Business
Episode 286: My Entrepreneurial Upbringing I’ve been asked to answer some of the questions I ask Guest Mentors. The timing correlates with writing my transformational nonfiction manuscript and interviewing for a new September WeMentor LAB. I am integrating my life experiences through a resilient lens. Did I grow up in a resilient home that promoted an unshakable core of calm, strength, and joy? No. I grew up in a home like most, where we were all in survival mode. Chaos and rigidity were silent partners that provided diversions from knowing ourselves and being deeply seen, loved, and cherished. I was 13 years old when we moved to a dairy farm. My mom was pregnant with her sixth child, and the field of psychology focused on identifying what is wrong with a person. Positive psychology hadn’t yet taken root. No one talked about raising resilient children. My parents had their hands full. Our family focus was on figuring out how to make a living in the newly formed family business. A single-focus was the strategy to survive, and we did. I learned how to jump into any situation and swim like hell to a false sense of safety. Eventually, I learned to create a safe haven within and attract beneficial experiences that expand my ability to live a resilient life. You will understand more about the silver linings as I share what I enjoyed growing up in a big German Catholic entrepreneurial family, describe a life-changing event at age 14, and the roles and responsibilities that equipped me to launch WeMentor in 1992. I start with a popular mindfulness box-breathing exercise that calmed me before taping. Do this exercise with me to engage with your breath more deeply. A way to take charge of how you breathe, especially when you feel it is the only thing you can control at the moment. Notice if you are grasping or have a shortness of breath or if you find it easy to become relaxed as you listen and breathe. A Pioneering Legacy In 1991, shared copies of a collective Meyer-Nathe family ancestry were distributed to Meyer and Nathe families. My cousin, Mary Lee (Meyer) Garbe, dedicated the booklet to her parents, Frank and Loretta (Nathe) Meyer. She began collecting family stories during a 1984 trip to Oldenburg, Germany. Like Mary Lee, I had grown to appreciate my German Catholic entrepreneurial heritage dating back to 1853 when my great, great, great grandfather and grandmother acted upon their dream to come to America. As most dreams, when implemented, shift with circumstances. John went first, and little did Elisabeth know, she would never see him again. Instead of letting the dream die along with her husband, Elisabeth decides to revive the dream by sending her two living sons, Herman and Henry, to America. They sent her money to make the journey, and thus, my paternal ancestors pioneered a path for us to carry on. In many immigrant families, names and spellings of names change once they arrive. The spelling of Meire was eventually changed to Meyer over the years, so it took me a while to realize that a small town in Minnesota, Meire Grove, was named after my great grandparents, Herman and Bernadina Meier. As captured in Mary Lee’s booklet, the story is that Herman and Bernadina donated 5-acres of their land to build a Catholic church, school, and cemetery, which is still there. The tiny community decided to call the town of 201 residents (2021 census) Meire Grove. Another part of the legacy my ancestors left behind is The Meire Grove Band. The Meire Grove Band was established in 1883 and is the most extended continuous community band in Minnesota. It explains why I love brass instruments and played the trumpet and baritone in high school and college. Playing piano has also been a lifetime hobby where I have played on and off in church choirs. I appreciate all kinds of music. My maternal grandparents on the Vornbrock and Welle side also immigrated from Germany to the same area around the 1860s.