When “You Can't” Means “I Will”

A former boss told me I wasn’t entrepreneurial. How wrong she was.

- Vicki Fulop

I can’t say I saw it coming, but I can’t say it was totally unfair, either. I was sitting in a meeting at my previous job as a beauty publicist, and after some exchange, a supervisor turned to me and declared, “Well, maybe this environment is just too entrepreneurial for you.”

I have found myself on the receiving end of comments like that a lot over the years. When I first came to this country from the Soviet Union, at age 7, the school I entered wanted to hold me back because I didn’t speak English. I ended up being one of their best students. My guidance counselor in high school told me he thought NYU was a reach. I got in early decision.

All of which is to say: I know what it is to be underestimated.