I didn’t mean to end up here. In fact, I can be quoted by those who remember me saying four years ago that I didn’t want to be a business owner – no way, no how. I didn’t want that ultimate responsibility of making sure that employees are paid and happy day-to-day. But, alas, here I am and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way.

After graduating from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, with a degree in political science I was surely destined to be a lawyer, according to my parents’ ultimate plan for me. To get my feet wet, I took a job on a political campaign where I “dialed for dollars” every day until the election ended.

Along the way at a fundraiser, I met a really nice, stately man named Frank Calhoun who was a partner in a law firm and a former state senator. He said, “Young lady, if you ever need a job you just give me a call.”

So, when the campaign ended (we won!), I called him on the phone – novel, I know but this was 1998! He agreed to meet me and introduce me to the HR manager at his firm, who happened to have an assistant position open.

I took the position as a great way to get experience in a law firm while applying to law school. I started in HR, then took over attorney billing, then worked in the library, learned the telephone switchboard and took over the summer recruiting program – all in the first 18 months on the job. This career progression, I’ve found, is a theme in my life.

After nearly six years of working for the firm and receiving a promotion to the director level and working with the top levels of Firm management, I was itching for something new. I interviewed to be a recruiter in other industries but something just didn’t feel right. I had lived in Texas my whole life and traveled abroad and just knew I needed a bigger pond to play in.

I received a flyer in the mail from a recruiter in New York City and submitted my resume that same day. She happened to be in Dallas that very next weekend and we met for a 20-minute screening. That “screening” turned into a three-hour dinner that included a job offer at the end. We just clicked.

I moved to New York City two weeks later – note that I knew absolutely not one person in NYC when my moving truck pulled into Manhattan. I started work for a well-established recruiting firm and was given the opportunity to help build a new division. It was a huge learning experience and challenge: I walked in the door with very few clients and candidates, and essentially started from scratch. Over the course of nearly six years with the agency, I worked closely with the president, who valued transparency, to learn the ins-and-outs of business ownership. She afforded me the opportunity to run many of the day-to-day operations.

I must have a “nearly six year” itch because I once again found myself ready to do something else. This time, I was so invested in the brand that I had helped to build that I couldn’t see clearly what could be next so I decided to take a couple months off to see if I could “see” what might be next for me.

Sure enough, I got a call from a networking connection who said that he had something cooking that I may be interested in. After learning more about the business plan and possibilities of success I was very eager to explore further. But, it was so very different than anything I had ever done.

While I was hired to do what I do best – recruit and people development/management – the industry itself was something I had no knowledge of. Once again, for the third time in three jobs, I found myself on a very steep learning curve. Not only was I hiring and managing people, I was developing HR policies and choosing payroll vendors. I also found myself serving in the capacity of production manager, moderator for live shows, coach to clients, managing our accounting, liaising with our CIO and the list goes on and on.

I became a business owner this spring and found a really good place for me – I’m not the CEO (which is what I said I never wanted to be) but, instead, I get to participate in business ownership in a way that fulfills my entrepreneurial spirit with my business partners at my side.

From a statewide supreme court campaign, to a law firm to the agency world to a new media start-up. It may sound odd to you, but it makes perfect sense to me. And, that is what matters.

I’ve learned to listen to what’s going on around me because most of the time I find that opportunity is actually pretty far out of my comfort zone. However, the uncomfortable position that I’ve repeatedly found myself in has made me what I am today – I welcome a challenge and feel grateful for those I’ve conquered to date.

Jennifer Johnson can be reached at [shiftworldwide.com]