For many young adult Americans, the struggle is real: the seemingly endless cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck, working multiple jobs to pay off debt, and all the bills piling up. This is something I myself had struggled with. Before I created www.itsemily.com, I was counting pennies and wondering how I'd put food on my own table. But I knew it wasn't the way I wanted to live, and I worked hard to make my situation better. Eventually, I turned my whole life around and made my first million at the age of 26. I often get asked how I made this happen. Well, to tell you how I did it, I have to go right back to where it all started.
My name is Tracy Garley, I was born in the West African country of Liberia, and moved to the US at the age of eleven. I attended Western International High School in Detroit and graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Food Industry Management. I'm the owner of West African lifestyle brand Zarkpa's, founder of West African catering company Culture in a Bowl, founder of City Girl Big Dreams, and CEO of its sister brand, GoFundHer.com. In each of these roles, I try to create opportunities for girls and women to transform their dreams into reality through collaboration and social networking.
As part of my series about strong female leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amber J., Amber is the founder and host of After it All, a podcast that shares weekly life lessons and interviews about individuals who land their dream jobs, achieve so-called "unrealistic" goals, and decide to live the life of their dreams. Most recently, Amber uprooted her life and moved to Phucket, Thailand.
For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a makeup artist — and because of that, traditional school never interested me. All I wanted to do was go to cosmetic school, but for my parents, a makeup artist wasn't a "real job" so they wouldn't support me financially to pursue that dream.
Are you one of the lucky people who wakes up every morning eager to get out of bed? Or do you linger under the covers, dreading the day in front of you? Do you envy people who get up at 5:30 am, meditate for 20 minutes, go to the gym, then power through a productive day, accomplishing their goals? Are those people just lucky to be extremely passionate about their work and lives? Or do they have a special formula that enables them to be extremely efficient?
From my childhood through the early days of my career, one carrot always loomed clearly in the distance: money. Growing up, my family earned a modest income, so we always had to be extremely financially conscious with every decision. So after graduating college, I thrilled my grandmother when I snapped up a position as project manager for IBM Global Services and plunged myself into the "security" of a corporate job. I gave it all the dedication and passion I could, but every day I felt myself becoming more and more unfulfilled. Why? What did I have to complain about?