GURUTROPOLIS CORPORATION
Company Age: <1 year old
Owner: Andrea Ross (+ 8 others)
City: Calgary, AB
Specialty: Personal and Professional Development
Andrea’s Story
I never felt right about making the decision to go into Engineering. At 18 years old I was never asked what I liked to do, or what I was passionate about – I was told since I was good at math and science and needed to go to school to get a job, I should do engineering. For most of my life I listened to what others thought was best for me and hence I began my journey living my life for others and based on what they thought I should do, rather than for myself.
I hated engineering (except for the social aspects of it), but discovered a love for business. With the heavy weight of feeling I needed to prove myself to others and complete what I started I finished my painful five year degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia and set out into the work force hoping to find a job that would be “bearable.” I figured I could sacrifice 40 – 60 hours a week of my life to pay for my lifestyle which I would live on the evenings, weekends and miniscule amount of holidays!
I finally decided I needed out of Engineering so I took my MBA part-time at the Haskayne School of Business with the intent to move into Business. It sort of worked – but being an Engineer in Calgary with a booming Oil and Gas Market, the dangling dollars sucked me back into a world I despised. At one point I even ended up working as a Production Engineer because everyone told me this is what I needed to do to succeed. As a creative, charismatic, inspiring, business minded girl, I was pulling oil out of the ground and designing facilities and methods to optimize the process – something was wrong with this picture.
It wasn’t until I took Personal Best and Peak Potentials that I realized I was living my life for others and I made the conscious decision to change. I would no longer make decisions to make others happy and sacrifice my life. In January 2009, a decade after working as an engineer, I started my own business -Adrenalin Peak. I had two large projects – As Regional Director of the Mitsubishi City Chase planning the Calgary race and as a photographer and marketer for Get Your Ass Out There. I also joined a Mastermind Group, and it is with that group that Gurutropolis Corporation was formed, my main focus today.
Aside from work I am an outdoor adventurer seeking out thrills, challenges and adrenalin! I love to travel, and plan, organize and create experiences for others. I call myself an adventurepreneur!
Q&A with Andrea
What are the top 3 struggles of being an entrepreneur? How did you overcome them?
1. The hardest thing for me is going from a healthy salary in the corporate world to worrying about how the mortgage is going to be covered next month. I have had to shift my lifestyle significantly. I am overcoming this a couple ways: a) I work as a consultant through Adrenalin Peak helping others, which has so far paid the bills, b) I focus on what I want to achieve and not what is standing in my way – I push through my fears and trust in myself and the universe, c) I reflect on how unhappy I was in a JOB and how I can help more people in my current position – it’s not easy saying no to the “easy” way, but it sure makes me a happier person, and d) I know in my heart that I am creating the life I want and the “money issue” is only temporary.
2. Another difficult area for me is Balance. I have very high expectations of myself and already moved into the world of entrepreneurship working too much. I find it hard to stop working. I feel guilty for taking a break and feel like I won’t succeed unless I put everything into the businesses. I know people are going to shake their heads when they hear that because I shake my head at myself. In the corporate world I found it much easier to eat healthy, go to the gym, take the weekends for friends etc., but now, with a lack of structure and a bit of a lack of focus, making time for anything but work is a struggle. I overcome it by giving myself permission. I go to the gym in the morning prior to working. I have been taking weekends to go snowboarding and actually leaving my computer at home. I schedule in time to pre-make healthy meals and I don’t turn down offers to get me out of the house and have some fun. I can’t say I have mastered this area of my life, but I am doing my best and in all honesty have a pretty freaking cool exciting life outside of work….
3. Doing too much and giving others more of my time than myself is another area I struggle in. Being involved in four different companies, I have trouble focusing my time on the most important areas for me. I want to help everyone and do everything so much that sometimes I have trouble saying no. I used to believe I could do it all without help from others and I have come to realize how much easier it is in life when I ask for help – so this is what I do. I also have some coaches to help me through. In 2009 one of my coaches “forced” me to cut out activities, unnecessary work projects and people from my life, but I still find it hard to say no when someone asks me to go for a coffee and help them with something they are working on.
4. I actually have a fourth which I want to mention because it’s important and actually the most important when I think about it. When I changed my mindset around how I wanted to live and left the corporate world, I left behind a lot of people who still think the way I used to. I don’t judge them for that because they are on their own journey, but I found that they judge me. They don’t understand my decisions and criticize my choices. From their experience what I am doing is wrong. Caring what others think is something most of us have to some degree, or in my previous life - to a large degree. It was this that kept me unhappy for so long and letting that go was life changing. It is sad that some people have fallen out of my life and I struggled with letting them go, however it has opened the doors to meeting so many new amazing and inspiring people that support and encourage me on my journey. The largest struggle is letting go and surrendering, it’s not easy, but it has a remarkable reward.
What do you find to be the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur?
The most rewarding part is the challenges and variety. I love to get my hands on all kinds of projects and as an entrepreneur my projects are constantly changing. I also love that the projects have defined goals and I know when I achieve them.
I also get to help others. I have a lot of value and extreme passion and I found that got lost and diluted in a massive corporation. I no longer sacrifice 40-60 hours a week to pay for the life I want. I now just live the life that I want when I want; I am free.
To find out more about Andrea, you can visit her websites at www.gurutropolis.com and www.adrenalinpeak.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment