My life at the time sounded like a bad Lifetime movie, but I wasn’t feeling very entertained with my situation. Things were getting desperate and I needed work, ANYTHING would do at the end of the day.

My First Successful Business

Back then, I wasn’t committed to a specific type of business, or really any business. I just needed to make enough money to feed my kids and pay the bills until I could find a ‘real job’ (spoiler: I never got that job).

I was a laid off IT professional and a twice over college drop out. Not only was the economy in the middle of a crisis but I wasn’t very remarkable as far as the job market goes.

I was over qualified for many entry level jobs, and since I didn’t have a degree I wasn’t getting interviews for the work I could do.

Slowly, over time I found work here and there in small projects. It wasn’t ideal, but with luck and by letting a few bills go overdue we made ends meet every month.

Doing what worked

While I wasn’t making millions (hell I wasn’t even making $20,000 a year) I was making SOMETHING. And the job market still wasn’t delivering. So I decided to double down on what was working at commit to being a freelancer.

I took what little money I had and filed for a business license, business cards, and a car magnet. Yes that’s right… a car magnet.

Back then I thought that was marketing. 

Surprising Inspiration 

I was making a humble living, with my car magnet in tow as I went to a parent teacher conference one faithful day.

While waiting in the car for my appointment I got a phone call. It was from a woman who had seen the car magnet and was looking for a job. She told me about how she was a virtual assistant and how I could use her to help grow my business.

I thought this woman was crazy, I didn’t fully understand what she was offering me at the time. All I knew is she was asking me for a job. This blew my mind because I barely had enough money to pay my own expenses let alone to hire someone, even if they really could grow my business.

Later during another restless night I googled the term ‘virtual assistant’ and what I found changed my life.

I found forums and job posts all over the internet.

The next day I called the ‘crazy’ woman I had spoken too and told her my idea.

She works as a virtual assistant, and I sell/broker her services for a cut of the profits. She can do the work and I find the work, and together we can really make a go of it.

Skip ahead a few months later and I had hustled up enough work to start hiring more virtual assistants, and my first business was born. 

Much more than assistant

Overtime my business grew, I learned a lot of hard lessons and had a lot of amazing experiences. But one thing came out of that business more than anything else, I learned how to think like an entrepreneur.

As problems arose I solved them, and learned how major businesses solved them. I built a team, and crafted accountability and scale-ability into the business and really made a genuine living.

I also had a front row seat to dozen of super successful (and some not so successful) online businesses. My virtual assistant business was like a private course by dozens of experts on what to do and what NOT to do.

Overtime, I built a library of systems and processes focused on running and growing an online business, I learned software, marketing strategy, and how to hire the right people needed to get the job done. After all, it was my companies job to provide skilled people to help these online businesses grow while staying lean.

Coaching & Consulting

I no long operate my virtual assistant business, I sold it back in 2017. And I started a digital agency The Marketers Lab  because I felt we could get better results for clients with an agency business model.

But a funny thing happened, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. 

And that’s when a customer asked me for my time and knowledge, and everything changed for me yet again.

Before you roll your eyes and say “Not another coach” I want you to know right now, I’m different.

I get it, there is an endless supply of coaches, experts, and consultant who offer an equally endless supply of coaching, programs, ebooks, webinars, and more. They take their most valuable information and hold it under lock and key, forcing you to pay for access every step of the way.

But that’s not what I’m about

Other people in this space focus on quick wins and flash in the pan strategies. They teach you the newest way to get clients with Facebook ads, or the newest ‘easy and quick’ business to launch.

But they don’t teach you what it really takes to start and grow a business.

And that’s where I’m different.

• I teach how to build a scale-able system around customer acquisition (including but not limited to digital advertising and sales).
• I teach how to predict your future expenses, so you can plan for your business growth.
• I teach how to train and hire the right people so that you don’t have to do it all.
• I teach the skills, strategies and tools it takes to grow a business in 2019.

I teach people how to build real businesses in the online space, how to market those businesses, and how to grow those businesses.

Similar to my Virtual Assistant company, I bring the tools and resources from what I’ve learned over the years and teach people how to succeed online.

Growth Academy

The reality is, there is only so much time at the end of the day, and if I wanted to continue to grow and help more people, I needed to adapt my model.

That’s why I launched Growth Academy in two parts, one free and one paid.

I didn’t want to just bring a ‘how to business’ course to the market. I wanted to create a library of tools, education, and a community. I wanted to bring everything someone would need to get their business off the ground and make a living, just like I did.