How Do You Embark On A New Journey In Your Entrepreneurial & Personal Life At The Same Time?

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Amit had a magical childhood in the kibbutz. She shared about it with a big smile with dimples:

"We had no property - the property was the land, the tractors, the work, the creation and going on Shabbat to pick mushrooms or to the pool."

When her parents were forty years old, they decided to leave the kibbutz as a family. As ‘kibbutzniks’ who worked all their lives within the kibbutz system where all property is shared, they had to leave without any savings, pension or money in their wallets.

Although she was still a child, Amit remembers this moment as decisive in her life as well. Something about the courage of this decision had a huge impact on her -

"My entrepreneurial spirit came from seeing my two parents who didn’t give up on a dream against all odds, with a strong statement: stars don't just line up, you align the stars. They taught me my first lesson in entrepreneurship."

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They moved to a moshav, and Amit encountered for the first time completely different values ​​and a way of looking at things from what she grew up on. Today, with a family of her own, she still lives in a moshav and considers herself a "moshavnik," but her childhood in the kibbutz still has a place of honor in the way she looks at life and orients herself within it – that same scale of values that was burned into her consciousness and created a great clarity within her of who she is, and what she wants from her company and her team. This clear observation is an advantage for her today as an entrepreneur, it’s her north star.

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The courage to embark on a new path

"By virtue of the fact that you only live once, I don't want to wake up every morning not feeling in love, neither with my husband nor with my life nor with my hobbies - I never understood this concept of waiting for vesting."

- This doesn’t mean living as if there is no tomorrow, spending all of our money without planning ahead, or staying in a place where we are suffering, but rather figuring out how to enjoy the journey, every interaction, and every step of our way. It's a muscle we can strengthen in ourselves - maybe the most important one.

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A few years ago, Amit faced a test to this belief, when she had to make a difficult but necessary choice for her happiness. She found herself divorcing with two little kids, and shared that from her point of view, divorce is a bit like entrepreneurship; Both situations evoke questions and complex struggles, feels 'against all odds' - there are so many reasons why not to do it, and yet - that same inner center led her to the same gut answer - you only live once.

"This is perhaps the most difficult challenge I have ever faced in my life, but I chose this difficulty so that I could be happy, because I believe that my kids will be happier, better people, and more educated if they’ll see a mother who laughs, who is happy, who fulfills herself and doesn’t put herself at the bottom of the list of priorities."

If she doesn't want a future of unfulfillment for her kids, why should she live like that herself?

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That decision paid off when she later met her now husband Yoni, and found the happiness for which she embarked on this complex journey in the first place. Today she talks about that difficult time period with a huge smile and sparkling eyes.

I (Gali) also strongly believe in the saying - 'If mom isn’t happy, no one is happy'. If we don’t nourish ourselves physically, emotionally and mentally, it will be very difficult for us to give, and as a parent our job is to give. It’s also our responsibility as parents to give and fulfill ourselves as well, and in the end - this is also what our kids will see and learn to do themselves as adults.

Amit added a wonderful sentence:

"I'm not afraid to show my kids when I'm really happy, and also when I'm really sad. They can see me crying in the living room and saying that I had a hard day, because I want to teach them that it's okay to experience difficulty and it's okay to cry, not just to be happy."

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Being a mom entrepreneur is a very complex position to be in - it brings many dilemmas and prices, like everything in life. The question is how much we prioritize the choice over the prices, and understand where our choices will take us -

"to understand what I want, and what is sacred to me".

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The same strategic thinking also led to found Compete, when on her maternity leave she had more time to think -

"I thought to myself - let's create a solution for something. Let's create something bigger, stronger, bolder, with more ‘Chutzpah’. Because even though I was in my comfort zone - I didn't wake up feeling in love."

And with the full support of her husband Yoni, she resigned from her comfortable job and set out on her entrepreneurial path, even though she didn't know yet exactly what she would do next. 

She got inspiration during Shabbat walks and runs that helped her clear her head, and when she finally had her eureka moment, she called to consult with colleagues, and within two months decided to launch.

"I had audacity because there was still nothing ready, but at dinner I came to Yoni and told him about it. He quit his job right away, and that's how we got started as a Bootstrap company."

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That's the beauty of entrepreneurship - you never have all the answers, you learn as you go. The decision to found a startup as a couple is also a dilemma and there’s no one right answer -

"I won't say that there’s no stress and that it’s not tough - I will say that the easiest thing that has happened to me in my life is being a couple with Yoni, and because of this, founding a startup with him is the easiest thing that exists in Compete for me."

If there’s an answer, it’s that there’s not one correct answer - whether it’s in choosing your co-founder, founding a startup or creating the family of your dreams. Everyone has to find the right balance between career, home and family - only you can know what’s right for you. The main thing is that we’ll stay aware of the prices we pay and still choose our way with open eyes.