Jill Dempsey: a drive to succeed.

• Author: Berndt, Josh

Ask 100 entrepreneurs their biggest challenges and their secrets for success--chances are you'll get 100 unique answers for both questions.

Jill Dempsey is a successful business founder and investor who has experienced her fair share of the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. She says her biggest challenge, at times, is not being able to say no.

"As an entrepreneur, you see a great deal of opportunity in most situations and worry about passing up something great," says Dempsey. "You also have to be very aware of the balancing of risk and reward when you have opportunities before you. I am a cautious risk taker."

Dempsey is partner with Dolphin Capital, where she evaluates and structures new investments, in addition to supporting existing clientele. She is, by her own words, "unemployable," and like most entrepreneurs likes to be her own boss. She graduated from BYU with a degree in entrepreneur finance and, while a student, created a company that allowed restaurants to form a queue list so patrons could see how long their wait was for a table.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

She traces her true entrepreneurial start back nine years, when she was working with a property management company in Washington, D.C. "My friend ran the company, and I saw how much he paid a cleaning crew to come in and clean up the property, and I saw a situation there, an opportunity." Dempsey made the suggestion to add "cleaning crew" to her current position with the company and, luckily, her boss agreed. She realized that this new side job was making more money than her day job and, behold--an entrepreneur was born. Dempsey formed her own cleaning company in D.C. and another in Utah.

"Relationships are the key to successful entrepreneurs," says Dempsey. "I love meeting people and learning about their past success and drive."

In addition to working with Dolphin Capital, she teaches...