Running a business isn’t easy – especially a startup business during an economic recession. That doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and enjoyable. With that said, I’ve put together a list of the ten top reasons that I love my job.

Everyone has talent – something that they are specifically good at. In many cases, people find immediate work to fulfill short term needs and make ends meet and end up getting stuck with a job that doesn’t necessarily utilize their talent. I have always been creative and had a keen sense of how things can be improved. With project management, I can utilize my ability to look at how things can be improved from different perspectives. It is important that your job reflects what you’re good at doing – otherwise you won’t be happy with the work you do.

One of our mottos at Bradshaw-Kimbrel is “Challenge Us”. I enjoy a great challenge – being able to find solutions for problems is one of my fortes. Challenging yourself or allowing yourself to be challenged is the best way to improve your skills and techniques at whatever you do. To strive for success, you should always be ready to take on any kind of challenge.

I will admit that growing up I didn’t quite have a place to call home. I was a military brat – my father was an Officer in the United States Air Force. Moving all over Virginia and living in Germany and Alaska, the only thing I knew about my roots was from what my father told me. My father grew up on a farm outside of Suffolk in a village in Isle of Wight County called Carrsville, where my ancestors have lived for over 300 years. Since moving our Headquarters to Franklin last summer I have learned so many things about my grandfather and even my great grandfather that even my father didn’t know. This has allowed me to get in touch with my roots which in turn remind me of those important values that have been advocated by family for generations. Being in touch with my past has helped to guide my future. It is important for anyone who is success driven to know where you have come from before you can know where you’re going.

There is an old saying that originates from Confucius, an ancient Chinese philosopher, “If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's okay. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot.” In the same sense, if you have a losing attitude you will never succeed, but if you have a winning attitude you at least have a chance at success. I apply this philosophy day to day because my job doesn’t create limits on what I can do. 

For business owners it’s easier to avoid ‘red tape’. I’ve worked for large corporations in the past that have been very cutthroat on top of all of the rules and policies that must be abided by – but without any clear reason defined. At Bradshaw-Kimbrel, we try to avoid these kinds of policies as much as possible and encourage teamwork on all levels. We keep our doors open to ideas and although we don’t always take suggestions, we always leave room for discussion. Nobody knows everything – so everyone’s ideas should always be welcome. If you work for someone else, think about this quote from Harold R. McAlindon: “The quality of an organization can never exceed the quality of the individuals that make it up.”

Growing up my father always told my sisters and me “The customer is always right”. That message stuck in my head with every customer service job I held. We have all been the customer so we all know what it’s like to receive poor service and we also know how good it feels to receive good service. One of the greatest feelings you can have as a service provider is knowing that you’ve provided quality service to a client. Knowing that the client is happy with the work performed or just talking to them makes it all worth it. Everyone has bad days and everyone knows what it’s like to put up with difficult clients but putting your pride aside and staying true to the highest quality of service possible is a win-win situation for both you and your customer.

One thing in life that I don’t like is barriers – why have them? Every day at Bradshaw-Kimbrel we push the limits and break through barriers. This can only be achieved by each member of our team realizing that they have no limits. Once I have broken through barriers the feeling of accomplishment is far greater than settling for what you already know you can do. I encourage everyone to think not about what’s easiest or the most familiar to do, rather what hasn’t been done before that will work better than what is already known.

Every day I meet new people. Every person in this world is unique and has a different story with their own experiences, opinions, and ideas. Each time I talk to my clients or associates I learn more about them. Sharing experiences and making connections with people is one of the most important aspects of human life. Individuality is such a beautiful thing and I enjoy experiencing it every day – the more people I meet, the stronger a person I can become and maybe my experiences have or will impact others’ lives as well. With that said, I always look forward to meeting new people and enjoy learning more about those I already know.

There are two approaches a business can take: borrow ideas from existing businesses or invent their own ideas. One of the reasons we started Bradshaw-Kimbrel was because we didn’t like the way most businesses in the Technology Sector made things sound over complicated or confused their clients to the point that they could mark up the prices of their services because the clients simply didn’t understand the technology. Most businesses settle into a comfort zone and as their pockets get deeper they lose their technological edge. We see this every day with our competition using obsolete technology. Our goal is to never get behind by always looking forward and making available the latest advances in technology to our clients not only helps them but helps our company two fold: increasing our value and increasing the skills and abilities of our team members.

My most sincere passion is gaining knowledge to not only grow my business but grow myself. In turn our growth enables us to further our knowledge thus allowing us to continue to grow. Because we deal with clients from dozens of industries during our evaluation process we do research on not just one company but an entire industry. We learn the ins’ and out’s of each of our clients’ businesses and how their industries work. Since Bradshaw-Kimbrel started I have learned so much more than I could have learned at any school and I plan to continue to learn as much as possible throughout the rest of my life.

“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.”