You're probably wondering, 'who is this person challenging me to TOTALLY change my life by starting my own business?' Well, let me introduce myself.
My name is Evonna and I am YOUR challenger! Since I could remember, I have always wanted to own and run a business. In fact, at the tender age of 9, I envisioned myself running a multi-million dollar company that employed hundreds of people who enjoyed working for my company. I would work tirelessly at my round, red and white kiddie table sitting in my red plastic swivel chair, writing plans to on how to make money. But, money wasn't my only focus. Actually, it wasn't my main focus. I had my eyes on the prize and tried to figure out how I could do something for years without losing passion and drive. Seriously. This was me. At 9 years old. But, unfortunately, that's not what happened at the age of 22.
At 22, with my college graduation money in one hand and my dreams in the other, I packed my bags and moved from Indiana to Florida. My college roommate convinced me that Tampa, Florida was THE place to move because there were a ton of jobs and money to be made. Boy, was she WRONG!
To pay my $800 a month rent, I secured a part-time job working at a makeup counter in a chain retail store. You don't have to do any math to figure out that the part-time job was not going to pay for the rent. Even though I was the top-salesperson at my counter, I was still just an hourly part-time worker whose wages remained the same while the store reaped the benefits of all of my hard work. BUT, the store didn't take everything from me. The more I worked, the more I perfected my craft of makeup artistry. My skills improved with each application of makeup and soon I was requested by customers. One of my repeat customers asked me one day "have you ever thought about doing makeup for weddings?" Can you guess what I did next? You guessed it. I started researching how to start a business in Florida and what it would take for me to open up my very own, mobile makeup business and in 2002, I opened up Just Face It!
Before I opened my doors (really my car doors because I was mobile), there was quite a bit of work I had to do to make sure that I was recognized as a legitimate business. I secured the proper license, wrote a formal business plan that was used to secure a $3,000 loan through Count-Me-In.org, and
Just Face It! was a mobile makeup business that specialized in wedding makeup application. I traveled throughout the Tampa Bay area making brides beautiful for their wedding day! On average, I made $180 per bride. Not bad considering I never spent more than 3 hours with a bride. But, after a few months, the thrill of dealing with demanding, emotional, and fickle women, was gone. I felt like something was missing.
My mother was an educator, a darn good one at that. As a matter of fact, most of my family members were in education. Running my own multi-million dollar business wasn't my only dream. I liked teaching people new things and I knew that becoming an educator would allow for me to to do just that. So, for several months in 2004 I looked for teaching positions in the Tampa area. In August of that same year, I was offered a position at an elementary school where I taught 18 eager little first graders.
I loved teaching. I really did. But, at $29,000 a year, working over 60 hours per week in a place where the average cost of living for one person was double my salary, I wasn't making ends meet. I was exhausted and burnt out. The students were great and I loved the creative aspect of the job, but I wasn't happy. I didn't understand why one of the most important jobs on earth wasn't the one that was the most highly regarded or highest paid job in the country. Now, most educators will tell you "I don't do it for the money", but let me tell you something...that is a cliche. That's the polite way of saying "I don't want to focus on the fact that I work 80 hours a week, but can't afford to feed my family or pay my bills because I only bring home $2432 a month after FICA and health insurance".
In 2011, I had had enough. I was breaking my back working for school districts while neglecting time with my family and something needed to change. By this time, I had 7 years invested in education, gained several leadership positions, trained other teachers, and all the while still had the desire of running a multi-million dollar company. I had also experienced several health setbacks because of the amount of stress I was under to try and balance everything professionally and personally. At this point, it was me or the job. So, I quit!
At the end of that same school year, I turned in my resignation as an employee and never looked back. But, before that, I prayed and spent countless hours thinking about what what I wanted my life to look like. I mapped out the perfect schedule, wrote down my desired income, and began to dream again. Within a few weeks of me turning in my letter of resignation, I received a call from a school that needed assistance with improving their instructional practices and student achievement. This was it! This was my opportunity to step out on my own and become an entrepreneur full-time. No more stepping in the entrepreneurial pool with only one toe. I dove headfirst.
Since that time, I have been a full-time consultant who makes her own hours, attends her children's activities, and takes time-off when needed to regroup. My expertise in education has helped me to create a career as an educational consultant that pays me what I am worth. My company, Bruner Educational Consulting, LLC, offers professional developments, designs curriculum and training manuals, creates adult education courses, and offers coaching services for schools and businesses.
I am on my way to living out my dream of running a multi-million dollar business. My business!
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