So here I am... hello! I, like heaps of others have been lurking for a while:
1 Trying to think of ways to make myself sound interesting, innovative and dynamic
2 Feeling massively inspired and motivated
3 Also feeling just a bit (ok massively) intimidated by everyone on here
4 and finally I feel oh so narcissistic talking about myself but here goes...
I'll tell you a little story of my life that I've only ever told my husband because of family shame and all that I'm sorry if it's lengthy...
I was 12 and hiding on the stairs when I heard my mum telling my Auntie in fits of tears that she couldn't afford to pay the mortgage for the house, with a sickening sense of anxiety I crept up to bed and cried with worry, that's where my dad found me, hugged me and told me everything would be ok, he promised.
My dad had worked for my Grandads (his in laws) business, if he owned it now we'd all be millionaires but he overstretched (got greedy) and then the 80s recession hit and he lost everything... every. single. little. penny. In the process he spent the entirety of my dads inheritance on paying his tax bill and left the bank chasing after our house like a lion after an injured gazelle. My family were left penniless and my parents were forced with the reality of losing their house and children or picking up the pieces and making a new life. They were forced into entrepreneurship without the background or desire to drive them, it was survival.
They started working at home in the evenings when my brother and I were in bed so we didn't know how bad things were. They packed food products by hand, hour after hour. They had no money for food, they would feed us and then eat frugally when we were in bed. My brother had no idea anything was going on, he was a teenager and probably to busy thinking of girls and football but I noticed it all, it sat with me, it turned me into who I am.
After years of hard work and sleepless nights, my parents built that business into a company that paid for both myself and my brother to have wonderful holidays, go to university, beautiful wedding each and much more. Basically enabled us to keep up with out friends and be entitled little sh*ts. This left very little in the pension pot.
My journey went on, I struggled (unknowingly until 15) with dyslexia at school and was told I would never be as clever as my friends. Ok I may not be Einstein but I am bloody determined and tell me something like that and you can bet I'll prove you wrong. I took to business studies and fell in love, I studied marketing at university and got a job in a major bank followed by a large airline. I earned better than any of my friends but I hated it. I am not an employee. I can't play political games and I hate being tied to one role spending most of your day trying to push projects through, I love to create and execute, I hate the pretentious crap you get in organisations.
In the mean time I met my now husband, watched a lot of box sets, had fun, travelled, got married and then had three children, I gave up work to raise them. In this time the sh*t hit the fan with my parents business (which until then had been ticking over nicely). The credit crunch hit, cashflow became a nightmare. My parents argued and with massive fireworks decided they were getting divorced on two occasions. My dad either had or was close to having a mental breakdown, and threatened suicide. One fateful night I drove over to his factory with my baby in the car not knowing if I would find him hanging. I hate that memory.
We worked through the problems and the business is still going, although it's tough. I've put money into it and I'm working in and on it in my *free* (ha whats that with 3 kids) time. and I read business books. Then I read FLM and found the forum and holy cr*p I feel like there are people like me, I have direction, I have more motivation and I know I can do this.
Everything that has happened in the past has actually been a massive blessing to me. I get how hard life can be, I know we're all humans and things can fall apart for anyone, I know what unconditional love it and I know what my values are, and I've seen a life away from the script, I've never liked the script. Without those events I can tell you now, I'd be a consumer princess with no clue.
So where now... my parents business is profitable but it's slowlane, without my dad it doesn't exist. My dad is nearing retirement age so I / we need to either find a way to help make it fastlane OR start a new fastlane business that can contribute to my own family as well as my parents retirement. And i'm right there at that cross road, I have been for a while.
I want to tell you more, I want to tell you how I've turned the business around and we're all driving TVRs but i can't... yet.
I want to build a life for my kids that they'll love, I want to payback the blood, sweat and tears my parents sacrificed for me and above all for them to know that someone in this world has their back.
If you've read to here - thank you. I hope to be able to update on my progress and continue learning and being inspired by you all (as well as just a tiny bit intimidated) and i'm hoping that writing this will help me move from this crossroad situation to a dedicated path which I can commit too and start making serious cash.
I look forward to talking to you all!
1 Trying to think of ways to make myself sound interesting, innovative and dynamic
2 Feeling massively inspired and motivated
3 Also feeling just a bit (ok massively) intimidated by everyone on here
4 and finally I feel oh so narcissistic talking about myself but here goes...
I'll tell you a little story of my life that I've only ever told my husband because of family shame and all that I'm sorry if it's lengthy...
I was 12 and hiding on the stairs when I heard my mum telling my Auntie in fits of tears that she couldn't afford to pay the mortgage for the house, with a sickening sense of anxiety I crept up to bed and cried with worry, that's where my dad found me, hugged me and told me everything would be ok, he promised.
My dad had worked for my Grandads (his in laws) business, if he owned it now we'd all be millionaires but he overstretched (got greedy) and then the 80s recession hit and he lost everything... every. single. little. penny. In the process he spent the entirety of my dads inheritance on paying his tax bill and left the bank chasing after our house like a lion after an injured gazelle. My family were left penniless and my parents were forced with the reality of losing their house and children or picking up the pieces and making a new life. They were forced into entrepreneurship without the background or desire to drive them, it was survival.
They started working at home in the evenings when my brother and I were in bed so we didn't know how bad things were. They packed food products by hand, hour after hour. They had no money for food, they would feed us and then eat frugally when we were in bed. My brother had no idea anything was going on, he was a teenager and probably to busy thinking of girls and football but I noticed it all, it sat with me, it turned me into who I am.
After years of hard work and sleepless nights, my parents built that business into a company that paid for both myself and my brother to have wonderful holidays, go to university, beautiful wedding each and much more. Basically enabled us to keep up with out friends and be entitled little sh*ts. This left very little in the pension pot.
My journey went on, I struggled (unknowingly until 15) with dyslexia at school and was told I would never be as clever as my friends. Ok I may not be Einstein but I am bloody determined and tell me something like that and you can bet I'll prove you wrong. I took to business studies and fell in love, I studied marketing at university and got a job in a major bank followed by a large airline. I earned better than any of my friends but I hated it. I am not an employee. I can't play political games and I hate being tied to one role spending most of your day trying to push projects through, I love to create and execute, I hate the pretentious crap you get in organisations.
In the mean time I met my now husband, watched a lot of box sets, had fun, travelled, got married and then had three children, I gave up work to raise them. In this time the sh*t hit the fan with my parents business (which until then had been ticking over nicely). The credit crunch hit, cashflow became a nightmare. My parents argued and with massive fireworks decided they were getting divorced on two occasions. My dad either had or was close to having a mental breakdown, and threatened suicide. One fateful night I drove over to his factory with my baby in the car not knowing if I would find him hanging. I hate that memory.
We worked through the problems and the business is still going, although it's tough. I've put money into it and I'm working in and on it in my *free* (ha whats that with 3 kids) time. and I read business books. Then I read FLM and found the forum and holy cr*p I feel like there are people like me, I have direction, I have more motivation and I know I can do this.
Everything that has happened in the past has actually been a massive blessing to me. I get how hard life can be, I know we're all humans and things can fall apart for anyone, I know what unconditional love it and I know what my values are, and I've seen a life away from the script, I've never liked the script. Without those events I can tell you now, I'd be a consumer princess with no clue.
So where now... my parents business is profitable but it's slowlane, without my dad it doesn't exist. My dad is nearing retirement age so I / we need to either find a way to help make it fastlane OR start a new fastlane business that can contribute to my own family as well as my parents retirement. And i'm right there at that cross road, I have been for a while.
I want to tell you more, I want to tell you how I've turned the business around and we're all driving TVRs but i can't... yet.
I want to build a life for my kids that they'll love, I want to payback the blood, sweat and tears my parents sacrificed for me and above all for them to know that someone in this world has their back.
If you've read to here - thank you. I hope to be able to update on my progress and continue learning and being inspired by you all (as well as just a tiny bit intimidated) and i'm hoping that writing this will help me move from this crossroad situation to a dedicated path which I can commit too and start making serious cash.
I look forward to talking to you all!
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