BiggerPockets

I just got inspired to start this topic from reading some success stories. I really enjoy hearing how investors came to be and what they did before getting into the biz. I am sure we can all relate to these stories and backgrounds from other entrepreneurs who choose this path. I will share my brief working life and hope others jump in. It could be very motivating to someone struggling to get that first deal...

I started my first "business" selling toys in the 5th grade. I didn't have any grasp on the value of money at the time. I just thought it was neat that I could take a paper clip and bend it around until it would "flip" up in the air when it was dropped on a table. I called them "flips" and they were a hit. I sold them for a quarter a piece and ended up with about $40 before the end of the year. My dad went 50-50 with me on a Super Nintendo. I loved that thing. I had little ideas for business here and there all through school but nothing really stuck.

In my freshman year of college I became very restless and knew I had to find a way to work for myself. I worked full-time in college and 3 of the 4 years previously in high school.

I started doing some research online and watching those late night commercials. I started learning about the time value of money, passive income, and leveraging. I became obsessed with it! I would print out every article, blog, and email I could. I literally read about this stuff for 40+ hours a week for months. At some point through all of this I left school to pursue what I thought was more important. Not long after I left school I felt I needed to get something going. So I jumped into a "deal", that took up over a year of my life! During that time I went through a ton of jobs just to get by while I worked on my "deal". I did all kinds of odd jobs:

Telemarketing
lawn service fertilizer guy
lawn service sales guy door to door
overnight baker
newspaper delivery
receptionist
Sold cruise packages
package delivery guy
warehouse guy...
A few others I can't think of

I finally sold this property after a lot of issues and made little if any money. I learned from these mistakes and made ALOT of adjustments...this took a while. Finally I was picking up cash flowing deals and selling deals for nice profits. Through this time I was doing some of those jobs. Less than a year ago I started absorbing everything I could about creative financing. I already had a foundation of knowledge for investing so it didn't take long to get things going.

Now I have a STABLE full-time job and have been doing pretty well with deals. I am on pace to do 20+ deals this year and have already created a nice passive cash flow from rental properties.

What about everyone else? I would love to hear about your humble beginnings...

here is a few more examples for you.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/11970-what-did-you-do-before-investing

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/56/topics/9724-so-what-was-your-profession-b4-real-estate-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/38923-what-are-you-before-an-re-investor-

Another, more recent one.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/109/topics/28373-what-are-you-other-than-a-real-estate-investor-

There was a long post of this same title, pretty much awhile back. I posted on it so I know it was there. I was a Janitor. Rest of the story is here on BP in the Meet The Investor section. Rich.

jobs i've held in life:
high school-telemarketer, deli worker, toy store
college-teacher, toy store manager, worked on campus, director of art gallery
post college-financial consultant, banker

fun fun fun!

Ive talked to my fiancee about the tax exclusion every two years. That is all very interesting to me. I want to make sure we balance everything. I can't wait to read your ebook when it is ready. I am sure her and I will both enjoy it.

I have been working as a Business Analyst for a large health insurance company since I been out of high school. Hope to be full time investor after this year.

Porn. My screen name was "Shortsale Longclosing".

I was in finance (business valuation), then did home automation, then finally made my way to multifamily. I think the home automation one was the most fun, but the multifamily has the most long-term satisfaction.