Salmon Fishing and President Obama

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