founder story

 A little over five years ago I graduated from college with a B.S. in Engineering. While in college I was very active in the organization, National Society of Black Engineers  (NSBE), I held various leadership positions allowing me to network with companies while still in college. I became close with one particular recruiter which led me to landing my dream job.  I was extremely blessed, securing the first job of my dreams with a good company, and had my offer letter signed the March prior to graduation. The pay was just over $60,000 which was around the target amount I was hoping for. I thought I had done all I needed to do to be set. 
 

Fast forward to a year later, when I was asking Mom and Dad if I could live with them while I was transitioning to a new role and not willing to pay the 18% rent hike my apartment was charging to re-sign the lease. Not to mention, in addition to the $32k student debt, I now also had around $3k of consumer debt. I waited to mention debts until now because everyone teaches you to get good grades, get a good job, get married, buy a house…  and then live happily ever after? I wasn’t concerned with debt on my graduation day; it was just something floating above the dream life that I thought would work itself out because debt is normal and everyone has it.
 

Though everyone had taught me a single cookie-cutter version of how to be successful, life itself was teaching that a different version of the lesson was needed. There was a large disconnect between the lesson to get yourself started versus how you’d grow from the starting point. This disconnect is what made me realize that I needed to actually figure out how money works to get the wedding, house, and happily ever after. Up until this point I thought I was doing fine with money. I was paying my household bills, student loan bills plus $20 extra, started an emergency fund, had a budget, getting the retirement match from my company, etc. I was actively trying to do well and learning how to “adult”, yet I had ended up with more debt than I started. My “New Worth”, which is a term I had just started reading about, was going in the wrong direction! This shouldn’t have been normal in my mind, but it was common!
During my almost two years at home I read aggressively, even on topics I wasn’t actually ready to accomplish like buying a home. Anything that I wanted at least a little in the future, I read and learned about it. I took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class at my local church, and convinced Mom to take it with me. It was amazing! Just one problem... A lot of financial gurus had different ideas about expenses, and where you should live, and taking on more jobs, and buying 20-year old cars with cash that you push to work (okay, this is more how I felt when reading some things). Because I was likely always going to live in a high cost area,  I spent the time that I had with reduced rent, living with my parents, figuring out what was attainable and realistic for me. I found a financial path that corrected some of my downfalls but also brought fulfillment for me. 
 

And you may look at my life now or even just my husband and be thinking, “not all of us have a cushy place to go home to.” During my time at home in the 2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment where my parents and brother currently lived, I slept on the couch. It was the place I’d lived my whole life prior to college, in a lower-middle-class upbringing where I was never cold, never hungry, had plenty of toys, amazing parents, plenty of love, and plenty of sibling rivalries with my younger sister and brother. I never lacked, even though we were not wealthy. 
 

Now, I am happily married, live in freezing Chicagoland, work as a Sales Engineer, debt free, under 30 years old, and am worth over $100k excluding my husband’s net worth. Let me teach you how.