One of the questions I get most often is why I started making Geau Sport tennis bags. To answer this properly, I need to answer two questions separately. Those questions are 1.) why did I start my own business and 2.) why tennis bags? I could provide a safe and down the middle answer, but that’s not what Geau Sport is about, and that would probably bore you. I’m going to be completely honest here and my answers may surprise you.
A Lifelong Yearning
Whenever I take those Myers-Briggs Personality Type quizzes, the results are always the same – INTJ. In short, this personality type is often described as an “architect”. Someone who loves perfecting the details of life, applying creativity, and rationality to everything he does. A bold dreamer but also a pessimist. I question everything and prefer to make my own discoveries - I never rely on the status quo.
I’m rambling on about my personality because it is the primary source of my lifelong yearning to start my own business. This yearning doesn’t come from a long bloodline of entrepreneurs, or some life crisis. I’ve just always wanted to do things my way.
Some of my fondest memories when growing up are of my brother and I ideating business ideas or debating on how to make something better. Entrepreneurship is just something that’s inside of me and running a business fits my natural strengths very well.
Independence
Despite my lifelong yearning, fulfilling my goal to start my own business didn’t happen until recently. Early in my career, I worked for other companies as an employee. Life was simple back then – produce good results, and then get rewarded. At some point, however, life became more complicated, and eventually, I concluded that for me to reach my full potential, I have to be my own boss.
I’ve also observed that climbing the corporate ladder generally means moving from one place to another, especially in the marketing and product management profession. When pursuing other job opportunities, some of the cities I moved to just weren’t suited for me and my family. For some people, making those moves makes perfect sense. In my case, I moved for work plenty of times in my young adult life. But at this point in my life, I just can’t put a price tag on making those moves. If you didn’t already know, my family and I live in Greenville, SC. We feel that this is the right city for us and we don’t want to move anymore. Running my own business allows me and my family to call the shots and decide where my career takes us.
Family
Behind the scenes at Geau Sport, there are two other very important people - one is my wife, and the other is my 3 year-old son. Earlier in this blog post, I concluded that reaching my full potential meant being my own boss. However, defining your “full potential” is more complicated than it sounds. Is that making a certain dollar amount per year? Is it to become famous within your industry? Is it perhaps getting that job title you’ve always wanted?
For me, reaching my full potential means providing my family with the most amount of love and time possible. I want to be able to teach my son how to play tennis (only if he wants me to), I want to pick him up from school and just talk, I want to travel to interesting places with my family, and most importantly, I want to finish my workday feeling fulfilled and happy so that I have plenty of love to give to my wife.
There you have it! The reason why I started my own business. If you think that my story motivates you to chase your dreams and forge your own path in life, feel free to share this post to your friends.
In my next blog, I’ll answer that second question, "why I chose to make Geau Sport tennis bags". Spoiler alert – making tennis bags was not my first choice.
Thanks for reading,
Chris