Today I watched probably the most
profound movie I’ve seen in a long time. Salmon
Fishing in the Yemen, a seemingly overlooked production, left me really thinking about
my life and my purpose. Now, I don’t want to give away the plot because I believe it
is a movie that every person who aspires to do anything great with their life
should watch. So moving forward... Over the past month, I have been uncovering my characteristics,
possibly even personality traits, I have never noticed in myself. Some may call
me persistent and maybe sometimes a bit aggressive, and well, they are right. But,
if there is anything that I have learned from my marketing internship at
Mercantile Capital Corporation, it’s how essential those characteristics are to
my success in my personal life and most definitely my business matters.
I have a better appreciation for
people, like CEO, Chris Hurn, who learned from a young age the importance of ownership,
and ran with it. HE is an entrepreneur, and an expert at it. This past week, (for
those of you who may not be familiar with the latest speeches of our president)
President Obama claimed small business owners and entrepreneurs didn’t build
their companies and that they had help from others. Now, as my readers, and
citizens of our free country, you have the right to think whatever you want
about this comment (feel free to leave a comment as well). But, whether he
meant what he said or not, his comment was disturbing to those who are
entrepreneurs, and those who aspire to be entrepreneurs, like myself. Yes, entrepreneurs
have help from friends and acquire inspiration from teachers and support from their
families, of course. But who thought up the company? Who risked their money and
maybe their relationships to pursue what they felt like they were meant to do? Who
put a lot of time and energy and life on the line, maybe to fail once, and then
try again? The answer: the small business owners and entrepreneurs who
President Obama has tossed aside (he definitely won’t be getting
their votes now). So, why did I bring a brilliant (yet forgotten) film and President Obama into the same blog post? Well, I have a perfect illustration for
Obama, maybe then he will understand the significance entrepreneurs and their
dedication that allows them to claim their businesses as their own success.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is essentially the
story of turning something impossible into an ever-changing process that
essentially leads to success. Dr. Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor) had some obstacles
he had to overcome, specifically, how to get Scottish Salmon to Yemen. I can’t
go on with the story without giving it away, but if anyone has a little faith
in themselves and what they stand for, then anything is possible. Dr. Jones
used Farmed Salmon to begin a salmon population in Yemen, at first; he doubted
their survival because farmed fish may not know to swim upstream (as salmon do,
which is news to me). His epiphany was simple: Salmon were made to swim upstream
and whether they are taught it or not, it’s in their DNA to do it. What does
this have to do with me? I believe there is a purpose for me and a path I belong
on, and I will find it, because it is already a part of me.
I guess what I’m trying to say is,
some people were meant to start their own business. Some people were meant to
work weeks without sleep to make their dream a reality, and I respect those
individuals and President Obama should too. All of us have goals; we wish to do certain things and desire to
accomplish whatever our dreams are. But those actually who do; the ones who
eat, sleep, drink, and breathe their dreams, it’s in their DNA to do so because
they have found what they were made to do. In the end, I’m blessed and completely
honored to work with the people I have been able to work with this summer, they
have taught me a lot about myself and my future. My job, the people I have met,
and this movie (silly, I know) have encouraged me to find what I love and accomplish
everything I was meant to do.
Thanks so much for reading! Leave a
comment!
Sarah Ann Weaver
@birdsandtrees14