The Eviction Notice That Changed My Life

I was 34 years old, sitting in my room while the global pandemic locked us all in. There was nowhere to go, no job to clock in for, and only the internet to entertain me. I didn’t want to sit there and binge-watch Netflix every day, though. I was already dreaming of the day I could quit my job and start my own business. This felt like the opportunity to do just that—to learn something new and build a business of my own.

This is how my entrepreneurial journey began.

I started as a reseller on OfferUp and eBay with bulk pallets selling books, cosmetics, hardware, and random shit like bee houses and skateboard rails. It was crazy to find all the stuff on pallets. Eventually, I started shopping for toys and games before finding my niche in apparel. I learned from the best at the time, such as Reezy, Hairy Tornado, Daily Refinement, Ralli Roots, and many more.

For two years, I grew this side business alongside my day job. I spent dozens of hours every week learning how to find products to sell, manage inventory, ship orders, and deal with customer service. But when I lost my job, my eBay business started falling apart. All the money I made from sales went straight into bills and groceries instead of getting re-invested into the business. I didn’t have the money or any income to buy more inventory.

With no more day job and a dwindling eBay business, I was struggling financially. I remember stretching $20 for groceries every week, only buying beans, eggs, and ramen to get by. I would wake up every day to an empty fridge and my stomach yelling for something to eat.

I was already struggling with anxiety, and now I was dealing with depression. I lost my job, and I couldn't find another one for the life of me. I was losing my apartment, losing my truck, and my one hope of financial freedom through my reseller business. Everything felt like the final scenes of Inception, in which the world was falling apart.

Sitting in my apartment, with a knock at the door, I walked over to open it. When I looked outside, no one was there. They left before I opened the door. As I was swinging the door closed, I paused mid-swing. I saw the blood-red words taped on my door: Eviction Notice.

I knew I had to do something. I didn’t want to give up. I worked to fkn hard to give up now. But, I couldn’t afford to buy more products to sell on my eBay store anymore. I couldn't drive around to source it either. So, I did what we all do when we want more money: I went to YouTube and asked, “How can I make more money online?”

My whole life changed when I discovered a video by Thomas Frank and Marie Poulin about selling Notion templates. Frank and Marie Poulin were making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year with this free tool. It blew my mind that someone could make that much money selling a digital product.

I was already familiar with Notion because I was using it for school and managing my eBay business. I liked it because it was free to use, and it made managing my life easier.

So for the next 15 months, I kept my head down and focused on building my own business—a second digital business. This became my one lifeline and second hope to become financially free, and I plunged into the world of Notion and became a digital creator.

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