Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Kim Opitz is our next guest under the “Our Heroes” series. Kim, a former Creative Director at a Minneapolis Ad agency is the mastermind behind Rribbitz Creative Communications, now.  She decided to walk away from the financial security her company offered while having a family of 4, two cars, a mortgage, a second mortgage, and two IRAs. Today, Kim feels free from the burden of a corporate jail.  Let’s dig deeper into her success story…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?
KO: My name is Kim Opitz and I was the Creative Director at a 40-person ad agency in Minneapolis. I was also the breadwinner for my family – because my husband is a stay-at-home-dad to our two girls, ages 3 and 4. (They were 2 and 3 at the time)

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?
KO: There was a very specific moment when I knew it was time to move on — it was when I knew that I could be a better role model for my daughters by venturing out and developing my own business with my own clients. I had been with the agency for nearly 5 years, but even my husband supported me in making that huge leap of faith. For the sake of my daughters, I wanted to model the ability to build a satisfying career and family life. I knew I was going to do it for MYSELF — and for THEM.I had always thought that I might go on my own eventually; I just didn’t plan to do it so soon.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?
KO: I simply left. I had no plan in place, but I had 18 years of advertising experience.
To prepare, I utilized social media to launch my business: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. A WordPress web site. I utilized all of the affordable online tools to launch my business, the same ones that I help my clients use today.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?
KO: My suggestions:
Have a plan – know what you’re going to do — and follow your passion.
Be prepared to leap – i.e. be prepared to make no money. And if that’s ok with YOU, if you can “live in a paper box for 6 months”, then fine. But if you have a family depending on you, you’ve got to have cash reserves (we did).
Fake it ’til you make it: you might be scared to death, but believe in yourself and keep believing even in your darkest moments.
I’d also love to share more, here’s what I presented in a 5-minute Ignite presentation, 1 year after I launched my business.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now? More details:
KO: I feel absolutely free. I’ve never been happier. I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be — and I don’t regret any minute I spent working for the agencies in my past because they were all part of my rich experience getting to this point. I’m on a mission to help other people break free– Look at ME — I have a family of 4. Two cars (ok, they’re old). A mortgage and a second mortgage. Two children, one husband, two IRAs. It ALL depends on ME, and I walked out of my job because I knew I could have something better. I did it — and if I can do it, so can anyone else.

DD: That’s Kim Opitz, founder of Rribbitz Creative Communications. Her story and Ignite presentation are such a treasure full of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. True entrepreneurs do not wait around waiting for the best time to start a business; this is what happened in Kim’s case, she didn’t wait for someone else to change the situation, she stepped ahead and did it.  Even though she had plenty of responsibilities on her head, she took a huge leap of faith, knowing if not now, then her entrepreneurial spirit may never be enlightened.  The rest is history, today she feels free of the 9 to 5 burden and she is asking you – What are you waiting for?

Success to all!