The Beginning

The journey officially started in 2017 when I discovered personal development. But before we get there, I want to give you some context on what the years leading up to that looked like.

Growing up, it was just me and my mom. She did the best she could, and looking back, I had a fun and exciting childhood.

From 1st through 3rd grade, I loved school. I was such a nerd that I was even given the opportunity to skip to 2nd grade. In 3rd grade, I earned a 1st-place medal for achieving one of the top scores on a critical thinking equations test.

When I was 9, I reconnected with my dad and my grandparents. That was a really exciting time, and I got to see them several times a year.

From 4th through 8th grade, school and grades became less of a priority. I started getting into trouble and spent every afternoon after school playing sports with the neighborhood kids. During that time, I ended up at the police station on several occasions.

In high school, I joined the basketball team, and that became the first major turning point in my life. The group I hung out with in middle school got heavily into the party scene, and I wasn't interested in that lifestyle. That year, I made the decision to cut ties with all of my friends at school.

In 10th grade, basketball helped me clean up my act. I stopped getting into trouble, found a whole new group of friends, and played all four years of high school. I had an absolute blast.

After high school, I enrolled at a community college. My plan was to continue playing basketball, but that summer I injured my knee. I didn't have health insurance or access to the right resources, so for the next two years I couldn't run or play sports. Eventually, I was able to get it fixed.

Community college was a struggle for me. It took me three years to earn my associate's degree. I knew I was interested in business and sales, but I had no idea what kind of career I wanted.

I took semesters off, failed classes, and lacked direction. During that time, I worked at Goodwill and later at HHGregg (basically the Best Buy of appliances and electronics) as a TV and appliance salesperson. I was also in my first serious relationship.

That relationship ended up being really important. By then, all of my friends from high school had gone off to four-year colleges, and I started asking myself, "Is this it? Was high school the peak of my life?"

Looking back, two things remained true throughout those years.

1. I always felt a void.

I was happy, but I knew we didn't have the same luxuries that many of my friends did. My first car was an old, musty van—you could always hear me before you saw me. I was embarrassed by where we lived, and we never took the traditional family vacations.

I didn't like those limitations. Deep down, I always desired more. I believed that one day I'd create the dream life for myself.

2. I was always hustling and looking for ways to make my own money.

Nobody taught me how to do it—it was just naturally in me.

In 2nd grade, I sold over $200 worth of Pokémon cards and set up lemonade stands.

By 3rd grade, I'd buy four packs of Hubba Bubba gum for $1 and sell each pack for $1. Later, I completed online surveys through InboxDollars, figured out that GameStop threw away video games and accessories, and started "dumpster diving" behind their stores to resell what I found online.

I even called local McDonald's restaurants to ask for the large cardboard promotional displays they were throwing away, then sold them on Craigslist. After that, I started flipping items from garage sales and Goodwill on eBay.

Eventually, I launched a hat business, importing wholesale hats from China. That was my first big win—I made an $8,000 profit and bought my first car.

Throughout this time, I never really had a role model or mentor to show me the way. I had several stepdads come in and out of my life, and I only saw my dad once or twice a year. I didn't get this mindset from anyone.

Because of that, I had to learn through trial and error and figure things out on my own.

The year I graduated from community college (2015), something significant happened.

My grandparents invited me to Hawaii and paid for the entire trip. I spent 30 days there. I went whale watching, rode a Segway through the jungle, drove to the top of a mountain to see the stars, flew over volcanoes in a helicopter, stayed in an oceanfront luxury condo, and ate amazing food every night.

On the last day of that trip, I had a moment that completely changed the trajectory of my life.

I remember thinking, "I'm probably never going to experience this again." Then something shifted.

Why not me?

Why can't I build a life like this?

Why can't I create something even bigger?

That was the moment I decided I was going to become the one.

Here's that moment below.

In 2016, I was accepted into Illinois State University.

Things got off to a rough start. The first apartment I moved into had a serious mold problem. Since I'm highly allergic to mold, it hit me hard. Within a few days, I was sick, weak, and had no appetite. After a couple of weeks, it became unbearable, and I started driving three hours home every weekend just to get away from it.

With everything going on, I had my first experience with anxiety. One day while driving home, I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. After a few episodes, I started fearing they would happen again—and that fear only made them happen more often.

Eventually, I realized I had to get out of that apartment altogether. For about a month, I went to class during the day and crashed on a friend's couch at night while searching for a new place to live. I chased every lead I could find with no luck. Just as I was about to settle for either moving in with three girls or living far off campus, the perfect apartment fell into my lap.

It was a huge win. My health improved, the anxiety settled down, and life started feeling good again.

Later that semester, I earned straight A's and had a lot of fun.

Even then, my ambitions were still just ideas. I knew I wanted more, but I was drifting through life without realizing it.

Then, during my second semester, I faced the biggest adversity I'd experienced up to that point. That moment ended up course-correcting my life and putting me on the path I'm still on today.