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From Broke To Wealthy
I know this type of website is supposed to cater to all the the different types of ways to make money but I wanted to tell a bit of a story if you’d be so kind as to indulge me. “From Broke To Wealthy” may seem a bit extreme and I personally don’t know where you’re at in your journey. Maybe you’re a mid 6 figure earner looking for a way to break out of your 9-5 or maybe you’re just trying to figure out how to get to next week. Maybe you’re even further down than that. I guess maybe this article is more for that person. The hopeless one, the one that can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But hopefully no matter where you’re at you can look at this story and come away with a little hope or motivation.
I also don’t want to mislead you. My title is From Broke To Wealthy and I believe that wealth is relative. Am I the young kid that’s flaunting his Lambo and multi-million dollar house on YouTube? Nope. So here is some context and you can decide if you want to go from there. I was bottom of the gutter homeless. I now am a multiple 6 figure per year earner between my career in technology and multiple streams of income online. I have a great family, nice house, nice cars, a modest boat, a good 401K, outside investments and a ton of guitars. I’m working on soon leaving my 9-5 as earning online has surpassed what my career was.
I’m not a sexy story. But i’m here, thriving despite a lot of things. And I want you to thrive as well. In this post I want to tell my story. It may bore you, and if this isn’t for you I hope there is other content on this site that is. But I want anyone reading this to know this is run by a flesh and blood human that has seen real lows and real highs.
I Used To Be You
I know every Blogger, YouTuber or (God Forbid the Term) “Influencer” has said this but I want to assure you, if you’re really at the bottom, I was once there. I could write an entire blog just about being homeless in the middle of Minneapolis in the dead of winter, looking for someplace to stay warm. Looking for anyway to come up with money for food, a place to shower and do laundry and someplace to sleep where I wouldn’t get killed. This was in the early 90’s, I was lost, alone and thought my life was over before it ever even really started.
I didn’t do drugs, I didn’t drink (Well I did but not often and certainly not at all when I was broke) but I was kind of dumped. I had a fractured relationship with my family, a few quick bad relationships with women, no job, no car, no money, a criminal record and just like that I was screwed and done for at 19. This was before the internet, before cell phones and I was not in my home state.
But I was in real fight or flight sort of mode but the flight part didn’t work because there was no place to run to. I had all kinds of fight however, and that kind of is what kept me going. The problem I had was I kind of had to figure out who or what to fight. I didn’t have help, a mentor, a guide book, or even some dude to say “Hey Dummy!” I had to win some and lose some and those early loses were real heavy. If I had someone to guide me, tell me where to focus my efforts I could have bettered my situation way faster.
If You Have Dream, Pause It.
Look, I know this goes against every single guru’s advice. Most will tell you to follow your dreams and you can, just not right now. You need a goal and if you’re broke, your goal is simply to get … Unbroke. No guru is going to sell you a course that can help you right now. I don’t care what you’re interested in pursuing or what your passion is, if you’re truly at the bottom the only thing that can really get you out from the bottom is grit and work your finger to the bone labor.
This is where I lose most people that ask for help on getting out of debt fast or just improve their situation. They want to hear something else other than put in the hours. They want to hear, just start drop shipping or start a YouTube channel. While these are viable options today they’re not going to put food on the table or a roof over your head now. Maybe not even in a year. So my advice to those on the bottom is to simply get out and get it done.
How I Got Stable
I want to preface this with the fact that I had some bumps. I was young and dumb but I did some things that will hold strong forever. Before I could consider myself going from Broke To Wealthy I had to get myself the basics. I had no skills and several negatives, like no reliable place to sleep or shower. So I started at the very bottom. This was in the day of temp services, and these still exist today if you look and some like Labor Ready can get you paid the same day. And that’s where I started. I worked a few different manufacturing jobs in the Twin Cities and then eventually one offered me a full time position that I actually declined.
Why did a broke homeless person decline a full time job? Simple, I wasn’t only working there. I also at the same time took a gig working in a kitchen at a restaurant at night. And simple math showed me that the wage they were giving me at the factory wasn’t going to be all that liveable and would require me to quit my job as a cook. So while the kitchen job would pay less because it was part time, 2 kitchen jobs would make me more.
I Started Stacking Jobs
Again, this is the point I lose people, but stay with me, it gets better I promise.
So at this point I am working a kitchen job during the day and kitchen job at night. I had also taken a room at a place in South Minneapolis about 2 block from where the riots occurred. And it was rough in that area. I spent a lot of time on the bus getting back and forth to my various jobs and I got my room for free. I know you’re gonna ask how and you’re not going to believe this. When I was looking for a room to rent I responded to a post in the classifieds in the Star Tribune. I met the gentleman that was renting the room and he offered to let me stay in the house for free as long as I attended church with him.
This was as sketchy as it came, and the house was in such terrible shape I’m not certain it was even safe to live in. It was actually a disaster and while writing this I looked at the location on Google Maps and it would appear its been replaced by an apartment building. But I was desperate and this was also very short lived.
What I didn’t know at the time was, there is pretty much church any night of the week if you want there to be. And if not like actual full on church some kind of church class and that is what this fella required. Now he wasn’t unreasonable he was going to give me some time to quit my jobs so I could dedicate myself fully to religion. Which logically I didn’t stick around for.
One of the restaurants I worked at I was fortunate enough to make friends with some people that needed a roommate in an apartment. And off I went with my 2 jobs intact. But other changes had to be made.
Learn To Level Up
I was stacking job but keeping my eyes open. I had not yet gone from broke to wealthy but I felt like the fog was lifting a bit. Something I learned and applied to every situation I could was to level up. It’s something that frustrates me when I see online posts about not being able to survive on today’s wages. There is this narrative that things were so much better for us in the 90’s then now. And it really simply isn’t true.
I had an exchange with someone on social media recently that claimed to be my age and also claimed that they were making $5.50 an hour in 92′ and could afford their one bedroom apartment, all utilities, food, vehicle payment and put a little away each month. This claim was 100% false. But this is what people think the early 90’s were like. I couldn’t make ends meet at or near minimum wage I had to learn to level up. But what does that mean.
At the very simplest it means to move a rung up on the ladder. From my perspective it looked like this. I started at a restaurant as prep cook and let’s say that position paid $5/Hr. But I was looking at the line cooks and I knew I could learn and do that job. I found that the grill cook position started at $7/hr so in my mind that means I had to learn grill station. Fry station maybe paid $6.50, but if I learned fry and grill they would pay me $8. If I learned how to be a waiter, I could also go home with cash in my pocket every day. Then I learned about working at a restaurant with a bar.
This learn to level up philosophy was paramount in my From Broke To Wealthy approach and I carry it until today.
When I moved into technology I did the same thing. I started at the bottom, but that job over there looks harder and pays better, how do I get there.
And eventually, is that guy really making 10k/mo drop shipping? How do I do that? I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was instilled with a hard work ethic that I hopefully passed on to my kids. But what I didn’t grow up with was the mentality to climb. I was actually raised to get a good job and show up every day forever. Once I learned that 100% of employers will take advantage of that, I had no problem changing jobs to obtain a higher skill set. And because of that I will always be able to work my way to safety if I need to.
How I Got Comfortable (Passive Income)
My goal is to be the kid with the Lambo and the crazy house. I’m not a kid and I don’t know if I’d pull the trigger on the Lambo or the house at this point in my life anyway. My priorities have changed now I just want to be totally free and I’m almost there.
My first exposure to passive income really was from YouTube but in the traditional sense. I am a musician and I started a channel in that niche which allowed me to start making money from Adsense revenue. Then came Amazon Associates affiliate links, and then sponsored posts. While I wasn’t raking it in as that niche is traditionally one of the lowest paying on the platform it did open my eyes to things I could be doing. So from there, I got myself into a few different faceless YouTube channels that I still manage today.
I also started working extensively in Drop Shipping, Print On Demand, Blogging and Podcasting. Today I have several blogs that I operate, and over time I have moved away from Drop Shipping and I put less effort into Print On Demand. I have traded that for SEO and Social Media consulting as well as Technology Consulting. My goal is to get out of tech entirely but I still end up in situations where it makes sense for me to take certain contracts.
It Didn’t Happen Over Night (But It Almost Could Have)
I went from literal homelessness for many weeks on the street to having the basics in a matter of a few weeks. That honestly was the easy part. Each rung got harder until I figured out how to make money without trading my time to a corporation.