Happy Birthday No. 237 to the United States and No. 9 to the Official Escape From Corporate America Blog!

Happy 9th Birthday to the official Escape From Corporate America blog and Happy 237th Birthday America!  Enjoy the day and thank you all for your readership.

Celebrate and make your business unbeatable!

For a little bit of history about this blog, go here.

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved. 

Happy Birthday No. 235 to the United States and No. 7 to the Official Escape From Corporate America Blog!

Happy Independence Day United States.  Whatever you are doing at this moment, stop and count your blessings for the privilege to live in a country where opportunity abounds.  Freedom is something one should never take for granted - only used to do what you wish.

And while you are celebrating, raise a glass in our honor to toast Birthday No. 7 for Escape For Corporate America!  Yes, it's been that long since we started this blog (click here to see how an article I authored planted the seed for this blog) and since then, you have been following us religiously.  So thanks for that  -- we appreciate your readership very much -- and we hope you continue to stay with us year after year as we feature stories relating to women who embark on the challenging journey of breaking away from Corporate America to start a business.

The picture (shown above)?  I took it over the weekend while running along the Chicago lakefront.  It symbolizes much of what I think this blog is about:  power, equality and starting a business!

Note:  Last year we gave you a free gift in honor of our double celebration.  If you haven't already opened it, do so now to get the inspiration you need to start a business:  Entrepreneurial Obsession:  13 Ways to Create a Brighter Future For Your Business.

Best wishes for continued success!  Back with you soon.

Happy Birthday No. 234 to America and No. 6 to the official Escape From Corporate America blog!

Freedom comes in many forms -- the best is when you choose it for yourself. We wish you a Happy Independence Day United States and a Happy Birthday No. 6 for the official Escape From Corporate America blog! Refresh your memory in terms of how it all began for us here.

In celebration of both birthdays, our gift to you is twofold:

1. A hearty thanks for your continued support and loyal readership. Without you, this blog would not be nearly as much fun to produce. We love what we do here (can't you tell?!), so we just keep doing it. Yet we never lose sight of the fact, we do it for you! Thanks for listening, for commenting from time to time and for reading our blog.

2. We just compiled a new (FREE!) e-book, "Entrepreneurial Obsession: 13 ways to a brighter future for your business." It's yours to do what you wish with. We hope it inspires you to escape from corporate America to start your own business.

Best wishes,
Laurel
July 4, 2010

Posted by: The Escape From Corporate America blog

The Official Escape From Corporate America Blog Turns 5

Celebrating birthday No. 5 for the official Escape From Corporate America Blog and No. 233 birthday for America.

Here's a reminder of where it all started. In 2003, I wrote a wildly popular article, "Escape From Corporate America," that was published by The Conference Board. It caused such a stir that the following year I decided to start a blog about it. Here's the lead paragraph to the article:

Divorce, dumping, or abandonment: Call it what you like, but many women are trading in Corporate America for entrepreneurship. According to Cheskin Research, they are starting businesses at twice the rate of men and have become a major force in both the traditional and the e-business marketplace. The Center for Women's Business Research estimates that, as of 2002, there are 6.2 million women-owned businesses, employing 9.2 million workers and generating $1.15 trillion in annual revenue.

In the interest of security, women used to be willing to channel their time, energy, and effort to the corporation's needs at the expense of fulfilling their own professional goals -- but no more. In starting their own businesses, they're seeking freedom, flexibility, recognition, more money, and opportunities to leave a legacy -- all of the things they once thought they would find within corporations.

Still sounds all too familiar, doesn't it? Since then, even more women are breaking away from what is considered "corporate prison" to start their own businesses.

So today is your day. Enjoy. Have fun. And thank you ever so much for your readership.

Go out -- escape -- to celebrate your freedom and independence!

P.S. Here are the first three posts to the official Escape From Corporate America Blog in 2004:

Post 1
Post 2
Post 3

Happy Birthday, America and Escape From Corporate America!

Celebrating No. 4 birthday for the official Escape From Corporate America website and this blog and No. 232 birthday for America.

Enjoy. Have fun. Thanks for your readership.

Now go out and celebrate your freedom and independence!

Celebrating Birthday 3 and 231!

Happy Birthday No. 3 to Escape From Corporate America (my photo)!
Happy Birthday No. 231 to America (my husband's photo)!

Now go out and create your own kind of freedom.