I was a big time skater as a kid. You know the stereotypes that go with that…
- long-haired
- no vision
- druggies
- dropouts
I remember driving to the school to take this picture for winning Student of the Month, wearing my Domino’s shirt from a thrift store. I did have long hair, except I was a 4.0 student, and this recognition back then was my first memorable bit of validation to naysayers.
Pretty insignificant recognition now, but it was a catalyst for bigger things later. I took new perspective of being able to prove others wrong into high school.
“What if I ran for student body?”
Same concept, new naysayers. Guess who won?
🧔🏻 👈🏻
This guy.
It’s kind of like the Matrix. Once you see how broken and unmotivated the world is but realize that doesn’t have to be you, you can’t unsee it.
When I was 17 I found out that the retail store I was working at was opening a new location and was hiring managers. It was an hour north, so I didn’t pursue it. About a month later, found out that my family was moving 40 minutes north. I went to one of the assistant managers and asked if I could get a job at the new location. She said yes.
(She was also the one that hired me to begin with, and I still talk to her every once in a while. Her name is Kristi.) 🤗
She transferred to the new store, too.
Fast forward and family is moved and I’m working at the new place. Well, they needed new department managers, one of them being in framing (like framing pictures and paintings).
I had no experience, but had an interest. Because I worked hard in the other departments, the manager gave me the opportunity.
I remember a few weeks later the district framing manager was visiting to help build out the new team. In front of me he argued with Kristi that I had no experience and would absolutely not be a manager.
Ok, I make an exception to others believing in you. Kristi did see something in me. She fought for me, and I got the job.
Then some department employees doubted me, because I was 17 and they were in their 20’s and 30’s. I took that department manager experience and became an assistant manager of the entire store. They didn’t have much to say after that.
I remember around this time of year closing out the store during the holidays. I was the youngest person in, and I remember thinking “This is wild. I’m responsible for everything and everyone in this place right now.”
Then went on to count $150,000 in cash and put it in the safe for the night… at 18.
Fast forward and I wanted something new. I moved out of that small town we moved to and moved into downtown. During one of my communications classes in college we were tasked to make a website. I remember thinking about how much time I’d put into this faux site that the school would just wipe off their servers at the end of the semester. I asked the professor if I could buy a domain and build the site where I could keep it.
“Sure, as long as we can view and grade it.”
He didn’t see the point either.
That’s when I started EliteRides. In my 20’s I was big into cars, and ER was a car enthusiast community.
As I worked on EliteRides I was dating a girl named Melina. I don’t remember her exact words, but a reason she broke up with me was something along the lines of “You spend too much wasted time on that.” “That” being EliteRides.
She didn’t see it either.
ER went on to grow into thousands of active members. More importantly, EliteRides is what birthed the skills and passions that later built my SEO agency.
The very thing that provides me financial freedom and, ironically, the ability to choose how my time is spent not wasted.
Most people don’t even have their own vision, so don’t expect them to see yours.
