This week we got to hear from Brian Forth, a local Tacoma
entrepreneur. Brian owns and runs Sitecrafting, which is a company that creates
custom built websites for businesses. When I learned that he started his
company all by himself almost 20 years ago (and its still running), I knew I
was listening to a successful entrepreneur speak.
Two points especially resonated with me about Brian’s talk.
The first was when he said something along the lines of “the first time I had
to fire someone it was the worst, and the last time I had to fire someone it
was the worst”. Hearing this made me reflect upon myself, as I know I am
somewhat “soft” when it comes to being hard on people. That is something I know
have to overcome if I ever want to run a company.
The second point that I really liked was when he talked
about how his company was “a company that you can retire at”. This aspect of
their company culture sounds beautiful to me. Having interned at Boeing, where
there are dozens of people that have been there for 30+ years, I have really
grown to appreciate that long term employment at one company. When I hear about
companies like Amazon, where new grads are hired and burnt out in 2 years or
less, I know right off the bat that is not somewhere I want to be. Regardless
of whatever salary you might be offered, your work environment and work culture
is everything. If you think about how much time you spend at work, that place
needs to be a place you're not only comfortable at, but can thrive at.
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