It turns out my income will be increasing in 2021 by about 15k...

A thread.

The last major fight I had with my sons dad before I threw him out and got the restraining order he was telling me how I was trash and that I would never amount to anything and that I would end up living in a trailer the rest of my life. (Never have I ever)

I moved with my son into a studio apartment that was $300 a month. It was infested with cockroaches and I had a couple months in that first year I couldn’t afford to keep the lights on. I worked full time at a daycare center so that I could work closer with my infant son.

I made minimum wage and went back to school to get my medical assistant certificate. The last six weeks of the course was an internship - it was in the day and so I had to quit my job to finish the certification. I took an eviction to complete it.

Thankfully the place I interned at hired me on the last day. I started at just over $10 an hour. I worked full time and then some while I went back to school to get my associates. When that ended I took a position making 50¢ more.

I worked my ass off... no car - I took the bus with my infant to 2yo. son 20 miles to and from in 100°+ weather to a sitter I could afford. Life was really friggin hard. Eventually I bought a car. I moved us into a two bedroom apartment. The car would break down regularly.

They were hard times - but they were also some of the best times. Never once did I ask for child support or for help from family.

My mother even now has told me she thought for sure I would have called begging to come live at home - that she didn’t know how on earth I was going to make it because how we started was SO hard.

I found an opportunity in media sales that was a 1 in a million chance. I took a leap of faith and again I was told by the people around me that there was no way I would make it, that I was going to be back at the clinic within a year. At the time I left I was making ≈ $28k

Last year I read an article about the average household income for a two parent household was around $60,000. I cried because I realized I had accepted a position making what a two parent household was making.

I officially took MYSELF out of poverty. This year COVID threatened to knock that down. This week my manager called me into her office for a mid year review. I’m one of the top sellers in our region and I’ve been able to add 14 new accounts in the last three months.

Looking ahead at my income - i expect to crack that $100K in the next three years.

So here’s my nugget of wisdom. Don’t give up. When the shit is hard - don’t quit. Don’t give up. Look for opportunities to get ahead. As a rabid capitalist - EVERYONE is entitled to making their share - AS LONG AS YOU WORK FOR IT.

Be scared, let your knees shake, let your voice quiver, fuck up and fuck up some more. Put your blinders on and get to work. There is NEVER a situation you can’t get yourself out of. No hole too deep, no situation too bad. It’s possible.

Get to work.