Entrepreneur: Nathalie Findlay

In honor of U.S. National Entrepreneurship Week, Gloobbi has asked Nathalie Findlay, Director of Nathalie Findlay Lifestyling, how becoming an entrepreneur made it possible for her to make her life’s style her life’s work.
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The story is not a very long one; in fact, it’s only three years old. And although it is my story, I am sharing it because it might also be your story someday, if you have a taste for entrepreneurship.

Back-to-school, or la rentrée, as it was called for me, always involved a ceremonious form-filling session during which we were asked to record, among other things, our choice of future profession. I remember one year I answered “Prime Minister” and another “Film Director”, being completely earnest, but also a little uninspired (in any case, I wanted to be the boss of something, clearly).

The day soon came that we had to choose a concentration. One thing was certain, I was not going to be wearing a labcoat, and I felt that I knew just about enough about Smith and Keynes to last me two lifetimes. So, almost by default, I chose “languages”. These seemed to come naturally to me and, on a more practical level, speaking four and a half languages would help me to order my dinner in (I calculated) at least 47 more countries than was already possible. But for a career? Impossible: I was going to do something exciting, glamorous, and darn it: special!

Secretly, though, looking over the hedge into the green grassy gardens of my future doctor, lawyer, and politician schoolmates, I was awash with dread about not knowing what I really wanted to do, because it simply did not exist yet. After I completed a Fine Arts degree in Canada, I moved to France, in an attempt to find a way to put all my learned skills to work. It didn’t happen at all the way I had anticipated.

By the time I turned 30, I had enjoyed working as a model for nine years after a stint at the Canadian Embassy, worked in television and I had gone back to school for a diploma in interior architecture. My interests, and indeed my life, revolved principally around fashion, travel, events and anything preceded with “Haute”, be it ‘couture’, ‘gastronomy’ and the likes. I wished it would never end. But it was time to take stock of all these rich and varied experiences and choose those that meant the most to me, leaving those that were less fulfilling.

This coincided with the fact that, having encountered many people from different walks of life and from a wide variety of backgrounds, I noticed a very interesting phenomenon. The get-rich- quick ‘nineties to noughties’ were spectacular, but it also meant that the “haves” and the “just gots” were going to be attending the same parties. The differences between those who fit in, and those who were getting confused with the wait staff were palpable. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

I found myself helping people interpret dress codes, improve their demeanour, and their presentation skills: all of which were an integral part of my world. And so, encouraged by several friends who took an interest, I started Nathalie Findlay Lifestyling, and became an entrepreneur.

Now, my schedule revolves around all the same interests, and the things I love and am committed to sharing. These include helping people feel more confident in all social and professional arenas through etiquette, providing companies with a noticeable edge by training their staff in matters of corporate protocol and entertaining, personal shopping, and now I am putting together culinary tours, which I hope will stimulate the taste buds of even the most discerning gourmets.

Loosely transposed, I don’t work for a living. I work at a lifestyle: mine and my clients’. I work around the clock but I don’t notice the time fly… And I really do live the life I had always wanted.

The moral of this story, and there is one within the sinews of my past, is that if you are tempted by becoming an entrepreneur, you should be driven effortlessly to pursue your passion(s) which will reward you tenfold for the efforts you do put in.

Oh, and I am pleased to report that I have coached a few of my former schoolmates, lawyers and doctors.

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by Nathalie Findlay
www.nathaliefindlay.com
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