BROKE MUSICIAN AND FITNESS SALES TO FINANCIALLY FREE, FULL-TIME PARENTS

Anthony, a successful entrepreneur and business leader, was born in Westchester, New York. Growing up, he watched his parents enjoy a life of financial freedom as full–time parents and full–time husband and wife. This gave Anthony a vision for what he wanted in his own life from a very young age. The travel, financial abundance, association, charity events and overall lifestyle he experienced as a child was something he knew he wanted to recreate for his own family one day.

He grew up like most of us being taught to work hard, get good grades, go to college, get a good job and that’s how to become successful. It wasn’t long before he began to see a clear difference in attitude and mindset between the wealthy and those who worked as employees. Though he knew that employment wouldn’t be long-term, he started working to earn his own money at the age of 12 years old. Quickly, he began to experiment with “side hustles” like flipping dollar store items and selling raffle tickets for prizes in middle-school. Easy to say he was always more focused on the idea of creating abundance and wealth rather than excelling in the classroom. Anthony was a close-call high school graduate and summer-schooler who, at the time, indefinitely deferred college to pursue his passion for music.

“I never really fit into the box. School was trying to mold me into a mass-produced, career-minded employee. I’ve always known there was more to life than climbing the corporate ladder.”

With little experience and even less money, he started gigging, booking himself into open mics, bars and any venue that would give him a chance! As many in the music scene know, playing your own music doesn’t pay in the beginning years so the group was forced to focus most of their time playing “sweet home alabama” and “brown eyed girl” for crowds of intoxicated locals. Over the course of the next 3 years, he would go on to perform over 800 concerts across the United States and Internationally.

“I always wanted to be the owner and saw opportunities in the music industry to help other artists get ahead.”

As a signer-songwriter, Anthony quickly realized ownership was his ticket out of the bar-gig scene. After scaling a small chain of recording studios as well as a touring company, it wasn’t long before Anthony was invited to teach at music conferences, including the renowned South by SouthWest in Austin, to teach artists how to become profitable touring musicians. Eventually, they were able to build a following allowing them to play paid gigs touring the country performing their own music! An artists dream, right? The dream slowly became a nightmare as the financial and time challenges transformed Anthony’s creative passion into yet another job-like jail cell.

“The irony was that I was teaching people to tour and make money, yet I was personally over $20,000 in debt from building our music businesses.”

Anthony reached his limit as one of his national tours began to fall apart due to their lack of financial security. A timely conversation with a lifetime friend discussing the concepts taught in the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” brought the solution to light. He finally decided to access the wisdom of his “Rich Dad” and learn how to gain control of both time and money in his life.

Jenny, the youngest of three, remembers a joyful family dynamic and childhood. Coming from many generations of entrepreneurs, being your own boss was a common idea in her family. From owners of gas stations to real estate moguls, contractors to poker players, she was raised to understand that there were many ways to succeed financially. Growing up, she recalls the question, “what do you want to do when you grow up,” having no idea what direction to go in. Often, she was laughed off or considered unambitious for her answer of, “I just want to be a mom and help people!” Heading off to college without a major, she took an array of classes to see what captured her attention. There, she stumbled upon nutrition and was inspired to pursue more on the subject. With a background in dance, she was fascinated to learn about the body and understand what best fueled our health. In 2010, she graduated with a degree in Dietetics from SUNY Oneonta.

It wasn’t long before her skillset lead her into the fitness industry as a personal trainer in a high-end health facility. Though she was doing something she enjoyed, it was only a matter of time before 14-hour work days and a 7-day a week schedule would being to physically and mentally take its toll on her. She knew something would have to change, which eventually lead her to a shift into fitness sales which tripled her income and cut her hours in half! Jenny excelled in sales for over 5 years when she realized her life was passing by without the level of significance she knew she was called to live. She was certain her purpose was greater than the job she had and title she held.

“I was earning a six-figure income, had put six-figures into savings by my mid-twenties and thought is this really what life’s about? Clocking in and clocking out of your life?”

This was a paradigm shift moment in her story that changed everything. Against the advice of many who knew her, she decided to quit her six-figure sales job and remove herself from the rat-race. Her brother had recently returned from a missions trip and shared the experiences he had. His testimony inspired jenny to leave her comfort zone and take the leap into the unknown.

“I quit my job and became a missionary traveling the world for a year. What a wake up call!”

Over the next year, Jenny traveled the world living in 11 different countries building homes, teaching English, sharing her faith and helping victims of sex-trafficking. Having gone with the intention of making a difference in the lives of others, she found that the biggest change was happening inside her. There was so much joy in serving others and detaching from all of the concerns that plagued her day-to-day back in the states. Immersing herself in other cultures grew a new level of love and appreciation for others and woke up a mission in her heart, answering the question that she long left unanswered. Her eyes began to open to all of the opportunities America provided that could empower her to make the real difference she was called to make around the world. She knew it was time to come home, pursue guidance and learn from those who have created abundance.

“After that year, there was no way I was coming back home to to lock myself in a cubicle. I had a vision for what true impact and significance was and a new appreciation for the opportunities that America offered.”

Searching for ways to get control of both time and money in her life a friend was able to connect her with a family that had accomplished just what she was looking for.

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