Your “why” is easy.
Whatever you do, you want to be happy and fulfilled. That’s “why” you’re doing it. And happiness comes from serving others.
Think about the times in your life when other people helped YOU overcome a struggle.
Your “why” should be to take those lessons and pay it forward.
Here’s an example:
At my first agency job, I was an intern.
I felt like an imposter. I was using MS Paint and Notepad. Everyone else was using Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I was using a PC and everyone else was using a Mac.
But there was an art director named Ed who treated me like every other designer. He kept calling me “designer”.
He gave me real design tasks like every other designer.
I didn’t want to let him down.
I shadowed him for months and learned everything I can. I stayed up at night to practice my Photoshop skills.
In less than a year, I became one of the best designers in that company. He helped me gain confidence and overcome my imposter syndrome.
This was a pivotal moment in my career because I learned the power of others believing in you and how it helps you believe in yourself.
When I started my agency, I wanted to take the lesson I learned from Ed and pay it forward.
I started treating our interns the same as our employees. I gave them real responsibilities. I believed in them.
Many of them ended up starting their own agencies in 3 to 4 years.
They still tell me how much of an impact I had in their life.
This makes me happy and it’s my “why” for running an agency.