I had no idea that I would love to hang wall paper. It just seemed that I stumbled into it. After I had been doing it for a couple of years the story about my ‘stamping’ episode surfaced. My mom had wall paper installed in the living room of my parents first home. So the story goes, I got hold of a really large roll of postal stamps, and was licking and meticulously pasting said stamps in a very careful line just above and in line with the back of the living room couch. On top of the newly hung wall paper of course. I don’t remember, but I think I probably watched the wall paper being hung and was trying to emulate what I had seen. My mother said she really loved the paper, and I might have thought that my stamp routine would get the same favorable response. Of course the reaction couldn’t possibly have been what I had hoped.

Back to the question ‘what do you love to do’? I didn’t set out to affect other peoples’ lives with my craft, I just liked the checks. Early on, in the first couple months of striking out on my own, I hung a really large bedroom in a Victorian style house for an older couple that had lived in their house for a very long time. When I announced I was done with the room, they came to look at the finished product. Standing in the doorway, they said they loved the new paper. He looked at her and said now they needed new carpet, and she said now they needed to paint the trim and ceiling, and he said now they needed new drapes, and she said…” Brand new, clean, fresh wall paper installed reveals the wear and tear of everything else in the room. I couldn’t just hang wall paper, I needed to become a consultant.

Next: what customer service is and isn’t.

As to the making of books finding no end that is highlighted when shopping for something new to read at Books A Million. Thank goodness I was looking for one specific book when I went there several days ago. I had watched an interview by Tavis Smiley with Magic Johnson, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers. “Thirty Two Ways To Be A Champion In Business.” On page 9 Magic says this: “You will face your own challenges as you chase your entrepreneurial dreams. Know that as long as you build your business around your passion and make solid business decisions, you can find a way to make it happen. If you believe in what you are doing, others will pick up on it and support you.”

I closed my last post with a comment about selling myself. That is poor phrasing. I was exhilarated about successfully selling my skill. I LOVED hanging wall paper and poured myself into it. Making wise business decisions doesn’t mean no mistakes are made. Learning always comes at a cost. The very first wall paper job I did on my own, with no one to ask questions of and the buck stopping with me, I violated the most basic tenet for installation of any kind of material. Measure twice, cut once. I measured once and cut the paper short. Usually, such a mistake is only made once. It was embarrassing and I made no profit.

So what was the wise business decision? I admitted my mistake, replaced the paper at my expense, and hung the wall paper correctly. I thought for sure I had just ended my brief career as a self employed individual because of my mistake. For both the person who recommended me and the client I was working for, correcting the mistake and completing the project established my credibility with them that I was indeed a wall paper hanger and not just someone who hung wall paper. The flames of my passion were fanned. I was well on my way to being a legend in my own mind.

That was the motto I had emblazoned on the back of my business cards. My clients were almost all home owners and married, or in domestic partnerships. It was my desire for whoever the dominant partner was, as far as home decorating decisions, to know they had my rapt attention and that I was going to do my utmost to leave them with a finished product they would be proud to show off to visitors. My parting words upon finishing a project were always “Please talk about me behind my back.”

My impression of most everyone I’ve known that opted for self employment, like myself, were somewhat driven. They weren’t satisfied with simply fulfilling the requirements of a company for whatever position they held. There is a passion to stand out from anyone else. I believe that passion and skill go hand in hand. Choosing to be self employed is choosing to create all of the things taken for granted when accepting a position from an already-established company.

There is no punch in at 8:00 and punch out at 5:00. There is no one else to hand problems to, it is now “tag, you’re it”. There is nothing more motivating than having to correct a mistake, and that correction affecting a percentage of expected profit. There is also nothing more exciting than correcting a mistake, and having that correction establishing you in the eyes of the client as someone they can recommend to others. Milton Hershey is a very good example of “mistakes”. He failed three different times at candy making, before the Hershey Bar became the icon of chocolate in America.

Taxes, advertising, purchasing, attracting clientele, scheduling projects, human resources, payroll, etc.; You are it, the whole ball of wax. I will never forget the first time I woke up and realized I was sick and wanted to turn over and go back to sleep. My thought was that I would just call in. Then it hit me, call in sick to who, myself? I got up, called the client to tell her I’d be a little late, and took a really long hot shower. I didn’t get as much done that day as I would have liked, but my boss didn’t give me any grief.