Hello! Here I am, four months into this job as executive director, and I thought the best way to start this column is to tell you something about me as it pertains to my work at the Sandwich Area Chamber of Commerce.

Most evidently, I am entrepreneurial.

I have owned my own business most of my adult life: from child care to national marketing consultant and photographer to gym owner. (I’m not going to bore you with details.) But it’s important because I love business, and I have succeeded enough and failed enough to have some good business sense.

I think it’s fascinating that people find things they like doing and figure out how to make money doing it. It’s equally fascinating that people manage to start jobs solely because they need money, only to find they are really good at that thing and find success with it! I also relate to the people trying hard to make it work because they can’t think of anything else to do.

At a chamber of commerce, good customer care starts with good business knowledge and is magnified by purposeful empathy.

You may already know that there are as many different chambers of commerce as there are directors! Each leader draws upon her skill set and interests to guide commerce and build community around it.

It’s a real privilege for me to serve my community and provide opportunities to interface with local businesses as entities built by and run by neighbors and friends.

The skill learned as an entrepreneur that I draw upon most is my ability to follow the thread that is always tied to branding and mission. There are always lots of directions we “could” go, but we can’t lose sight of the thread that takes us back to our purpose. When we do that, we lessen the impact of the opportunity at hand.

Today, my question to you is this: How are you honoring your roots, your purpose and your mission in the opportunities you accept? Are you engaging, as a business entity and as a human, in the areas you do business? Are you leaving your communities better than you found them?

Building our communities is not only good. It also ensures we have good standing, financial stability and a base for future commerce.

Here’s to intention and consistency!

• Beth Lynch is executive director of the Sandwich Area Chamber of Commerce.