Where it all began .... I was raised in Newark, NJ for the majority of my life, and if anybody knows much about Newark, it's probably one of the roughest cities to grow up in. The best way to explain Newark, is to compare it to a basket of crabs. And as soon as someone tries to make it out others at the bottom will pull the them back down. But I was one of the fortunate crabs that made it free. I grew up with a signifcant void in my life; I grew up without a father. For the longest time I felt incompetent, and my self-esteem was devastated. Between my father not being around and my mother battling a severe drug addiction , I couldn't see much light at the end of the tunnel. Despite, my mother's shortcomings, I give her all the credit in the world; but she could never teach me how to be a man. When all my friends were learning how to use tools, fix cars, and trading sports cards, I was focusing when my next meal was coming or where I was going to sleep at night. At that point, I wasn't just living for myself, but for my sister as well. I practically raised her: cooked her meals, taught her right from wrong, did her hair, the whole nine yards. On the night of my 12th Birthday I made it up in my mind that i was going to do whatever it took to be the dad to my children that I never had. And secondly, provide wealth for my family so they never have to worry about money again. I owe the world to my Godparents, The Adams family, and The Whelan family for giving me a second chance at life, so that I can be the man that I am today.
Newark wasn't all bad ..... At the age of 8 I auditioned and was accepted at The Newark Boys Chorus School , a private singing school that is world renowned for their choral singing. If I never lived there I probably would have never found my hidden singing ability. Ironic, right? As if to say, it is in our struggles that we awaken slumbering powers within us. As a result I have traveled world sharing my gift: . Austraiia ( Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney) and New Zealand ( Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch) after N.B.C.S., I continued with my classical training and had another opportunity to do a singing tour and traveled to England.
Some of my hobbies .... If you ask any of my closest friends they'll tell you I love to play sports especially football . Also not afraid to say that I'm one of the sickest cornerbacks too. All in all, I just like to get out there have a good time and show people what I can do. Basketball, bowling, weightlifting, a little tennis, golfing- (just have to learn to drive straighter, so I don't take anybody out) are also some of my favorites. And how can I forget about Track and Field. In high school I ran the 100m dash , 200m Long Jump, 4x1. My junior year of high school, I went to the State Championship with my relay team. Even though we didn't place, it was such an honor to run with the top athletes in New York.
Back to school ... Of course I went on to college , because that's what you need to do to get a head in life! Yeah, right. But I attended Hobart College ( a mini-Ivy League) , and took up Economics thinking that it would expose me to the dynamic world of the financial market and give me a deeper understanding of money. I always considered myself a business oriented person . Turned out that I spent most of the time learning about a bunch of dead NeoClassical economists, whose theories really wouldn't work unless we lived in a vacuum. The worst part is that I only began enjoying it the last year of my college career, because that's when we started talking about MONEY .lol. So this left me to my own devices to nuture and develop my passion of building wealth. My sophomore year, I went out and bought a set of cliippers, and taught myself how to cut hair, so that I could pay for miscellaneous bills and have some extra pocket money. In my junior year, I discovered an outlet to my passion for Real Estate by starting my own business trading and liquidating real estate securities. Granted, I was unhappy with career choice I took in college, but I pressed on, and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and Music. If I had to do it again I would do it in a flash because the friendships that I built , the life lessons that I learned from living on my own, and the work ethic that was ingrained in me is priceless.
Life in the real world... . But life was far from easy after my matriculation into the real world. I decided that I wasn't going to finish creating someone else's dreams before I started my own dreams. And I refused to let someone else judge my worth with an hourly wage, and dictated the amount of "me" time I could enjoy....
Back to Business ... So I tried network marketing , and failed miserably. And I failed with starting out with $40,000 to do my business ventures. I had a headstart, that most people pray for and I still failed. But my failure was due to a lack of vision, and lack of knowledge of the law of attraction . I focused too much on the bills that began to pile up, and the fear of not succeeding. Without even knowing it I was attracting more of those negative things into my life because that is what I focused on the most. What I also learned through my failure, is that it doesn't matter how much money you get, or start out with, or win in a lottery, because if you're broke-minded, it is only a matter of time before that money will catch up to where you are in life. And that's exactly what happened to me. ( If you haven't seen The Secret, I highly recommend it. It completely changed the view life).
Rough times started to set in... I remember dreading getting my mail, because I knew there would be nothing but late notices, and creditors hounding me for payment. My bank account was next to non-existent. There was always just enough to cover my bills and nothing more. Just staying out of the red was good enough for me. But I have found a solution that has honestly changed my life. And I am so glad I found it. I wake up every morning, smiling, and knowing that I have positioned myself for great wealth. Looking back, it's kind of hard thinking that it was only a few months ago that I was ducking the repo man because I was 3 months in arrears. Now, I am able to pay my monthly obligations and I have put together a debt reduction plan that will leave me debt free in 3 years or less. My whole conversation with money has changed, and now, not only have I learned how to manage my money, but, I learned the value of what money can do for me, and never again will I overlook that. I have the time freedom that I was looking for, so I can be involved in my children's life (when the time comes :) ). When I become a father, I want to be able to participate actively in my children's lives. For now, I am able to do things like spend every Friday watching movies with my sister. Or have spontaneous barbecues at my place with all my friends and family. More importantly, I am in a position to build wealth for my family for years to come. I guess you can say, I'm living the dream.
As of today ... And how can I forget about my mother and sister !!! First my mother, she has been sober for nearly 10 years, and is currently getting her degree in Sociology at Trinity College in Connecticut. As for my sister, she was accepted at the Connecticut Culinary Institute where she will be pursuing her career and passion in cooking.
