My first grown-up job was CEO: Why I decided to leap off the beaten path

Growing up, I was asked over and over again, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" The dreaded question whether you'resix, 16 or 60.

My answers varied from ballerina or lawyer to mother or dog walker.

Another time, I replied with "me" and then a teacher told me at the age of 14 that I had to start deciding on my career path and making a plan. Today.

Is there anything really more true than the answer I gave? We'reall going to be ourselves when we grow up; we shouldn't be told we need to follow someone else's path.

A couple of years later, I decided it was time to start looking. Butnothing fit.

I thought I was weird because every career path I looked at didn't seem to be the right one. My career aptitude tests were all over the place, with scientist, lawyer, inventor, teacher and accountant all showing up at the top of my list.

While I was doing an internship at the Children's Wish Foundation, I took part in a fundraiser where I met some of the senior team at EY, the accounting firm formerly known as Ernst & Young.

I had a huge amount of respect for a company that not only raised $10,000 (and was a lead sponsor) but also for sending out their staff for an entire day to support an organization that meant so much to me.

Sobecause of that I decided I was going to be a CPA (chartered professional accountant) and that was who I wanted to work for.

When I started my final semester of university, I wasstill on the same track.

I thought I had a life plan. I was going to be a CPA. I had my job offer signed and the only thing standing between me and my big girl job was five courses and a feelingdeep in my gut that this wasn't the right option.

At the same timeI had also spent the five years of my Bachelor of Commerce program heavily involved with Enactus, the non-profit organization that encourages university students to find entrepreneurial solutions that address issues like sustainability and the environment.

More than 5,000 hours of my university degree was spent volunteering with projects that I knew could change the lives of those living in our province.

During this time we created something pretty special: SucSeed. Over the two years I'dspent working on the project, no matter what I was working on, it always left me feeling so fulfilled andcontent.

Something in my heart and soul knew that this is what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. So I quit my job before it even started.

SucSeed makes kits for growing food hydroponically. Our province has a well-documented problem with food security, so anything that helps people grow more of their own food is a key part of our business plan.

I pitched the team to let me take SucSeed from a project to a stand-alone social enterprise. After gaining their support, I went on the path of entrepreneurship.

No matter what the outcome of this entrepreneurial journey is, I know in my heart I made the right decision.

Day 1: Me alone in a room with four walls, no windows and no idea what I was supposed to as an entrepreneur.

No one gives you a handbook, or a welcome tour that tells you what you are supposed to do. Somehow you'reexpected to just know. I didn't know what the future had in storebut I knew I was willing to put everything on the line and trust my gut that this is what I was meant to do.

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Fast forward about a year and a half from that uncertain day, and I couldn't be happier to see SucSeed grow.

This might not have been the plan or evenwhat I thought I'dend up doing. Good days and bad. But every day, I learn something new.

Make the decision

Even a year and a half in, there is still no guide book for me to consult. There never will be.

But one big thing has changed: we'vebuilt an incredible team of members and advisors, and we'rebuilding something special with SucSeed.

So often in life, we expect and do live by the rule book.

We expect that there'salways going to be someone there to tell us what'sthe right decision, and what we should do.

But truthfullyat the end of the day, the only person who can decide if a decision is right is yourself.We'rethe ones who have to make the decision and live with the results.

No matter what the outcome of this entrepreneurial journey is, I know in my heart I made the right decision.

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