Growing up, I never really knew what my Dad did. I knew he got up early – way earlier than I would ever care to imagine, and got home around dinner time. I knew he put on a suit and tie and looked like he did a lot of important things. He was a very animated talker (a lot of hand gestures) both in person and over the phone. So I knew he did something in business – but no concept for what type or industry.
A number of years later my Dad started working on a number of ‘start-up’ ideas. I had no idea what the word ‘entrepreneur’ meant at the time, nor did I know the different between a large corporation or a start-up. My dad still got up early, still dressed up, and still spoke very animatedly. As far as I was concerned, he still did really important things in business.
It wasn’t until I entered college, and really until I start working as a consultant at IBM, that I fully understood what it was that my Dad did and accomplished in his career. True story, while on a project for a financial services company, I was doing research on document digitization software and all the sudden my Dad’s name popped up. There it was. Hsi-ming Lin. He ended up being the primary developer of the software back in the 90s. WHAT? How am I just now learning all of this? Ok so I started to ask more questions during my next visit back home in ATL.
I learned that my Dad actually worked on a number of start-ups. He had, and still has, the same entrepreneurial itch as me. He is constantly talking to people about new ideas and evaluating new ventures. On top of that, he co-founded his own consulting firm. Just as I had at Michigan with Nexecon, my Dad had created DocVentive with some of his colleagues – of course at a larger scale…oh yea, and he actually makes money lol.
But it’s incredible to me to now realize how much of my career path has overlapped and paralleled that of my Dad’s. I guess the saying is true, “Like father like son.” – Now I understand where I get my entrepreneurial DNA from. I’m just lucky that a guy with such drive and a nose for success is paving the way for me. Props to my Dad for doing it big.
This is a very inspiring story! I’m the first “fulltime” entrepreneur in my family, but both of my parents passed on to me a very entrepreneurial spirit. It was hard to identify that passion and creativity and what it was growing up, but I definitely see it now–and appreciate them for that!
Stephanie – awesome blog. Great to see what you’re doing with your own PR firm. I’ll be reading in for more entrepreneurial inspiration!