31 Dec 2012 Moth to Flame Reflection

2012 has been a rollercoaster – a mix of intense growth and extreme lows. If I had to summarize the entire experience in one word, it would have to be “challenging.” I graduated this year from business school and took a leap of faith to not pursue a corporate job, but instead to follow my dream of building Moth to Flame. With school debt and a growing business, it has been an interesting learning experience, but I can proudly say that I survived. I more than survived actually. For the first time in my life, I focused 110% and sustained myself on something I created and I am passionate about. Every day, even the tough ones, I feel alive. I have absolutely no regrets.

The hardest part about this journey has been the emotional turmoil of being an entrepreneur. It is pushing the boundaries of what I am willing to sacrifice in order to chase a dream. This means working 15 hours a day, every day, and seeing little economical return. This means living in your best friend’s dining room. Some days I post blogs and video projects online and wonder whether anyone else cares. It is the constant questioning of myself, not fully understanding what I am doing, but still having to blindly maneuverer my way through it all. Somehow, it all gets done.

Moth to Flame has doubled in size. It started off as just me, now we have a team. We doubled our fan count to over 1K, released our first web series, worked with numerous clients, been on the Nasdaq tower, went to Formula 1. This year we retraced steps in order to implement structure. We have been blessed with so many opportunities from the people around us that believe in our work. I cannot be more grateful. Staying up and editing our company reel reminded me of how far we have come so far. But none of these opportunities would have happened without the people who we have met and befriended. This brings me to people.

I must say this is a year that I truly understood the meaning of good friendships. It is my friends who were there to patiently listen to me cry about the parking ticket I could not afford, the failed relationships, the difficult clients, and everything that went wrong, several times. These are the people who helped me pick myself up, forced me to go outside when I didn’t want to, and pushed me to be better every day. To these people, I say thank you. You know who you are.

I raise a glass to 2012. You were a challenging year, but I had a blast. I will take what I learned to make 2013 even better. The tipping point is coming. I can feel it.

-Christine Chen, CEO, Moth to Flame