Zumwald featured in Dayton B2B magazine

The decision was agonizing in 1989: Should I accept a new position at the University of Dayton? Or take a risk and start a business at age 26?

I opened my mind, waited for guidance and trusted my gut over a laundry list of pros and cons.

Our first daughter had just been born, so life was changing anyway. And since I’d watched my parents run two businesses, failure never occurred to me ( a blessing of youth, perhaps?).

So I took the risk – and plowed on.

I read everything I could about running a business, took classes and asked questions. I connected with startups and tapped  successful entrepreneurs. And now, 23 years of full-time work later, the payoffs still outweigh the tradeoffs: A daugther-friendly lifestyle (now there are three). Control over my workdays. Gratitude for clients and word-of-mouth opportunities. And the confidence to keep trusting my gut. To plow on. To say, “Why not?”