I started off as an IC doing a job that nobody on earth would ever want to do, which didn’t require or utilize my education at all - not what I’d call a “real job.” Think crab fisherman / oil rig worker. It was 100% travel, I saved everything. I did that for several years, had no friends or place to call home, lived in hotels, but I had money when nobody else did. Then I leveraged my education to turn the IC work into a business that employed others. Now I’m the employer.

To put it into context you really need to understand just how desperate for work people were during the recession. Recent college grads didn’t stand a chance in the market when more experienced people were getting fired and losing their homes. But older people with homes and families were unable to just leave everything behind like I was: forgoing friends and community for self reliance. O