“If you leap the net will appear” ~John Burroughs. This has been my self professed motto for as long as I can remember. The odds were against me. Book smarts lost. Street survival prevailed. The lack of parental supervision could have lead me down a dark and dreary path (and I was headed that way with bells on) but my ego wouldn’t allow it.
Maybe it didn’t have anything do with ego and everything to do with that one book that fell at my feet when I was a teenager. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Hill). It was as if someone pushed it off the shelf from the other side but when I looked, there was no one there. Instead of judging how it got there, I simply picked it up and started reading. For me thinking and growing rich didn’t have much to do with money as it did with happiness and self-love. It resonated with me that I could literally de-brainwash myself into believing that I was amazing and I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. It showed me the magic in our thoughts and lead me to the power of the subconcious mind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Murphy_(author)).
#ThatWasThenThisIsNow.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered at how I got here. My willingness to succeed is a driving force I can’t quite explain. The unexpected connections that were as if God were literally winking at me, assuring that I stay on this path to achievements and self respect.
I’ve been criticized many times over for my over zealous positivity. I’ve been told, “You live in the clouds!”, “You’re a dreamer”, and “This is not reality!”
Well I disagree. Just because I’m showing a side to the world that is masked in positivity does not make me any less a realist. My feet are pretty well planted in reality. I know rejection first hand. A lot of it. I’ve spent too much time with financially broke and his cousin emotionally crippled. I know that when you hit your proverbial rock bottom the only way you can go is up but I also know life is like the stock market. What goes up can go down twice as fast.
But here’s the thing. No matter what happens or what odds seem to be against you, if you believe in something greatenough you won’t give up. You will see it through and give it the fighting chance you gave yourself. You will raise yourself up against the uninvited scrutiny of failure. And even if what you’re doing doesn’t become what you thought it would, you will know you gave it your all and for that you will always be a winner.
#StartUp
A common theme around here these days and the reason I’m writing these posts.
These are in honor of everyone out there trying to start something from scratch. For those of you who know first hand what “no is not an option” means. For those of you who think the odds are against you. For those of you who think you can’t do it because of where you come from. For those of you who have been told dreams don’t come true. For those of you who are told your ideas are too outrageous, unrealistic or too expensive. For those of you who think you don’t know enough, or have enough money or enough resources. This is for those of you who think like me. For every “no” we’re closer to that “yes”.
Originally I started down this path with a partner. It didn’t work out. She left. Walked away and left me to close up a shop we never even opened. I was devastated. I had already put so much time, money and effort into the endeavor. I even started spreading the word about what we were doing and when it went belly up something in me was so embarrassed. It triggered some long lost transferences that my past was right and I would never amount to anything. I feared my colleagues would think me unreliable. After all I had put my name to this endeavor and spread the word through a very large and oversized net thru my industry. But most of all what bothered me the most, wa
s that we were on to something. We just had to do the work and a lot of work it would be. But some people want to waste time fighting over profit sharing that doesn’t exist and no one wants to share in the losses. Some people want to cast blame and engage in arguments instead of focusing on the big picture and helping to move the train forward in anyway possible. Even if it means to get out and push the damn thing! Some people are just to lazy for that. Well I hate to break to you, but that’s what it takes.
It takes tenacity and hard work and planning. It takes visualizing and spreadsheets, and good old fashion manifesting. It’s takes a positive mental attitude at the most negative of times and it takes time and patience and perseverance.
So knowing this, I did what any other crazy person would do. I started over. From scratch. By myself.
Now if it fails I would have no one to blame but myself. And if I succeeded, well, we’ll see.
I don’t come from money. I didn’t own a home so I couldn’t do what Daymond John did by mortgaging his house to fund his t-shirt business (that he has since turned into a billion dollar empire. Bravo!) I didn’t have a father that would pay off my loans or a trust fund when I turned twenty-six. I didn’t have a board of advisors from college that would remember me had I finished and I didn’t have the collateral to take out a proper business loan. I’m a late bloomer but have the perfect lyrics to live by, Bob Dylan sang, “I was older then, I’m much younger than that now”.
I choose to believe that if one person can achieve greatness we all can. We’re supposed to actually.
We all start from somewhere but where we come from doesn’t have to determine our course. I love this diagram depicting the life of Bill Gates (http://fundersandfounders.com/how-bill-gates-started/) A perfect reminder that the Universe will give us what we ask of it if we consciously and unconsiously make the effort to live in our intention and back it with the proper actions that determine the outcome.
#TrialandError
I never learned how to manage my finances and/or credit. I was never taught the importance of investing or saving. I had to learn the hard way.
It was never an emotional option for me to claim bankruptcy when the economy took a dive, although sometimes I wish I would have. Instead I set out to painstakingly pay off the credit card debt I accrued to survive when the jobs weren’t there. It was time to clean up my street not run or hide but stand out in the light and be accountable. I spent years under water swimming vigorously toward the sun over head. Trying to be debt free while trying to launch a business while working more than full time hours every week can take a toll. You have to find the optimism anywhere and everywhere you can. For me it’s seeing that Bill Gates worked sixteen hours a day for five years. I am no stranger to this! It gives me hope that I am most certainly on my right path to change and success. It takes a toll on your workouts and your friendships tho, I’m not gonna lie. I don’t get to see the inside of the gym much and the invitations from friends stopped coming after my third or fourth no show. It can be lonely going down this path. But if you’re lucky like me, you will learn a lot about yourself and some cool things will come out of it. Not just determination but resourcefulness, creativity and even life changing epiphanies that help you be better and help you heal.
I’ve heard a lot of no’s. They can weigh on you like a heavy ton of bricks. They can deter you from your path. There’s a lot of crying which can lead to sobbing uncontrollably like a five year old. There’s laughter too but usually it’s out of the sheer madness of it all. There’s anger and sadness and frustration. There are so many ups and downs there are times when you feel absolutely upside down. I’ve had moments where I thought for sure I would throw in the towel and then the moments came when giving up just stopped being an option.
#TimeToGetCreative
Here’s what happens when you learn as you go, you don’t give up and when you leap and know in your heart of hearts, the net will appear.
At the time of writing this I’ve now paid down and maxed out my credit cards at least three times. I have worked at least sixteen hours a day most days and made many spreadsheets outlining how to allocate the money I make so I can pay my bills and rent and put the rest toward inventory, advertising, marketing and labor. There have been many moments when I was coming up short and wanted to crawl under the covers and never come out.
Instead I sat down to the computer and finished a book I started writing over twelve years ago. My thoughts were relentless and unwavering, “Maybe if I get this finished and published the book sales will help pay for this business.” It was all about getting this company off the ground in anyway I could. Well it so happens I finished the book and got a publisher to distribute it (https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore) This was not without marketing costs but I saw it as an opportunity to not only a share a story of hope and determination but also to hopefully help fund my endeavor. But things take time and this process was to take about ten months. Blerg.
While waiting for my novel to be published and for another production job to award, I came up with another idea on how to possibly raise money for my business using the only thing I know, writing. I’m not even that good of a writer truth be told, but I do most certainly ascertain the fearless effort in putting myself out there on any limb I can find… and leap. So, I wrote a short story (http://thebutterflypapers.com) hoping I would have enough sales to put toward the business. I even put some money toward advertising and pursued write-ups. To date the short story has made $195.00 which doesn’t even remotely cover the cost it took to put it out there. But I tried and so I kept working.
I never say no to a production job unless I just can’t physically be in two different places at once. My team and I have done multiple jobs at once and I’ve gone over forty days in a row without a day off working twelve to sixteen hours a day. It’s a really good thing I love what I do and try to keep that positive mental attitude as much as possible. Ninety percent of the money I make goes to the endeavor with the occasional treat of a trip or some new clothes. It can be boring not having the money to go out but I focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. And there is one. I know it.
My book was published on July 1, 2014 (my dead mothers birthday so I think it’s especially cool). My first residual check was $4.11. I’m waiting on the second one. So, as it turns out, my writing may not be helping me fund my business venture and once I acknowledged this I stopped writing. But I did miss it and my brain was on overdrive because I wasn’t leaving my thoughts on paper. I was slowly spiraling out of balance but I was too wrapped up to notice. 
#TryandTryAgain
The stress of it all was getting the best of me. It was time again for me to focus on working and paying down the credit cards. Immediate gratification was not my friend right now and so I threw myself into the commercials and music video’s I was working on and I decided to have the most fun doing it. The laughter came easily even if the jobs weren’t so easy. I was surrounded by people I have come to respect and love and cherish. My chosen family as it were. My happy place.
My days start to look like this… I get up around 6:00am and take my dog for a walk. I do a mini work out to keep my muscles from atrophy from too much sitting. I do something, anything productive toward my endeavor until around 8:30am. I jump in the shower to get ready and be at my desk by 9:00am-9:30am. I work until sometimes 8, 9 or even 10pm. I try to put in at least 1 or 2 hours either over lunch (or at night before bed if I was too busy with prep to actually take a lunch break). I actually enjoy it.
When I have weekends off, which isn’t always the case, I spend as much time as I can researching marketing, advertising and distribution outlets.
After countless rejections from potential investors, in April – 2014 I attempted to self finance the manufacturing of 5000 units of my Rock Your Kicks DIY paint kit for canvas sneakers. At the time, I couldn’t even afford to have the paint company put our private labels on the jars for us so I had to then source the labels and prepare myself for having to fasten the labels to over 15,000 jars in my spare time. At the same time as my purchases were under way, I hit some unexpected snags that sent my well thought out spreadsheet right through the shredder.
Stay Tuned for more in the #StartUp saga when I return with…
#CurveBall
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