Seeds of Wisdom: Are Entrepreneurs Born with it?

At a recent networking event, I found myself in the middle of a friendly debate about whether entrepreneurs are born or created.

Justine believes they’re born. She started selling candy to her schoolmates when she was just 5 years old. Today she owns three franchise retail stores. Marion believes they’re created. She became an entrepreneur only after she was laid off three times and had difficulty finding another position. Today she is a human resources consultant.

I believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur, and that our environment can either stimulate or squash our entrepreneurial tendencies.

I grew up in a house full of creativity. My mother was a puppet maker and nurtured an environment where imagination ran wild. With nothing more than a box of puppets, a simple theater attached to a card table, and my imagination, I created endless stories and skits with my friends and siblings.

I lived in a universe where dogs, cats, and rats could talk and be equal to kings, queens, and frogs. If a story dead ended, I could introduce a horse or bear. If I lost the storyline, I could make up a new one. And if I needed a new character, I could make one from a lunch bag.

The only limitation was my imagination.

This wasn’t Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe, with recurring characters and familiar story lines; this was the uniquely quirky universe of a little girl with big ideas and boundless enthusiasm for storytelling.

Because of this fertile ground, I grew up believing I could write my own story.

I drew on the abilities I had developed as a child: seeing possibilities, solving problems, creating something from nothing, taking initiative, influencing others, and believing there was another way when I launched my entrepreneurial journey. I started and failed at several businesses before I found my true home. When those storylines didn’t pan out, I wasn’t afraid to turn the page and write a new chapter. As my imagination matured, I developed new services and programs from whole cloth.

The obstacles in business took more than pure imagination to overcome, but that delusional hope that I held in my heart . . . that belief that I could overcome obstacles made all the difference in my entrepreneurial story.

What We Carry Forward

What did you learn early in life that you now take for granted because it feels natural to you?

Maybe you were a natural organizer of people and events, or you liked to take things apart to figure out how they worked and then put them back together. Were you the mediator amongst your friends or the one who challenged unjust societal norms? Or maybe you liked to teach, mentor, or care for others who needed a little extra help.

You may not have become an event organizer, mechanic, mediator, advocate, teacher, or doctor. But there are likely elements of these roles in the services you provide today.

Of course, there was more to my childhood than puppet shows and make-believe and many parts of my story are filled with doubt, fear, pain, and shame. Families and childhood are complex and it’s remarkable that most of us sit upright every day.

Our origin stories are not only the happy parts. The environments that encouraged certain qualities and the experiences that forced us to develop others can both influence how we move through the world. The point isn't to romanticize childhood or explain everything about ourselves through it. It is to notice what has remained with us.

Exploring the rich ecosystem of our childhood can help us name our true Essence. When we lean into these origin stories, even if they were not all fun and games, we discover the metaphors, language, and throughlines that help us Name, Anchor, and Express our Essence.

Name It. Anchor It. Express It.

Bringing your Essence forward requires us to Name it by recognizing and giving language to what is true; Anchor it by identifying what reconnects you with that truth; Express it by allowing that truth to shape the business.

Name it.

What has always been true about the way you see the world, solve problems, or relate to others? What qualities, perspectives, or tendencies have followed you from childhood into the work you do today?

How do these influence the kind of services you provide?

Anchor it.

What stories, experiences, symbols, places, or practices remind you of that part of yourself? These anchors help you reconnect with what is naturally yours when outside expectations begin pulling you in another direction.

How can you lean into your story as a source of strength?

Express it.

Then ask how that truth can become more visible in your business. It might show up in your language, stories, offers, client experience, leadership, or the choices you make about what you will and will not do.

How can you let it shine through every aspect of what you do?

Essence is not about inventing something that makes you unique. It is about recognizing what has been there all along and allowing more of it to shape the business you are creating.

To Be or Not to Be an Entrepreneur

And perhaps this is where the nature-versus-nurture question gets more interesting. The qualities we bring with us do not necessarily determine whether we will become entrepreneurs. But they may influence what we notice, the problems we feel compelled to solve, the opportunities we see, and the kind of business we ultimately create.

Our life experiences add another layer. Education, careers, relationships, mentors, successes, failures, and even the environments that encouraged or discouraged us all shape how those natural tendencies find expression. What begins as a kernel becomes something uniquely our own.

Maybe the more useful question isn't whether entrepreneurs are born or made. Maybe it is: What natural tendencies did you bring with you, what did life cultivate in you, and how are those qualities showing up in the business you are creating?

Pay Attention To What You Notice

Over the next few weeks, notice the kinds of problems that immediately catch your attention and the solutions you instinctively imagine. There may be more meaning in those tendencies than you realize.