Joy (2015) is a movie about a woman who has forgone her dreams of entrepreneurship in favor of taking care of her family. She is so caught up in providing for a family that is selfish that she forgets about her wants and desires. Eventually, after a week of worst-case scenarios in her personal life, she decides that she needs to improve her professional life by re-igniting her passion for inventing and pursuing an entrepreneurial endeavor in the mopping industry. This movie is an exceptional example of an entrepreneur's balance of home and professional life.
Joy has been raised in a family that has and currently holds entrepreneurship values. Her father owned a metalworking business and her sister's help keeps the books. Throughout the movie, her family has helped and provided information about how she should conduct her business. Even go so far has to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt from her father's wealthy girlfriend. There even was an instance of her sister paying a fee to joys manufacturer that she was unauthorized to pay. Joy's husband even had one of his friends use a connection to get her established with a big TV retail service. Joy May have Invented her self-wringing mop but she used her family and connections to establish her Product and business within the market.
Joy's dedication, determination, and perseverance to not only help herself but her family are great traits. Having entrepreneurial visions are a great thing. Joy wants a Better home life and to provide for her loved ones. Her loved ones hold skills that can help her achieve her goals while benefiting themselves. It is astounding to watch a dedicated entrepreneur juggle family matters and business alike separately and together. At points, Relatives seem more like business associates than family members. Joy's sister Somewhat sabotages her out of jealousy. There almost seems to be a fluidity between loving family members and business associates. Situations where the possibility of failure is present, are especially stressful and potentially isolating. You can hire a new assistant or advisor but you can't hire a new sister, mother-in-law, or a new father of your children. When push comes to shove and you are filing bankruptcy papers that your father is borderline forcing you to sign who do you confide with? When the home and professional barriers are so broken down it seems blurry there is almost no one you can turn to. In this environment, success feels infinitely better because you are not only helping yourself but all the people you love around you. But when you don't succeed it is infinitely worse because you let the people you care most about down.
Joy's home life shows that for every great individual there is a great support network behind them. It is rare that a product is made and the work falls solely on the inventor. Having friends/family in the workplace or at least assisting is very comforting. Mom-and-pop shops are scattered all across the country. They may not be exemplary on their own but they hold a charm that a big corporation can't sell.
