The last thing you probably expected to find today on a site about pets and the world the revolves around them , is a tale of a CEO who once had it all only to lose it in an instant. However Julie Wainwright isn’t just your average everyday CEO. She was once in fact in charge of one of the most highly visible, highly rated, and highly profitibable pet companies in the world….Pets.com. Now the name may not ring a bell right away, but one look at their sock puppet puppy mascot and no doubt waves of nostalgia will take you back close to ten years ago during what was then the Dot.Com boom.  In her own words “Pets.com and its mascot, the Sock Puppet, became the symbol for the dotcom bubble and its subsequent bust. Some have even charged me personally with bringing down the U.S. economy. Pets’ short period of success was fueled by positive press about the company and myself. Pets received even more press when it failed.”

Now Julie is back with a brand new company, a new sense of who she is, and a new look at her old life. In one of the most insightful and honest articles you’ll ever come across, Julie discusses just some of her mistakes and what lead her to a new start with SmartNow.com.  From the worst moment of her life (her marriage ended the same week as Pets.com) to the question of “what it felt like to be one of the best-known failures in the U.S” being something that is commonly thrown at her, Julie has made it back to the top with grace and dignity.

According her post on SmartNow.com, her biggest mistakes number in 5.

1.       She let others define who she was

2.       Her own image was built on a rocky foundation

3.       She stopped believing in herself

4.       She allowed depression to set in and quit caring about herself

5.       She let her head rule her heart.

As for just how she made it through to the light on the other side of the tunnel, Julie says “ I never got back to myself. I became better than I was. Note that it is almost seven years since Pets.com failed. Mystics might say I am entering a new seven-year cycle. I kind of think that's true because I believe there are universal laws and truths. I do know I have been on a journey. I have taken stock of the five big mistakes I have made in my life and fought my way through. I’m sure I’ll make some more big mistakes in the future, but hopefully I won’t make the same ones again.”  Do yourself a favor and read what else Julie has to say about how she made it through the worst years of her life. In it you will discover that this is one CEO who makes no apologies and only wants others to learn that mistakes happen, life does change, and with determination a brighter future awaits us all.