I Built a 7-Figure Solopreneur Life After Losing it All (Twice)

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The successful people that I look up to are the ones that are vulnerable about their struggles and failures in the midst of their achievements.

Seeing the missteps and mistakes in the pursuit of something good keeps me motivated and allows me to be human.

With that in mind, below are honest moments from my journey as a solopreneur.

Age 9: Learning the ropes

I started my first candy machine business but it didn’t come without issues. I placed one of my machines in a local tanning salon. It would get so hot in there that I learned the hard way that my Hot Tamales and Skittles would stick together, and when people placed a quarter in the machine, nothing would come out because they were all clumped together.

Later that year, an employee found out that if he took a paper clip and made it into the shape of a quarter, it would trick the machine and dispense candy.

These are cute stories now but at age nine, having to deal with mad customers was not easy. The owner of the building ended up firing his front desk employee (who I awkwardly ran into over and over at church) when he checked the cameras and saw that he was the one that was filling up my machine with paper clips. None of that was fun.

Age 19: lots of cashflow with no real profit, ultimate failure

I bought my first investment property. This was before the crash of 2008 when you could buy a house with no money down if your loan officer could get creative.

I ended up owning four houses by age 21. It sounded nice on paper but I spent years dealing with terrible tenants, taking people to small claims courts (I won over a dozen cases and never saw a dime), and dealing with the worst luck in home ownership — a $5k furnace going out, two water heaters dying, two flooded basements, a massive tree falling on the roof and fence, bathroom pipes exploding, etc.

Age 23: Hard work, exhaustion, loneliness

During that time, I found a job doing deliveries and made $23k a year with no 401k, no health insurance, and no time off. I worked six days a week from 2pm to 10pm. Within one year, I had the lowest error rate in the history of the company.

When the guy that did the morning shift of my route retired, I asked my boss if I could take on his route in addition to mine. He told me that nobody could work that many hours. I asked him to give me a trial.

I worked his 6am - 2pm shift, and then did my 2pm - 10pm shift. I did that for two more years, and doubled my salary to $46k a year. It was exhausting and I didn’t have time to see friends, but I was making enough money to help my mom and to get out of the debt from my investment property expenses.

Age 24: I lost everything

I sold all my houses at age 24 on contract. 9 months later, the buyer walked away, had let the tenants destroy the houses, and did zero maintenance. I couldn’t afford a lawyer, and I lost everything.

I lost my houses, my savings, and my momentum.

I couldn’t use my credit for seven years, and I was devastated.

I moved five states away and tried to start over.

Age 25: Started my digital marketing business

My very first project was a website build-out from scratch. It took me over three months to complete and I earned $600 for the entire job.

Age 27: I lost everything, again

I ended a 4.5 year relationship, moved home with my tail between my legs, and had less than $100 to my name. I could barely get out of bed for six months.

Age 28: I was making $11 an hour when I applied for an admin job

I somehow landed the job, and within 9 months, I was the manager of the entire office. I finished my bachelor’s degree online. I became financially stable, continued working on my craft in digital marketing, and never gave up.

Age 31: I left Corporate America

I went full-time as a digital marketing solopreneur. I had a three thousand dollars, and no safety net or credit cards. Within six months, I was behind on my rent and barely keeping my head above water. The level of depression was like a massive wave in the ocean that kept lapping over me minute by minute.

Age 32: I landed a big client

The next decade was a blur. I started stacking clients, being involved in anything I could get my hands on, and dedicated myself to my community and the clients in front of me.

My regular hourly rate went from $25 → $40 → $65 → $100 → $120 → $150 → $390. For other projects, I was making $500 to over $1,000 an hour.

By the end of that decade, I stopped taking new clients because the demand was so high.

With that came the ability to invest in real estate and create a new life (failures included).

Right Now

Mistakes, setbacks, and missteps are all part of the journey, and they continue to happen in my life. I now know that avoiding them entirely is not possible.

Last week, I lost over $12k in a series of unfortunate incidents, that as much as I tried to avoid, were not possible to predict the outcome of.

Fuck the Instagram version of your life. I now know that failure happens, but what really matters is how you choose to handle it.

The most important question to me is simply this:

“What am I going to do about it?”

Keep going. You’ve got this.

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