What’s your backstory?
At the age of 21 I found myself as a college dropout and bankrupt. Literally, bankrupt. My car was in the process of being repossessed and I was advised to file bankruptcy and that’s exactly what I did. I remember thinking “how in the world am I going to pay my bills and what on earth could I possibly do without a college degree”. Luckily, I ended up meeting someone while working a minimum wage job who would become my mentor and he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself at that time. You know, I was young and lacked direction. In fact, as I look back on that now I was pretty ignorant to business, success and life. So, what ended up happening was I quit my job and did exactly what my mentor advised. I didn’t sway away from what he said, I did it to the “T”.
Then the success became inverted meaning, I reached multiple six figures within months and of course because I had not experienced that level before I spent money on things that I look back at today and know that had I invested versus buy I would have millions of dollars in an investment account today. But, you can’t dwell on the past, you can only learn from it. Then something happened that, the market tanked and so did my business. I had my own Magazine, I built a book of business that allowed me to have massive leverage and within months of the market shifting I lost it all.
I lost the home, the car, the loft and ended up living with my parents. But I didn’t allow that to stop me from making my next big career move. You see, I was strategic. I needed to find someone to pay me for my passions while I elevated my life. I looked at it as bridge income. Income that would allow me flexibility but also something that would be a stepping stone to my next big move. So, what I did was during the time that I saw things tanking, I was in constant communication (and my follow-up on this was more than likely annoying because I was relentless) with the local newspaper editor. I knew I had writing skills and in fact, writing is one of my passions so I sent off several pieces to him and he finally gave me the chance to be a paid weekly columnist.
Now, the income wasn’t that good, but I had little bills and it was enough to allow me to get by. From there, the rest is history. I focused on Social Media, psychology, building my community and collaborating with people like Trent Shelton and Les Brown. You fast forward a few short years later, I am partnered with the largest Social Media platform in history and running not only my own brand but my company called District Media Press which is on track to a 7 figure income.
I know this is not an easy job. What drives you?
The fear of dying without at least trying to leave a legacy that far exceeds myself.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? What lesson did you learn from them?
My mentor, my mom, my family and some friends. I think the lesson I learned was to be very vocal about what you want to achieve because you don’t know who is watching you and can help you achieve that next level of success. By making my goals vocal, my friends and family started to direct people my way which helped myself and my company elevate.
How do you push through your worst times?
I keep a quote in my phone that reads: “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.” Having a clear understanding based upon my experience that all positions in life are temporary, it has allowed me to push through the hard times and trust me, I have hard times often.