TAKE FIVE: Stephanie Marie Echeveste By Laurie Buenafe Krsmanovic Posted April 12, 2010 7:30 am

Three years ago Laurie from Mission Local interviewed me because I was teaching Found Art Classes at Mission Cultural Center. I just remembered this and got really nostalgic. I miss teaching sometimes, but I am so excited about Etxe and I know I'll have the opportunity to teach again in the future when I have decades of experience.

It's strange looking back. Everything has really led me to exactly what I am doing now. Back in 2010 I took the first session at Women's Initiative and had loads of things I knew I needed to learn before I started my own business. In fact, I didn't even really know what I wanted to do as a business. I just knew what I liked to do. But that one session gave me a little road map of what I needed to learn, which is how I started at Betabrand -- I wanted to learn about product development and clothing production.

And I did. I learned so much; I couldn't have even dreamed of the things I would learn. I am terribly thankful for such a great experience, starting up a start-up is hard work, but someone's gotta do it. Now that Betabrand has around 50 employees and an awesome storefront on Valencia, I'm proud to know I was a part of it, even if I am not a part of it anymore.

Things have come full circle as now I am actually in the Simple Steps program at Women's Initiative, but this time I know exactly what my business is and have the skills I need to do it. I'll always be learning along the way, you can never know everything, but I'm thankful that I have a pretty good head start. I've worked at many, many different companies, and it's been those experiences that will make me a better business owner myself.

So thank you universe!

Have you ever looked back and realized it all was adding up to your future perfect? Leave a comment and share your story!