Picture this:
It's 2011. I'm sitting on a dirty airport lobby floor waiting to catch a flight to Peru. It was almost Christmas, and my wife needed a serious break from her current job. And I would like one too!
At the time, we had a degree in environmental engineering, another in systems engineering not to mention a professional engineering intern license + over 13 years of professional, on-the-job experience.
But unfortunately? Your girl was NOT working as an engineer. But my husband was...
Instead, she was grinding away as a para-legal secretary for a dingy old bankruptcy firm in Orlando, Florida – for a paltry $8.00 per hour, 40 hours per week. Fla. has the lowest wages compared to any other state. My salary was a little hired than hers, but not much more, or commensurate to what I've made in the past at other states and/or countries.
Don't get me wrong: She tried to land a job in her field or mine. Like, really tired. In the span of 4 months, she submitted a shocking 6,000 CVs and received – as they say in espanol – nada in return. ( I think that after 350 CVs something is wrong if there is not one job interview )
To say it was disheartening is an understatement. I'm having the same problem getting and keeping consulting assignments in a triple-dip-recession.
I'm sure as a fellow STEM grad, you know how hard I'd worked to advance my career and she would do the same, of course. I'd followed every rule and cleared every obstacle, from hitting the honor roll, to interning all while earning a degree (or two), to passing my licensing exam, and collecting pro certificates - slam dunk in one shot. The professional association extracurriculars - you know? I was in it to win it and so was she. I'd done everything right. She did everything right as well, no to mention... we'd support and push eac. other...
Still...dingy bankruptcy firm it was.
Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't mind having a break from the responsibilities involved in working as a project engineer, neither did she (plus, having a low-pay legal gig meant I had more freedom to go on long trips overseas, so there's that! and there were at least a 10% (sometimes + 35%, + 35% hardship & hazardous duty pay, respectively) differentials and all expenses paid), but I knew I couldn't go on forever making $8/hr, let alone waste my life at a boring job I had exactly zero passion for, BORING.
I was the classic underemployed "overworked + underpaid" worker.
And? My life experience felt completely oppressive. My wife felt the same way...
...Not exactly how I thought I'd feel after dropping a cool $100k (+ 6 years!) on that university education, for two degrees for both of us ...you know? (Most of which was done under a SEEK (Seeking Elevation and Education thru Knowledge)/ Lyberty scholarships or fellowships, we lived in BKlyn NY, then)...
But this is where the story gets better... to make a long story sh!+ erh ah I mean short...
I found a glimmer of hope that day, while sitting on the floor of the Fort Lauderdale airport, waiting on my flight to Lima My wife was to work for the bankruptcy firm and I telefónica.
This almost -Christmas Day was also the same day my wife and I decided to dive into the book ProBlogger by Darren Rowse (nothing better to do!).
Darren's whole premise was that anyone could earn 6-figures per year just by blogging. I was skeptical – of course – but as someone who's always loved writing, I began to think that this "pro-blogging" thing might just be my next move...
I mulled this idea over for a few weeks as my wife and I backpacked across South America.
It was while spending Christmas day submitting CVs, papering the world of engineering mills, from the floor of a dusty hostel in La Paz, Bolivia - that the futility of my efforts collapsed around me and I became READY to do whatever it took to earn a living online whilst enjoying my favorite pastime: world travel, my dream job as it were.
What did I have to lose, really?
Now, full disclosure: Shortly thereafter I landed a "good, regular" job as a spatial data scientist, and my husband an ISSM/ISSM position but I spent every spare moment building my side hustle.
And within 15 months at the job? I was able to quit.
More than that? When I quit, I also declined a second interview with a prestigious company (Facebook Menlo Park).
And instead? I moved to Thailand, where I lived off of $600 per month + boot-strapped my business Data-Mania, LLC (almost) from scratch. We'd vacation in Bali for less that $1,000 a month.
Sound a little batty? If so, I get it.
I mean, I'm the type who really likes to know what's going to happen next. Being an engineer... it's all about planning.. (A big reason I got into engineering, computer science + programming? I get to control the outcome, you know?)
But there were some major things in me that just wouldn't let me say yes to that interview, or even to staying in the States.
For one, I couldn't stand the idea of spending another day of my life jumping through hoops that other people set for me, building other peoples dreams and fortunes. That, and my need for lifestyle freedom, freedom+, and freedom premium... was about on par with my need for air to breathe. I just couldn't deal with the idea of living my life - not even one more day of it - the way that other people told me I should. It was entrepreneurship or bust - 100%
This period was both knee-buckling-level scary and exhilarating.
But obviously, oh-so-worth it.
Today, Data-Mania is a multi-six-figure business with a following of over ½ million tech professionals.
And my success with Data-Mania is what gave me the chops to birth Catapult (oh hey!), a coaching biz dedicated to helping other techies build their own online empires.
( Did I mention I also live + work from my luxury villa on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand – I know od the beaten path... known for its palm-tree lined beaches, coconut groves and lush rainforest, right alongside fancy spas and turquoise water? etc. or Bali Indonesia another Paradise. )
Now, did I KNOW any of this would happen when I said no to that job opportunity? No way! I had ZERO inkling Data-Mania, LLC would eventually touch and transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of tech professionals around the world.
I seriously get overwhelmed with gratitude every time I think about all the incredible things that have happened since that one fateful "No," like...
… our $60,000+ week
… that $10,000+/ hour speaking gig with an international business class trip to Istanbul
… our thriving community of about 650,000+ brilliant tech professionals
… the amazing people I've brought in to support the business along with me
… you know, just to name a few.
My point?
I found "a way out" of the status quo and into successful online tech entrepreneurship and it rewarded me massively.
And I truly want to help as many other STEM grads create online businesses that do the same for them.
( And TBH, I think STEM grads are the perfect candidates for entrepreneurship. You need major grit to cut it as a biz owner, and nobody knows grit better than the STEM grad who pulled multiple all-nighters + lived on expresso, cappuccinos and cookies for weeks to get through exams. )
I felt so stuck after shooting off 600 - 6,000 unanswered CVs. Or getting that many "NOs" as a response, which didn't come nor did I wait for them...
But I realize now that we always have options.
Option 1? We can stick with what's comfortable. We can do "more of the same." We can put in 60 - 80 hours a week to support a business we don't own (or care about).
I'd rather do 100+ hrs at my biz to avoid working those 60 - 80 hours a week to support a business we don't own (or care about).
Or, we can say see ya to the status quo, take a chance on ourselves & use our hard-earned skills to build something where we call the shots.
You know which path I chose.
But I'm curious which one you feel pulled toward right now.
(I have my guesses, but I want to hear it from you!)
So why not come on over to the the Tech Entrepreneur Collective on Facebook and talk about it? (You'll also get free live training's from us, if you decide to hop in, so you have nada to lose!)
My thanks in advance for your time attention and consideration with regards to this pressing matter.
Cheers,
-- João & JoAn
P.S. I know so many successful business owners tell a glossy, filtered version of their "success story" without coughing up any real details. Well, good news: I'm not one of them. I've got another email teed up later this week that'll give you a much-needed (and very real) peek into my first year in biz. ( If you want to learn how I actually l landed my first few clients + created a system that helped get me leads basically served to me on a silver platter, make sure you open it up! )
| ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Lillian Pierson (@BigDataGal) <lillian@data-mania.com> Date: Tue, Nov 5, 2019 at 11:24 AM Subject: How an $8/hr legal secretary transformed herself into a multi-six figure techpreneur To: João <joaoa.dsilva2019@gmail.com> |
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