Risk, Passionate Pursuits and Achieving Dreams

“There was a mystique about owning a business and for a long time I didn’t think I could do it."                                           Diane Jacobs, entrepreneur, The Cakeworks 

Successful people don’t try to hide the fact that they didn’t know everything when they changed course in their careers or started their own businesses. More often than not they started with an entrepreneurial leap of faith that landed them well outside their typical comfort zone. But they remix lessons and knowledge from past experiences and apply them in a new way.

Successful people take the attitude that they will learn as they go, that they will take action to find out what they don’t know. When they challenge themselves they feel most proud of their successes, especially if they knew they truly had to stretch themselves to attain their goals. Diane Jacobs is an example of a women who was willing to stretch beyond her comfort zone and whip up a new life for herself.

I met Diane when I was walking to a restaurant in LA and passed her shop. I did a double take when I saw the most amazing cake in the window. It looked like a basket full of fresh wild flowers. I had to meet the women who made it and stepped inside to meet the lovely young woman from Ohio.

Diane had thought about owning her own bakery since she was fifteen, but her education didn’t include business training. Her dream was so important to her, however, that she was able to look at her fears philosophically . “The worst part of failure is thinking how everyone will look at me. I can’t stand that thought. The question is, ‘What is it that I’m trying to learn here—what would I be learning if I failed?’”

Diane had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and earned her degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati, but she loved baking—and especially decorating cakes. It had been per passion since she was twelve years old growing up in Ohio. Unfortunately, there was no market for art cakes in Ohio. “I saw a bakery in California that made beautiful cakes featured on a television show, and I wrote to the owner to ask about job opportunities . I sent pictures of my cakes and got a job.” At twenty-one, Diane moved to California to start her new career, but the thrill of working for even that talented baker faded. “I found working for other people difficult. There was no flexibility. Someone was always trying to dictate what I could or couldn’t do with my art. I didn’t like the constraints.”

Besides the artistic constraints, her job was never secure. The bakery often changed ownership, and her pay was disappointing. “I got tired of hearing people say that I should make more money, and I felt that I could run a shop better than any of my previous employers at the bakery.”“There was a mystique about owning a business, and for a long time I didn’t think I could do it. After all, I had majored in architecture. Yet everything I studied came into play later in my business. Photography classes helped, because I ended up shooting the photographs for the brochure for my bakery, and I produced the layout work. With my architectural background, I designed the shop to suit my needs.”

The main points that made Diane take the leap to entrepreneurship and a new world of success? She did the following:

1.       Followed her life-long passion, without having done this she would have always been wondered if she had the right stuff.

2.       Reached out to get what she wanted: sent photos of her cakes and won the first job in California.

3.       Risked everything and was willing to learn hard lessons if she failed.

4.       Tried working for others and discovered her drive to start her own business. She could run a shop better.

5.       Called on all her past experiences and educational training and used them to further her new business.Diane has since sold her business and moved on to other things in her life. But no matter what she does she will find success from within. “The only meaning of success for me is the feeling I get when I’ve done something myself and I’ve done a great job."

What secret ideas do you wish to accomplish?

Have fun, 

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