Initially, Mary made family history at age four when she and her eight-year-old sister held an art sale. They sold off all the family paintings, sculpture and knickknacks while their parents were at the neighborhood patio store.
Three years later, the precocious seven-year-old created a flyer which she distributed to her teachers - announcing her intentions to become a vocational counselor. In that ad, she offered to solve "Big Problems for 5, Little Ones, a Penny." Today as the owner of Foresight, a full-service communications company, Scheer is still selling creative works and solving problems. But, like many entrepreneurs, she didn't waltz into business ownership right out of school. She tried her hand (and mind) at other things first.
Her resume begins in a place where others would die to end up.
As a trial attorney for the prestigious Chicago law firm of Hopkins & Sutter, she was well positioned for a successful legal career. The only problem: She didn't like it.
She was next attracted to the glamour of television and broadcast journalism. Explaining how aggressively she pursued that dream could fill another book. Again, she was successful. While only in her 30s, she became a network news anchor for NBC. She had it all: glamour, power, prestige and a six-figure income.
But there was still a problem. "It was wrong for me," says Scheer. "Wrong place. Wrong people. Wrong job."
Not one to live with unhappiness too long, she quit. This woman isn't a perpetual malcontent. She's an adventurer. She's also smart, creative and energetic. She thrives on challenge and doesn't fear risk. In other words, she fits the entrepreneurial profile almost perfectly.
If you share this passion for success and self-reliance, self-employment may be right for you. But it's not a path of easy answers. It's a trek down the road of individualism. The Sinatras of business, entrepreneurs live with an unparalleled desire to say, "I did it my way."
For Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, the decision to "go solo" was a direct response to a rebuff. While working at Esquire, Hefner asked his boss for a $5 raise and got turned down. He quit to make his fortune where his contribution would be more appreciated. But while anger can fuel healthy competitive instincts, it can also be self-destructive. However temporarily liberating, rage and revenge motives aren't a good foundation for long-term career satisfaction. You need a deeper commitment to sustain you for long-range fulfillment and success.
When Candy Lightner founded MADD, her heart was filled with pain over the loss of her daughter and anger at drunk drivers. But her fiery passion was for the cause, not for the building of an organization. With 20/20 hindsight, she realizes that she was suffering from a bad case of founder's syndrome.
"The drunk driving issue was like my replacement child," says Lightner. "After I lost my daughter, MADD took her place. But I wasn't willing to share the issue with other people because I wasn't ready to let go of her."
Lloyd Shefsky, a Chicago attorney and author of Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born (1994, New York: McGraw-Hill), thinks that many entrepreneurs make the mistake of viewing their businesses like newborn children. He says the more appropriate metaphor is that of a marriage or a partnership, not a parent-child relationship.
