The document is an assignment to evaluate an interview with Samantha, a lifestyle entrepreneur who started a litigation firm after leaving her job at HUD. It discusses her motivations for entrepreneurship, her challenges and successes, her family support, and her goals for the business, highlighting the importance of passion and self-discipline in her journey. The interview reveals insights into her personal growth and the entrepreneurial mindset, with advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on collaboration and perseverance.

1. Assignment: Read the interview questions and answers below
regarding a new small business
created by an entrepreneur and evaluate what you read.
Summarize, in written form (at least 3
pages long), your most important observations and insights that
you gathered from the interview
below. Make sure to include answers to ALL of the following in
your write up:
1. Discuss whether you feel the interviewee/Samantha was a
lifestyle or a high-potential
entrepreneur and why (Samantha is a lifestyle entrepreneur).
Definition of a lifestyle entrepreneur: An individual that creates
a business with the
purpose of altering their personal lifestyle and not for the sole
purpose of making profits.
A lifestyle entrepreneur focuses more on the life rewards
provided to people that enjoy
and have a passion for what they are doing. There is a
possibility that the business will do
particularity well since the individual has a passion for what
he/she is doing.

2. 2. Who do you think can become an entrepreneur (what type
person, characteristics should
an entrepreneur have? Did the interviewee/Samantha
demonstrate them? Do you think
the interviewee/Samantha epitomizes an entrepreneur?)
3. What surprised you the most from the interview.
4. What knowledge was confirmed by the interview.
5. What new insights developed.
6. What are the implications for you personally as a result of
this interview, your goals, and
your aspirations?
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Interview
Interviewee: Samantha (Attorney)
Small Business Created: Litigation Firm
Business Inception: Started six months ago – since March 2,
2015
Interview Questions and Answers
1. What did the entrepreneur do before s/he started the

3. business?
Samantha was a HUD (United State Department of Housing and
Urban Development)
attorney, since August 15, 2009. Left HUD on June 1, 2015. Is
now an entrepreneur
100% of the time now.
2. Who were their role models?
Samantha had some contemporaries/peers that had their own
firms that were her role
models, not a particular person influenced her decision, but
definitely people that she
gleaned information from that had entrepreneurial backgrounds
that helped her get an
idea of having her own law firm would be like.
3. How did s/he become interested in entrepreneurship?
In working at HUD as attorney, she became uncomfortable with
the environment. The
management had changed, the work had slightly changed and
the work was no longer
challenging. She was doing just enough to get by, becoming

4. slowly disillusioned and
unhappy with her employment situation. She found this
unhappiness with her job to be
affected her everyday life, her life outside of the job and her
family. She started to look
for a job in the private sector, but she started to consider
opening her own firm.
4. How they decided to create the new venture.
There are three main people her were her contemporaries that
she talked to about starting
her own law firm. One of them, a young lady, just recently
graduated from a leadership
management program for the State Bar and had started a firm
with two other lawyers.
They had the firm for two years and wanted Samantha to join
their frim. Samantha said
no because as she talked to the ladies, they explained that the
firm was not their full time
job. They all had outside full time jobs and tried to do the firm
duties on the side.
Samantha decided that if she was going to do the law firm 100%
of the time, then anyone
that was a partner in the law firm would have to as well. Having
your time divided

5. between two jobs would mean that there was a potential of one
of those jobs being
neglected and Samantha did not want the law firm to be the one
that was short changed.
And as Samantha talked to the ladies of the law firm, she found
out they had not been
very successful, so that further solidified her belief in starting
her own firm, but it being
just her in the beginning with plans to hire other lawyers in the
future.
Samantha also decided that she could not continue in a job
environment that was so
highly micromanaged. She would rather be her own boss and be
in control of her own
workload and working environment. She felt the best way to do
this was to start her own
law firm.
5. What were their goals and aspirations?
Immediate Goals for the Law Firm (in the next year) – to make
enough funds to cover her
bills and expenses, be in the position to hire at least one support
staff (even if its part-time

6. and virtual), have an office space that’s more private (she
operates primarily out of her
home, she does have space in Mid-town Atlanta, but only have
use that a couple hours on
two days out of the week for meetings). Focus on areas of law
that are her strengths
(personal litigation and government contracts) and hone her
skills. Find a good
work/home balance.
Long Term Goals for the Law Firm (in the next five years) – to
continue to grow and be a
respected person in her field of work. Handle multiple areas of
law, but be known for one
specialty area. Be looking at maybe having partners in her firm.
6. What did their family think of the decision?
Her father is more of the adventurous type, so he was very
excited about Samantha
starting her own business. Her mother is the more conservative,
cautious type (has
worked at her same job for 33 years) and was very concerned
for Samantha. But they
were on board with the idea and they never doubted Samantha

7. ability. They just wanted
to know what Samantha’s plan was. Everyone has been very
supportive.
7. At what point did they know the business would succeed?
A specific moment - Her official last day was May 29, 2015. On
May 30
th
, she had two
people calling her needing a lawyer and since then, every
month, she has added at least
one or more clients to her client list. She has not had a day of
rest or down time since
May 30
th
(she has to sneak in a day of rest when needed). So she has
been building her
clientele steadily. So she feels confident that the need is there
and that she can handle the
demand and her business can be successful.
8. Most triumphant/worst moment
Triumphant Moment – One of Samantha’s first clients was

8. being sued by a HOA – Home
Owners Association for $7300), Samantha was not familiar with
this type litigation, so
she researched it, got prepared, went to magistrate court to
argue the case and got the
amount down to $2700, broken up into 13 payments over the
next year. So Samantha was
very pleased that she got to take on a case, in an area that she
knew nothing about, do the
research and be able to argue the amount down for her client.
This added to her
confidence that she could do this job successfully.
Worst Moment – When she first started her firm, Samantha
ordered new business cards
for her firm, went to a business enterprise conference and
handed out a large amount of
the cards. Was wondering a few days after the conference was
over why no one was
calling her. She went and looked at the business cards closely
and found she had the
phone number incorrect and no email address listed on them. So
all that potential
business was lost! Such a bad moment. But she did learn a lot at

9. the conference so even
though those were potential contacts that were lost, she may see
them next year at the
conference or see them somewhere else. She did learn quite a
bit from the conference.
9. What are your thoughts on handling your businesses growth?
For Samantha, once business becomes so demanding of her time
and she can afford it and
there is the work to support it, she will definitely hire someone
to do the administration
part of her business. She wants to focus on networking,
marketing the business, doing
workshops, and continually building the clientele.
10. What is one of the most important lessons you have learned
in starting this business?
Samantha has a side jewelry/accessory business and went into
starting the law firm with
definite ideas on what not to do, that she did and failed at in her
jewelry business. She
learned that she cannot do everything herself, which she tried to
do with her jewelry
business. She learned to accept that there are some things that
she could not do (like

10. maintain the website, design letterhead, a logo, etc.).
11. What three pieces of advice would you give to college
students who want to become
entrepreneurs?
-Do not minimize your dreams. Having lofty goals and
aspirations can be keep you
motivated.
-Talk to others that have some of the same ideas and goals. You
never know what you
can learn from those of like mind.
-Collaboration, brainstorming and observation are key. Learn
what to do and what not to
do by working with others.
12. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a
successful entrepreneur?
-Efficient work ethic
-Self motivator
-Perseverant
13. How many hours do you work a day on average?

11. The work is none stop for Samantha. She currently works seven
days a week, from 12 to
14 hours a day. And that’s on a “slow” day.
14. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Being her own boss and being responsible for everyday
decisions and holding herself
accountable for all outcomes, whether they be good or bad.
15. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Challenging!