"The Transsexual Entrepreneur"

a successful failure

My business history isn't my favorite subject. I might now live as a woman, but after many years of building a career as a man? I remain challenged by not defining myself but such activities.

Old habits? They die hard.

I accomplished some fairly extraordinary things during my first forty years on this planet. Unfortunately, I also had my share of fiascos. As one might expect, my gender identity played a role in both success & failure.

It's my opinion that entrepreneurs never actually fail: their companies do. And the best entrepreneurs? They pick themselves up - and try again. I like to think my greatest success is still upon my horizon since I'm no longer weighted by shame & confusion. Time will tell.

To date, no tranz-female ever built & ran a notable growth company. You can add my name to that list. Try as I may, I've yet to discover a venture opportunity destined for significant growth that meshed with the issues associated with transsexuality. Make no mistake: I'm still looking. As we speak, I'm preparing a smaller launch of a decent new enterprise. Perhaps it'll evolve to a larger opportunity as my new chapters unfold. Perhaps not.

I keep trying to learn how not to define myself by the standards of others & the criterion of business. Notably, my priorities evolved with my new gender. Family? It's most important. My inner desires? I don't just want to build a new enterprise - I want to make a difference. My dreams? I have few remaining personal needs or wants - but I've overwhelmed with community goals.

In other words? I'm most interested in the quality of my next venture versus the quantitative aspects. Of course - compelling profitability makes altruism more likely...but I'm figuring there's an isosceles of intersecting opportunity with my name at the apex.

Lets hope so...

the young entrepreneur

I began my first business at the age of thirteen & entrepreneuring remained a big part of my life thereafter. With my best from childhood, Rob Puckett - I started a slew of good & not-so-good ventures in my early years. We had a saying back in those days that we were in the business of ATMAB...anything to make a buck. *Laugh*

Some of you might recall the early & mid-1980's - when success before the age of thirty was a novel concept born from the Apple-tree named Steve Jobs. I was a small part of that revolution having creating a first-ever entrepreneurial hub at a public university - UK Student Agencies, Inc. I segued this entrepreneurial beginning into a hodge-podge of companies that collectively got me ranked as one of America's top 100 entrepreneur's under the age of 30 in 1985. This notoriety was the source of my fifteen-minutes of fame. From Forbes & Success Magazines to a few cameos on the talk shows...I became a flavor of the month.

In retrospect, the most interesting aspect of this adventure wasn't my entrepreneurial vistas since my truest destiny wasn't tied to business. Rather, I was afforded a front-row seat to the makings of many of the entrepreneurial giants of our generation. I encountered Bill Gates before he was all that. I met Michael Dell when he was just seventeen years-old & running an impressive albeit much smaller mail-order computer enterprise.

I was at the formative meetings of YEO (Young Entrepreneur's Organization) - now one of the nation's premier entrepreneurial groups. Alas, the whole thing was first created because all our existing associations were for the under-30 crowd...and none of us had a new place to gather as we approached this over-the-hill legacy.

Generally speaking, I didn't exactly fit-in with this clan of business builders. They were either from the east...taking the whole thing way too serious for my blood - or...they resided out west - and dedicated themselves to pretending nothing really mattered.

The only other person I encountered at these gatherings very like myself was a guy from Texas who owned a retail computer chain called Micro-Solutions. While our entrepreneurial comrades remained dedicated to bettering their minds & wallets at each gathering, Mark & I were only interested in one thing...having fun.

We met at the ACE conference in Chicago in 1984...long before he was a pro-sports team owner & I was anything more than a once-a-month DRAG queen. As graduates of the two most storied college basketball colleges of that age (Kentucky & Indiana) we formed an immediate bond. However, our real connection was a taste for night-clubbing. Thus, while the other young business-builders were wolfing breakfast in pinstripes & spying one another with that eye of the tiger, Mark & I were usually just getting poured from some cab with nothing on our minds but the dates we'd encountered.

Mark knew nothing of my gender issues. Doubt he'd have cared - he's a good guy.

In the end?

We both got what we actually wanted. I became a woman - and Mark Cuban became a billionaire.

Works for me... 

the dry clean queen

Dry cleaning.

It's been my experience nobody purposefully ends up in the dry cleaning industry. Rather, they somehow just end up in this staid business. My entry followed my desire to live in a city more suitable to my gender leanings. Having spent twenty-eight years living in Kentucky - I was about to die, female-wise.

"Hello: Atlanta, Georgia". *Laugh*

I read a book entitled "The Millionaire Next Door" that ranked dry cleaning owners as amongst the most successful small business owners in America. This news - combined with the fact there were no national chains - caught my eye.

I can't say the first years went well. In fact, early on? It was pretty much a disaster. Dry cleaners are notoriously a low-revenue per unit proposition. In 1997, the average sales per store of dry-cleaners in America was about $175,000. Took awhile...but I finally unearthed methods to circumvent these limitations and subsequently built one of the highest volume single-stores in the southeast. My purpose was to develop a franchised chain around this prototype but I ended up getting distracted by a parallel opportunity.

What distracted me?

When the dry cleaning industry faced mounting environmental concerns in the early 1990’s, I attempted to procure alternative cleaning solvents for the industry. During this process, I developed a method for consumers to clean “dry clean only” clothing at home - in a household clothing dryer. I subsequently secured my first of three US & international patents and licensed the technology.

When you stop & think about it - seems logical that a key part of "in-home dry cleaning" would be invented by a transsexual, no?

Who else would come up with such a thing? *Laugh*

the dismantling

As I intensely tried ramping the retail dry cleaning chain for national development while congruently staying active in new product development efforts for at-home cleaning...I recall the day I looked in my mirror & realized I was painting myself into another corner. I didn't want this life. I tried being satisfied as a weekend gender-warrior but with each passing day my inner female-self made it clear...that - wasn't enough.

Building a growth company is a challenging course. Dismantling one? That's ugly. If had it all to do over? I'd have done this quite differently. Wouldn't we all?

In the end? I was left with just enough to finish transition & begin a new life.

the successful failure

I'm forced to compare myself with other entrepreneurs I encountered over the years. I once seemed destined to accomplish great things in this regard. In that sense? I'm a complete failure.

However, within myself there existed only one worthy aim - to correct the mistake known as my gender. By solving that problem? I'm a total success.

Thus, I choose to envision myself as a successful-failure. As long as I'm still breathing...I hope I remain one.

What am I doing now? Where am I headed with my career & dreams?

Read on...

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