Creating Generational Wealth via Solid Careers & Free Education | Trailblazer | Free on Salesforce+

You think buildings will be around forever, but no matter how strong, you can't build them to withstand economic times or people doing the majority of their shopping online. This was one of the first malls in the country. So you think something like this would just kind of be around forever, but it's being torn down to make way for something else. When I was security at Target, one of my posts was to stand at that door. And the door is still there, but there's no building here. Wow. This spot was the loss prevention office. We were in the corner of the store right next to the entrance, and there's grass growing where I'm standing. I know Target placed people from this store into other locations, but that may not have been the same for some of the smaller stores that were here. Thousands of people were employed at this location. And I can't help but think, like, where are they now? They have to be able to adapt. And how many other people did this kickstart a journey for? It speaks to the change in the world. When I worked here, you could order things online, but not as efficiently as you can these days. And when digital transformations happen, it affects whole malls because people don't shop the same way they used to. Just like everything else in life, things change, change. After 12 years in retail, finally I was out of that. I got myself a new job where I can enjoy the holidays, I can enjoy my weekends, and I was able to purchase my first home. This was exactly where I want to be. All I remember is hearing layoff. This is the first time in 12 years that I don't have a job. But I still have bills, I still have a mortgage, car note, insurance. So now I'm dipping into savings. I'm dipping into 401ks. It's hard. After 6 months, I'm finally working again. Whoo. Exhale. Everything is going to be great again. It's the 88th day of employment, and my boss sends me a message. He says, hey, can you come to my office real quick? I was like, sure, no problem. So I'm smiling, I'm happy. It's end of the day. I'm about to go home to my house, and I walk into her office. I see a lady I've never seen before in my life and two folders on the desk. My expression instantly changed. I already knew what was coming. I stood by my car in the parking lot for a good 15, 20 minutes because I was just so upset that I couldn't drive. I called my mom. Tears just started flowing.

I could hear the devastation in his voice and him saying, I got laid off again and I'm hurting. That's my child. He's a good man. And they don't recognize what a good man he is.

I really loved my first house. I loved all the memories that came with. Really meant a lot to me. But because I was out of work for so long, I had to sell it. Yes, it was a bad moment, but I knew that wasn't going to be the last time that I owned a house. I was listening to the inspiration I got from my grandfather, and that was always in the back of my mind driving me. My grandfather listened to the late Coleman Young speak. Coleman Young was a former mayor of Detroit, and he talked about how, especially in a city like Detroit, it was important for black people to own property. My grandfather took that to heart and he went and bought his first house. He was about creating generational wealth, creating something that outlived him. So, yes, this is my granddad's house behind me, but that was also my granddad's house across the street. And right next to that is another one of my granddad's houses. And these houses are still in my family.

Understanding the history of our ancestors and what they went through makes us appreciate where we are and what we have now. It makes us understand whose shoulders we stand on. Aaron's grandfather is a guy named Mike Frampton.

After my grandfather passed, someone described him as being a giant of a man, and it definitely struck home.

He was born in a small town in Florida that was still set when I was born. He was the son of a blind peanut peddler. No one in his family had graduated high school. But despite all that, he was a dreamer.

One thing that he would do as a child was go to the downtown area and people would be wearing suits and ties. He said to himself then that one day he was going to be a suit and tie guy.

To become a suit and tie man meant that you commanded respect. You were somebod.

He was a state and federal judge, so he was able to achieve that. Because of my granddad's hard work, he was able to leave a legacy for his children and his children's children. It really makes me wonder what my legacy could be. My granddad used to say that if you can make it in Detroit, you can make it anywhere. Detroit is one of the comeback cities. All of these buildings were just boarded up. But now, you see all of this is being revitalized. All this came out of what everybody thought was going to be a dead city. And if Detroit can make it out of the dark places that it was in then. Why can't someone that grew up here? That resilience is part of who I am. That's my high school, Cass Tech. Well, almost. That's my high school. To the old Cass Tech, the original Cass Tech, the one that everyone nicknamed the pickle factory. I climbed those seven stories every day for four years. People tend to want to hold on to the past and hold on to old ways of doing things. But I say you should embrace the changes. Embrace what can happen when new things come up. When I was a high school kid, I had taken visits to plants where you saw robots moving parts and welding and all that. And that's what I thought tech really was. Planning out diagrams of how to build circuits and things like that. I had no idea that there was this whole other side of tech that built systems for companies to do their business on. My cousin Nivea worked for a company called Salesforce that I had never heard of in my life. She told me what it was all about, what the earning potential was, and honestly, it sounded way too good to be true. After I had done some more research, I said, okay, this is what I'm gonna do. I kept charging towards learning on trailhead, going to community group meetings, and probably the single greatest thing I did was jumped on Twitter. I was going to chronicle my journey through learning Salesforce, and I told my entire life story, my entire career progression, all the good and the bad, and it was actually pretty therapeutic. I never felt like I belonged to something until I became a part of the Salesforce community. 12 years working in retail never felt anything like that. I didn't have a job, but I knew this is where I needed to be. We have literally been solid since day one. That's what we. That was the iconic first picture, legitimately looked like an outfit. If people see that picture, they would have thought we were friends for years before that. Exactly. The community is the heartbeat of Salesforce. 100%. This community is so accepting of everybody, of all backgrounds, because we understand different perspectives. Help us grow. Because if you are amongst like minded people, how do you grow? Shaquille was saying the other day, if you look at the people in your circle and they don't inspire you, you're in a cage. We push each other, we challenge each other. It constantly pushes me to be a better person. Because you grow through challenge, right? That's real. There were plenty of times where I felt like I wasn't gonna make it. After I got my certification, I Still didn't have a job. I was coming up on a year of having no income, and I'm like, I need to start bringing money in. I filled out an application to be a bus driver. They called me right back and scheduled an interview. I remember reading over the standards for this particular company, and one of their big things was, you can't have facial hair now. My hair started falling out when I was 21, so this beard is literally all I have left. I'm standing in my bathroom with some clippers in my hand, looking at myself in the mirror like, you are literally about to make yourself somebody you're not to get a job that you really don't even want. Nah. I canceled the interview. Two days later, I got the offer for my first salesforce position. I did not know where I was going to end up. I did not know if any of this was going to work out. But I had faith in myself, and I stuck it through, and I became successful because of it. If you can see these boxes behind me, that is the definition of things coming full circle for me because of the things I was able to accomplish. I was able to purchase a new home in Atlanta. After everything that I've been through, all the ups and downs, not knowing if this was right, not knowing if this was going to work, having to sell my first house, the fact that I'm even giving this interview, sitting in my living room, it's crazy. Seeing you get your certification, seeing you go through, fight through, be able to pass your test, that's huge. I talk to my friends that I've been friends with since high school. They see where I am now, and it's like, yeah, I wish I could do something like that, But I'm not technical. And I tell them, I still have a bachelor's in criminal justice, but I work in tech. If I can do this, you can do it, too. We both went through unemployment. We both went through just trying to figure out what was going to be next. Yeah, I'm going to get you in the salesforce community one of these days. I know that that's something that you want to see from me, and I want to see for myself. This is exactly what trailhead was designed for. To break into a career in tech without having to go back to school, without having to get a technical degree. I literally got to where I am by learning for free online. That's what trailhead is all about.

Generational wealth is about finances, but more importantly, it's the wealth of knowledge. It makes us feel a sense of responsibility to help the next generation navigate in this world. And I see that in Erin.

My legacy that I can leave is a story of inspiration, a story of hope, a story that says, just because you've been doing one thing for a long time, it doesn't mean that you can never do anything else. Whenever I thought about it, I never saw people that look like me. But I want generations of kids that are coming up now to realize that there is space for us in this world. There is a need for us here. I'm grateful for all the people that have been beside me the entire time, both new and old. A few feet away from me, I have a picture of my grandfather on the wall. It's because of the trails that he blazed in his time that I was able to blaze trails of my own. I definitely know that my grandfather is looking down on me right now with. With just the biggest smile on his face. I know that I've made him proud.