This is America At Work. I’m Debra Stamp.

My Mom and Dad were breeding Angel Fish in the basement and with each offspring of Angel Fish, he would take that and sell and buy an aquarium. And our business really started from one aquarium.

So, it was taking a family hobby, taking a risk with it and making money at it. It can be done. Diane Dedominicis, owner of Markheim Tropical Fish and Pets Incorporated, has always been interested in nature. Snakes; turtles; fish; birds; ferrets; mice, you name it, you’ll probably find it at her store.

I was a kid who had my head in the ditch looking at the pollywogs while everybody else was doing other things. It’s definitely in my blood, yeah, you have to like it. ’Cause then you have an instinct for it.

Her instinct is backed up with solid work experience. She helped with cleaning, maintenance and some sales when her folks ran the business. But Diane is quick to admit that she wasn’t totally prepared for full responsibility when it was time for her to run the operation.

I have to say, honestly, it’s taken me years to be able to learn how to manage properly. In the beginning I did everything myself. I didn’t feel that it could be done unless I did it. So, I was running around, driving myself crazy, trying to get so much done and found it exhausting. So, I would say one of the important things I’ve learned is to delegate.

Some things you simply can’t learn, you just know them. And it’s not unique to women in business either.

One of the driving forces for me in business, believe it or not, is intuition. I use my intuition for everything; big decisions, little decisions, it has to feel right and it works.

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