Nathan BarryFounder and CEO, Kit · Founder and CEO at Kit

Is Entrepreneurship Actually A Trauma Response?

9 Aug 2025 · 1 min

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In this reflective monologue, the speaker engages with the provocative claim that entrepreneurship can be a trauma response. Initially dismissing the idea as incompatible with their own mindset of creating from abundance, the speaker recounts a formative high‑school experience working at Wendy’s. When falling ill, the manager required the speaker to find a replacement before leaving, highlighting a lack of personal control. This incident sparked a realization that the desire for autonomy and the ability to set one’s own schedule can be a powerful motivator for becoming an entrepreneur. The speaker connects this personal anecdote to a broader insight: the drive for complete freedom, rather than merely abundance, may underlie many entrepreneurial pursuits, suggesting that entrepreneurship can indeed arise as a response to perceived constraints or past frustrations.

Chapters

There's a quote that I heard once of entrepreneurship as a trauma response. And I first heard that and I was like, no, it's not. I create from a place of like, you know, abundance and everything else. And then as the speaker kept talking, I was realizing, wait a second, I remember working at Wendy's when I was in high school and I was really sick. I came into work and then like 10 minutes later I was like, I feel awful. And so I went and told my manager like, I have to go home. She passed the employee directory over to me and said, you can go home when you find your replacement. But I realized like, oh, that was the moment where I was like, oh, I want to be able to set my own schedule, do my own thing. Like that was, I thought, unacceptable from a manager. I was like, this is your job. But then you have that moment where you say, okay, I want complete freedom.