By Kay Lim, Heartful Sprout
Shifting Perspectives: My Journey from Engineer to Entrepreneur
Leaving my consulting career to start a children’s nutrition company wasn’t just a career change—it was an identity crisis waiting to happen.
In consulting, I had it made: reliable paycheck, clear processes, administrative support, and a reputation as the “cool AI expert” who could translate tech into business strategy. Sure, we worked weekends and dealt with demanding clients, but there was always a template to follow, a manager to escalate to, a system that worked.
I thought I was ready for entrepreneurship because I thrived under pressure and genuinely loved the intellectual challenges of consulting work. What I didn’t realize was how much easier it is to be a workaholic when someone else provides the infrastructure, resources, and roadmap.
The entrepreneurial path strips away all those safety nets—and with them, the professional identity you’ve carefully built. This is the reality behind the glamorized startup stories: it’s not just about building a business, it’s about rebuilding yourself from scratch.
Redefining Your Identity: The First Major Perspective Shift
My professional identity was firmly rooted in technical expertise—an AI engineer with management consulting credentials who prided myself on technical precision, analytical thinking, and systematic problem-solving. My differentiators were clear: advanced technical AI knowledge, attention to detail while maintaining strategic vision, and exceptional organizational skills. Being the “cool” AI expert wasn’t just what I did—it was who I was.
When I pivoted to children’s nutrition, I faced my first major perspective challenge: Who am I if not the “AI engineer”? This identity crisis wasn’t just internal—it affected how I presented myself to potential partners, investors, and customers. In consulting, my technical expertise gave me immediate credibility. In nutrition, I had to build that credibility from scratch, without the safety net of my technical pedigree.
The truth I’ve discovered is that identity transformation isn’t about abandoning your past—it’s about integrating it into your new path. My engineering mindset now informs how I approach nutrition challenges, bringing data-driven decision making to an often emotion-driven space. The analytical rigor I developed in consulting helps me cut through nutrition industry myths with evidence-based approaches. I’m still discovering how to authentically embody both worlds, but I’ve learned that our professional identities are more fluid and adaptable than we often give them credit for.
Balancing All-In Commitment with Boundaries
My professional identity was built on technical expertise—I was the AI engineer with management consulting credentials, someone who prided herself on technical precision, analytical thinking, and systematic problem-solving. My differentiators were crystal clear: advanced AI knowledge, attention to detail paired with strategic vision, and exceptional organizational skills. Being the “cool” AI expert wasn’t just what I did—it was who I was.
When I pivoted to children’s nutrition, I hit my first major identity wall: Who am I if not the “AI engineer”? This wasn’t just an internal crisis—it completely changed how I presented myself to potential partners, investors, and customers. In consulting, my technical expertise gave me instant credibility. Walk into any room, mention machine learning algorithms, and people listen. In nutrition, I had to build that credibility from nothing, without my technical safety net.
Suddenly, no one cared that I could build predictive models or optimize complex systems. They wanted to know if I understood why their toddler refused vegetables or how to navigate picky eating phases. My carefully cultivated professional persona felt irrelevant, even misleading.
The truth I’ve discovered is that identity transformation isn’t about abandoning your past—it’s about integrating it into your new path. My engineering mindset now informs how I approach nutrition challenges, bringing data-driven decision making to an often emotion-driven space. The analytical rigor from consulting helps me cut through nutrition industry myths with evidence-based approaches. I’m still learning how to authentically embody both worlds, but I’ve realized that our professional identities are more fluid and adaptable than we often give them credit for.
Embracing the Reality of Time and Completion
The most jarring reality of entrepreneurship? Everything takes longer than you expect, and nothing ever feels truly finished.
In consulting, projects had clear timelines and defined endpoints. We might have struggled to meet deadlines, but they existed—concrete milestones that let us close one chapter and start another. There was a clean satisfaction in marking something “complete” and moving on.
Entrepreneurship shattered that illusion. Projects I estimated would take weeks stretched into months. “Must-have” features for launch got pushed to “someday maybe” lists. That satisfying sense of completion was replaced by a constant state of evolution and iteration.
This isn’t failure—it’s the natural rhythm of building something from scratch. The entrepreneurial journey isn’t linear; it’s cyclical, with bursts of progress followed by unexpected roadblocks that demand patience you didn’t know you needed. In consulting, although I am expected to meet the deadlines no matter what, I have senior leadership to escalate problems to or request more resources. As an entrepreneur, I am the escalation point, which forced me to completely reframe what “progress” and “done” actually mean.
I’ve had to learn to celebrate incremental progress rather than wait for completion. My company looks nothing like my original vision—not because I compromised, but because I adapted as I learned more about the market, my customers, and what actually works. My engineering background gave me tools for iteration that proved invaluable, even as I had to release my attachment to perfectionism and clear finish lines.
Rejecting Comparison: Your Timeline Is Your Own
We’re drowning in carefully curated success stories. Social media feeds overflow with startups hitting million-dollar revenues within months of launching. Industry publications celebrate the “overnight successes” who seem to crack the code while the rest of us are still figuring out our pricing strategy.
These narratives aren’t just misleading—they’re actively harmful to realistic entrepreneurial expectations.
The uncomfortable truth: building meaningful revenue takes years, not months. This is especially true for physical products or complex services where you’re not just launching an app but creating something substantial. For every viral success story, there are thousands of entrepreneurs steadily building solid foundations over years before seeing significant returns.
I’ve had to actively resist measuring my timeline against others’. When I catch myself spiraling into comparison mode—wondering why my company isn’t growing as fast as that wellness brand I saw on Instagram or case studies—I remind myself that I’m not just building a business. I’m building a business aligned with my values, serving a genuine need, designed to sustain itself long-term. That kind of foundation isn’t built overnight, and it shouldn’t be.
Finding Humanity in Business Relationships
Before becoming a founder, I treated business outreach like a clinical exercise. Cold emails and networking events were transactional necessities, not genuine human connections. Now I see each outreach differently—as one human reaching out to another with authentic intentions.
I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the courage it takes to reach out, to ask for help or propose collaboration. When someone approaches me with genuine intentions, I respond with support and openness, even if their proposal isn’t a perfect fit. Business, at its core, isn’t about transactions—it’s about relationships between people trying to solve problems together.
Some of my most valuable partnerships began with someone taking a chance on cold outreach. When we strip away corporate facades and connect as humans—acknowledging our hopes, challenges, and genuine desire to create value—that’s when magic happens.
The False Promise of Shortcuts for Entrepreneurs
Moving fast is the entrepreneurial gospel, but there’s a crucial distinction between speed and cutting corners. In the early days, I embraced shortcuts to get our minimum viable product to market quickly. While this generated valuable feedback, some shortcuts created technical and operational debt that demanded repayment at inconvenient times.
My engineering background should have prepared me for this. I understood technical debt and the long-term consequences of quick fixes. Yet even with this knowledge, the pressure to “just ship it” sometimes led me to compromise on things I knew better than to compromise on.
The lesson isn’t to avoid moving quickly—it’s learning to distinguish between strategic simplification and problematic corner-cutting. Speed should never come at the expense of your foundation. Identify your core infrastructure, your non-negotiables, and protect those from shortcuts while moving quickly everywhere else.
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Necessity of Renewal
The entrepreneurial journey can be profoundly isolating. As I poured myself into building something new, I often neglect my own wellbeing. Exhaustion became a badge of honor rather than a warning sign.
I’ve learned that isolation and burnout aren’t inevitable entrepreneurial taxes—they’re warning signs of an unsustainable approach. Regular periods of genuine rest aren’t luxuries; they’re essential practices that preserve your most valuable resource: creative energy and perspective.
Build self-care into your routine from day one. Whether it’s daily meditation, weekly tech-free time in nature, or monthly retreats—find what replenishes you and protect it fiercely.
Remembering Your “Why” Through Challenges in Entrepereneurship
When progress seems slow or obstacles feel insurmountable, I return to a simple question: “Why did I start this journey?” My “why” transcends profit margins and market share—it connects to improving children’s health through better nutrition.
This foundation sustains me through challenges that would otherwise feel overwhelming. Your “why” is your compass when the path forward seems unclear. It helps you distinguish between essential pivots and dangerous distractions.
A Note to My Family and Support System
Perhaps my most significant perspective shift has been recognizing how my entrepreneurial journey affects those closest to me. There have been missed dinners, distracted conversations, and stress that spilled beyond my work hours.
To my family: I’m sorry for the times my entrepreneurial obsession overshadowed my presence with you. Your patience and support have been the foundation that made everything else possible.
To fellow entrepreneurs: Acknowledge the impact your journey has on those around you. Express gratitude often, and find concrete ways to demonstrate that your appreciation extends beyond words.
The Continuing Journey of Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship isn’t a destination—it’s a continuous evolution of perspective and identity. I’m still discovering how to integrate my engineering background with my passion for children’s nutrition. I’m still learning the delicate balance between all-in commitment and sustainable boundaries.
What I know with certainty is that the entrepreneurial path transforms not just what we do, but who we are. It demands that we continually shift our own perspectives before we can hope to shift others’. And in that ongoing transformation lies the true reward of the entrepreneurial journey.
For those working to shift perspectives in any domain: start with your own. The most powerful catalyst for change in others is authentic transformation in ourselves.
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