Lisa Nichols went from a single mom with $11.42 in her bank account to founding Start My Dream. She attended the same business conference 42 times to learn finance, raised $532,000 in capital, and built a company focused on transforming teen lives.
Chapters
I realized that I am my rescue. No one else is my rescue. I am my rescue. But my biggest accomplishment is being willing to give myself a thousand second chances. And every time I got to 999, I pressed reset. Yeah, I didn't ask permission. I gave notice. At some point, I have to stop asking, can I be great? Can I be brilliant? Can I be okay and still be accepted? I just stopped asking permission and just gave notice unapologetically. Not in a braggadocious way, not in a way that shrunk anyone else. In a way that said, I only got one life and I'm a ride this one till the wheels fall off. And my English teacher said I was the weakest rider she ever met in her entire life. The last time I took a speech class, same year I got a D minus in speech, and my speech teacher said at least a quote, unquote, I recommend you never speak in public, that you get a desk job. I got fired from five different jobs. And then I got pregnant with my son unexpectedly. And then at eight months, my son's father went to prison. I had to get on government assistance to have my baby. I was on wic, Women, Infant and Children to feed my child. And when My son was 8 months old, I went to the ATM to get $20 out the bank because I didn't have any Pampers for him. And in order to get $20 out, you got that $20 in, I had $11.42. And I still can't tell the story without getting emotional because of my story. For two days, I had to wrap my son in a towel. But something happened, Steven. Those two days, I was at rock bottom. I was broke and I was broken. Englewood, California. My son laying on his back at eight months. I have a towel over him and I have my hand on his stomach saying, don't you worry, Jelani, Mommy will never be this broke again. And I made a decision. I was bankrupt in every stinking thinking I had, I was bankrupt and trying to protect my pride. I was bankrupt and trying to be all that in a bag of chips and a bowl of grits, falsified. I was bankrupt and trying not ask anyone for help. I was bankrupt in everything that was holding me and keeping me where I was. I've always talked a good game, but I wasn't doing anything with my gift and all that thing about potential. I was tired of having potential. I wanted to have my now. And I looked at that baby at 8 months and I said, I want to transform your life. Because you didn't ask to come into this chaos. As an African American male child in South Central Los Angeles with a single mother whose father's in prison, he had a 66% chance of going to prison himself. Not on my watch. Not on my watch. So if I have to be willing to drastically transform myself so that I can become the woman that I know I can be, right. And that's what I began to do. I was radical. I went to places I'd never seen before. I went to conferences where people were talking about money, talking about prosperity. Talking about it was like, no habla espanol. What y' all talking about? ROIs and PPMs and term agreements and capital fundraising and bottom lines. And what is it? What? I'm gonna stay until I learn what you're talking about. I went to the same conference 42 times, and there I raised $532,000 in capital for my company, Start My Dream. And my dream was to transform teen lives. I want to teach teens how to fall madly in love with themselves and how to make integrity based decisions. And I got it funded and I started working. And that was the beginning of me rescu. I realized that I am my rescue. No one else is my rescue. I am my rescue. Your grandmother said that conviction and comfort don't live in the same block. If you're going to be convicted about something, you might have to go to some discomfort. But if you want to stay comfortable, why don't you just relax where you are? Because that's where you're going to stay, right? And so are you willing to reinvent who you are? Are you willing to kill away the procrastination? Are you willing to kill away the excuses, the blame game? I never let people call me a single mom by title. I'm Lisa Nichols, who happens to be a single mother. Don't define me by my circumstances. Define me by my intention. So it's just really being willing. Most change will happen here first. And if you don't change there, you can win the lotto and still end up broke. Because I'm a slingshot. You're gonna slingshot back to your mental comfort, Z.
