Forging your own path
Being your own boss is a dream for many, but not for Samantha Wishlinski. The San Jacinto College business entrepreneur alumna always knew she would run a business of her own, taking after her mother who also had her own painting business. Today she owns and operates her organic bath and body products company, Sam Wish.
"My mother ran her own painting business and always inspired me to follow my passions and make a living from my craft," said Wishlinski who graduated from the program in fall 2013.
Wishlinski says that owning a business starts only with an idea. After that, all of the technical, legal, and monetary aspects of building that business may not come as easily to a new business owner ready to launch their goods or services.
"I consider myself to be pretty creative minded, so basic business courses like accounting, website design, and even technical writing were super helpful for me to learn the backend part of running a creative business," she added.
From selling her products online and at small craft markets to expanding to stores across Texas and having her own brick-and-mortar space at Caravan Co-op in Austin, Wishlinski says that San Jacinto College's business entrepreneur program helped her create a holistic business plan to ensure her creativity was met with business savvy.
"The business entrepreneur program provided me with the skills I needed to forge a path for my own business and absolutely helped with the overwhelming task of creating it all on my own," she said.
While making the decision to start your own business is a personal and professional leap on so many levels, Wishlinski says that faith and determination are key to staying the course.
"Being an entrepreneur is hugely a matter of willpower and just simply the courage to keep working at your dreams," she said. "I've faced so many challenges like down seasons or moving to cities where business drastically slowed down, and I was left to wonder if it would ever pick back up again. But I think that as long as you have faith in yourself and the courage and determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other, things always turn out in the end."
