Neuve, Delcin Consulting Group
#17 – Nice Compliment
We are thankful that this year we were welcomed into the prestigious Mai Tai community where we met some really cool like-minded people like Sir Richard Branson himself who said that Wanderu will be the next big travel brand. It is definitely nice to receive a compliment like that from one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world!
Thanks to Staffo Dobrev, Wanderu