Omar Zenhom grew up in a rented garage, hiding from debt collectors. That childhood trauma drove him to build WebinarNinja and the $100 MBA, determined to help others escape poverty. He argues entrepreneurs need a personal reason, not just ambition, to survive the hard parts.
Around 7 years old, my parents were going through a particularly rough financial time. We were living in a furnished rented garage, and my parents would work long hours. So my parents would tell us when we'd go home from school, we'd be alone, if the phone rang, don't pick it up because we don't want you to talk to strangers. So, okay, you know, we were kids, we just listened to it. We followed orders. Later I realized that wasn't to protect us from strangers. It was to stop us from picking up calls from debt collectors that were trying to reach my parents. This is a tough story to share because, you know, I was a kid. I didn't realize what was going on, but I can't imagine how hard that was for my parents to have to tell their kids that. And for me, that's the driving force for everything I do. It's the reason why I started Webinar Ninja, because I wanted to empower people to build a business to make them financially free so they never have to feel what my parents had to go through. And it's the reason why I do what I do now with $100 MBA. You know, money doesn't solve all your problems, but it gives you an opportunity to change things, and that makes all the difference. So whatever you're doing in your business right now, find a personal reason to do it because you're going to need it. It's going to get tough. It's going to get rough, and you're going to have to tap into something that's going to spring you into action. Say, I can't not do this. I have to make it happen.
