I became a father when I turned 34, and I had just decided to become an entrepreneur. What meant to become an entrepreneur? All of the opposites to what my family and friends were telling me:

It was too late to listen to them; my train had already departed before my son was born. So it began my tumultuous journey as a solo business owner.

I read all the business books I could get access to through my local library. Many of them had one recommendation in common: have a business plan. I felt I was against the clock, stuck with the impostor syndrome of getting so much knowledge and zero action. I couldn’t waste any more time, and I went with it.

I began building small websites for clients; this was 2009. By not having a pricing plan, I was all over the place, which didn’t bring enough income to support the business long term. I needed to hire a new web developer ASAP, but money wasn’t coming in yet. I looked for ways to hire inexpensive labor with everything pointing towards either India or Ecuador. I chose the latter.

Within one year, I had my first remote team before the word “remote” became mainstream. At the same time, I had grown the business from making just websites to digital marketing campaigns. I traveled to Ecuador several times a year, and the company was en route to become profitable. All of the pieces were coming together, although at the expense of insufficient family time.

My wife had devoted her days to become a full-time mom, to support me on my entrepreneurial adventure, to only see as a payback very little of me. I was starting to miss seeing my son growing up; I was feeling empty.

I was at a crossroads. I knew I needed to make the right decision, choosing the road to lead me back to my own family. While it wasn’t easy, I dusted off my resume, made a few phone calls, and there I was six years later...back again as a corporate employee.