A first-person YouTube monologue by Nate Tilley recounting his time as a broke college dropout working low-paying, menial jobs in South Dakota, feeling ashamed and stuck because he couldn’t provide for loved ones. The speaker describes repeated unpaid value-creation at jobs, daily financial stress, and reaching a painful decision point to change his circumstances.
Back to the time when I was broke. I had nothing to my name. I was a college dropout working as a detailer in a gravel lot in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota, And I was not happy with my life. I wasn't able to take my girlfriend on dates at the time. I wasn't able to travel. I wasn't able to buy nice things around Christmas time. I always felt ashamed because I couldn't buy the gifts for my family and my loved ones that I knew that they deserved. And I just felt stuck. Suck. Every single job I worked at, I always had these big ideas. And I would tell the manager this big idea, and he says, okay, go do it. But there was no pay raise. So I was building other people's dreams. And I wasn't being paid for the value that I produced. I was only being paid for the time that I wasted slaving away at menial jobs that didn't really drive my life forward at all. That's when I decided it was time to make a change. I was in so much pain. Having to check my bank account every single day, being negative. Having to basically borrow from Paul to pay Peter back and that kind of thing.
