I'll speak the truth.
When I started off in 2019, I expected that, as an entrepreneur, I will be profitable within 3-4 months and everything will be on track. But I realized that the journey was too isolated and I sucked as an entrepreneur. I was working whenever I wanted and I was not working when I didn't want to work. That was the major issue.

So, I planned to work for a company that has a good name in our city. I joined their content marketing department and within 2.5 years, I got 2 promotions, I was responsible for making key marketing decisions.

Fast forward today, along with my full time job, I also take freelance projects, mainly on Performance Marketing and eCommerce. I have also published a kindle book in the eCommerce niche.

So, that is my journey not as an entrepreneur but as an INTRAPRENEUR.

This challenge for me is more like me getting myself, my own personal help. dive deeper to better understand myself so I can get a clearer view of what I am supposed to do next.

I had very bad bipolar disorder. For many years looking for a way out, it meant I had another me/another myself that was always sad and angry for no reason at all.

This other self normally takes over control of my brain and my emotions about 50–90% every single day, so yes, very strong. It means all of my plans to learn, work, travel, and be productive have become so much harder.

For many years I tried to fight this another myself, but it is making me even worse and worse. until I found another way to be better, and that is, the ability to accept this other me as a gift, not as a virus or an enemy.

I went to find any community that enjoys helping or supporting each other, communicating, and getting involved with many supportive and active people, so I can get more and more abilities, like a sense of acceptance.

And in terms of entrepreneurship, this ability of acceptance is very important because:

1. If I cannot accept myself 100%, other people or the universe will find it harder to accept me as well.
2. If I cannot accept myself 100%, it is making all my future become harder, the sadness and anger inside me becoming more and more stronger. So crying alone for no reason for a few minutes in a day is one way to get a better feeling for me.
3. The better my ability to accept myself, the better my ability to accept everyone else, to be able to learn something new from others, and to grow.
4. It is all about how to grow my ability to accept myself, even though many times it is still very difficult, because it makes me need MORE time and effort to be productive. It is like what other people can do and learn in 1 hour; for me it took 6 hours, but this is the only way.
5. Wealthy Affiliate Community is one of the communities that is needed by me and other people who had the same problem as mine. ----

indra kurniawan.

I started off as a science temp teacher in my gap year after high school. I went on to try other 9 to 5 jobs like being a telephone operator for a national telephone company, accounting, stores controller for a national electricity company. I never liked having a boss.

I decided to have my own business. I ran an offline business that took off well but I couldn't maintain the success. It took off too quickly and I wasn't prepared and so it went down with a huge loan riding on my back.

I then went into parchment craft, book binding, wrought iron joint venture. I was just all over the place trying to make a quick buck to pay off the loan, of which, fortunately, I managed to pay off.

One day I had a vision that I told to a friend. The friend thought it was incredible and that I should write a book on it. I didn't believe it was that good but I did the creative writing courses and wrote the book anyway.

The day I finished writing the draft manuscript, that night, I had a dream of angels dancing in a circle in celebration of the completion of the manuscript. They wore light purple flared dresses with a white lace at the hem.

Now, here is the most weird thing that happened: When I woke up that morning, I had, clasped in my hand, a squashed light purple bracelet that had a white inner lining... the exact color of the dresses of those angels in my dream. I am 100% sure I didn't have that bracelet in my hand when I went to bed.

I thought this was a sign of some sort about this manuscript? That also meant I had a book to sell. The problem was how to do it. How to learn about marketing online. Meantime I joined a group and had an editor contact me to edit my manuscript.

I was riddled with doubts about my work at the time and this editor told me that for the thirty years she had been an editor, she never came across what she read in my manuscript. Oh, she went to town with praise. She told me all the work she did before on this genre was like water under the bridge.

I was shocked. At first I thought she was joking. Over time she made me fall in-love with my work.

When I was ready to publish my book, I switched on my computer one morning and immediately saw a WA banner. I instinctively knew that that banner meant something for my book. I clicked on it and the rest is history. You know the saying, "When the student is ready the teacher appears."

I was clueless about WA or affiliate marketing. A week after arriving at WA I made one referral who upgraded to Premium membership. The trouble is, when I talked to her about WA I didn't know I would get a commission. I didn't know how affiliate marketing works.

I just raved about the platform I had come across. She got interested and I looked up quickly on how to help her to become a member. I gave her my link as per the training. I didn't understand that, that was an affiliate link.

So when I realized I would get a commission, I wrote a WA post about it. I was so excited. My friend read my post and thought I had tricked her into signing up so I could get paid. She even thought WA is an MLM or some ponzi scheme. She cancelled her membership after one month. Boy, oh boy, that left me with a bad taste. However, it was not all lost. I had learned about one more good thing about my newly found platform.

Long story short, in all these processes I've came to realize the importance of focus. WA has shown me how to bring everything together, focus and how to build on wins. So I am now a focused entrepreneur.

WOW, EVERYONE'S LIFE STORY IS SAD, FUNNY, & AMAZING!!!

Well, here I go with my own. I've been a hair stylist for 25 yrs. then in ground & maintenance for 10yrs. As I enjoyed my time with others making them beautiful & confidant, my feet wasn't having a great time.

As I put them back on the road to janitorial work, they {MY FEET} got really mad, lol. So as I sat for a few yrs. & let the smoke steam from my feet I got spoil by my boyfriend.

As. I got bored I started surfing the web. I came across WA & me loving to be a boss I knew it was time for me to kick me feet up & do something fun yet educational.

HOWEVER, I'M A WOMAN & with trump in office {plus the men that hate the human women} it scares me to go forward with my independence roll. NOW , as I decline my seat I'm back on my feet & surfing the web. for work .

IT'S SCARY TO BE A BLACK FEMALE IN THIS ELECTION with THE WINNING OF TRUMP & HIS pxxxy grabbing MEAN STREAK, IT HAS ME ON EGG SHELLS ABOUT BEING HERE {WA}. IT'S A SCARE TACTIC THAT'S WORKING on me & my nerves.

SO MY QUESTION TO ANYONE THAT HAS READ MY STORY THUS FAR IS....... SHOULD I QUIT OR PAUSE FOR NOW OR .............?

Awesome Challenge @kyle

So here goes ---

My Journey from Fired to Fired Up 🔥

I’d love to share the twists and turns that led me here, from a 9-5 job ending abruptly to finding my way to Wealthy Affiliate (WA) and building a life I’m passionate about. It wasn’t exactly a smooth start, but it’s a journey I wouldn’t trade.

My journey began when I got fired from my job at Home Hardware in a small town in Saskatchewan – a turning point that pushed me to look for something I could do from home. After some searching, I found an article on Indeed about multi-level marketing with LegalShield, and the concept drew me in. It wasn't exactly worded like that, and I didn't really know it was an MLM until after signing up, but it didn't matter. I went all in for a year, and I went on to signing up five memberships and recruiting two people, feeling proud of that progress.

But after a year and a half, I faced a tough realization: I was working harder to chase people than I was making income. So, I went back to the internet, and that’s when I stumbled across WA through someone’s affiliate link. I'm not even sure how I got led to here but I knew after the free trial it was what I was after! After just a week of training, I knew this was the real deal. So I signed up!

The journey hasn’t been without its challenges however. Right now, my biggest struggle is staying on top of tasks while adjusting to a new “winter” path with my family. Not like the last 2 where I got to sit in our RV and write content and learn training for 5 months before a busy summer season. It’s a different kind of busy that sometimes makes it harder to tackle even the simplest tasks. Especially as we'll be in Costa Rica as you may have read from one of my last posted articles. But I keep reminding myself that this system (affiliate marketing) works – that mindset shift helps me keep moving forward. And so every night, I post more content and keep my fingers crossed.

Recently, I’ve started to see more sales rolling in. It’s not huge yet, and building in a broad niche takes time, but it’s progress. Adding new websites and changing my approach to attract people to WA has also helped, and I’m optimistic about the journey ahead.

This journey is my path to freedom. With WA, it’s like an engine I can keep fueling, and every affiliate link I add brings me closer to my vision of a passive income that supports my family and our lifestyle. Unlike my MLM days, I’m not chasing people, and that’s made all the difference. I’m motivated by my passion for this lifestyle and by seeing this system work – I can feel that freedom getting closer each day.

Thank you, WA, for the chance to share my story!

I've had many jobs during my working life, none of which were exhilarating. I had my own business for 10 years. I was excited about that at first but eventually burned out. Day after grueling day, I tried to keep customers satisfied, did quarterly taxes until two in the morning with a six-pack of Heineken watched the ebb and flow of cash, and, in the end, had nothing to show for it but the profit from the sale of the business and property.

Then, I moved on to a steady diet of 8 hours a day working for someone else. What a drag. I wanted to return to business, but I didn't want to do it like I did before.

The first time I heard about affiliate marketing, I fell in love with the business model. The idea of leveraging my time sounded terrific. I failed several affiliate marketing attempts until I ran across an article comparing the platform I was treading water at and Wealthy Affiliate. I'm home now.

Dave

Wow, I feel like this is going to be a book. I will try to keep it short, but there is A LOT that has inspired me to be where I am today.

*DISCLAIMER I didn't hold back on why I do this, and some things might disturb readers*
*Viewer reading advised*

I grew up in the Bay Area of California. I learned from a young age (through many unfortunate life experiences of my mother's making) that you should only rely on yourself to take care of yourself. I started working as soon as it was legal for me to do so and saved to buy the things I wanted. We were poor-ish, and I did what I could to help my family.

When I got my own place, I was working 2 jobs to pay for it. I met a guy, ended up getting married, and then several years learned he had severe PTSD when he started hurting himself and completely shut down from me. I became his caregiver-wife and tried to do that for a couple years. I escaped into online video games to give myself the mental break I needed from reality.

When his grandmother died, his parents moved up to Washington to be closer with family and I didn't want to go. So, I left him. I met my now husband through one of the games I played online. I went to Arizona to visit, and it was almost love at first sight. We are both crazy and weird, and we complement each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

I made the decision to move her to be with him and his kids in 2017, and 3 days after I arrived my father passed away on July 4th. He had been sick for a while, but he ended up having a heart attack when we thought he was going home from the hospital. I dealt with his death by trying to embody his life philosophy of “Just do what you need to do and be happy”.

Fast forward a year, and I happily and surprisingly found myself pregnant. I thought I couldn't have kids because of a complication from a procedure I had 15 years prior to deal with cancer. Plus, I had tried for almost 6 years with my previous husband and got nowhere (not for lack of trying believe you me).

Four months into being pregnant my younger sister died by being strangled by a clothing donation bin. She would go inside them to get clothes of poor families for the winter where she was, and dumpster dive for recyclables, to help them live. My Mother found out at her services that was the reason she did that. She had lived this double life that was completely altruistic helping those who she could in any way she could. She helped over a dozen families each year survive just cause she could.

That was when I join WA. In dealing with my grief, I needed something that I could do on the move, while pregnant, to help my family. I started a website dedicated to health in honor of my father, and one on parenting because I was going to be a Mom. Things were going wonderful until right after the birth of my son.

We found out that he was born with a heart defect called Epstein's Anomaly and will eventually need to have open heart surgery to repair it. We go every year to his cardiologist to get an echo cardiogram (think ultrasound of the heart) to find out how well his heart is functioning. We are waiting and hoping that we can delay surgery till his teens to give the surgeons more material to work with and reduce possible extra surgeries to correct growth-spurt issues in his heart.

So, we wait and watch for signs his heart is going south. We have oxygen in the house and extra doctor visits. We stay a little more isolated than most because of his heart. When COVID hit, we were so scared that if he got sick it would be his end since respiratory is tied right in with the pulmonary system. To this day we still wear masks when we go out in public because the “what-ifs” are enough.

So why do I do my website?

The short answer, because I want to. I need to have a sense of contributing to my family. My husband has a very good job, and we are well taken care of, but I still need to contribute. I am a stay-at-home mom who homeschools in the middle of a national forest in the middle of Arizona, but I still feel the need to contribute. I want to work, but need to be home, so it has to be remote as town is an hour drive away.

Doing my website, I have learned so much about homeschooling. I knew I was going to homeschool my little one, but I had no idea the depth that homeschooling could go. I have read so many articles, but many were so diluted to what actually was needed I felt lost with all there was. My blog is to help other homeschooling adults find a way to make homeschooling work for them. Everyone is on a journey, and I have learned it is best to help others as much as possible, because so many people are lost but mean well. So why not help if you can?

My real driving force that I blog is for myself, to better myself, to better my knowledge, to give my little guy the best I can with what I have. HE is my main and ultimate drive. He is the reason I am learning and writing about homeschooling. He is the reason I get up and get on my computer before he wakes. I want to be better because of him.

And if I can make money doing something thing that I was going to do anyways to better myself, why wouldn't I?

Book done.

Angela M :)

My story goes back to graduating from college and working various jobs looking to find my true purpose. I worked in sales because I was very shy and wanted to work through my fear.

It was a difficult process and even as I began to succeed I still dreaded picking up the phone or even going door-to-door on sales calls. I forced myself to do it and my fear lessened but didn't go away.

I found my true calling in working in the mental health field in which I was trained in college. I was able to relate to the kids with emotional hang-ups because it was I worked through over the years. Those kids helped me grow further as a person as I planted positive seeds over the years. Teacher and student hand-in-hand growing and discovering more about ourselves.

Now I am semi-retired after several years in business and mental health, and find myself combining both fields as a partner in a business that is purpose-driven and is raising money for teen mental health and suicide prevention as well as building a brand.

It's been a long journey but it continues as each day is a new adventure.

I appreciate the opportunity to share this. All the very best to all.

Joseph

Hummm, what is the story behind the scenes... of my career. I think the biggest is that I was raised by a father who believed, and taught all of his children (3 girls and 1 boy), that the only things standing in our way for success was us. His mantra and hard work had placed him in millionaire status.

I wanted that. I knew my hunger had to be as great as his. I chose after graduating from High School to enter the Air Force. And it stuck. I was active duty for 21.5 years. During that time I had gone through some really tough times. From a violent divorce to a joyous marriage. My husband and I have been married 48.5 years.

While I was in the service I learned so much, too. How to be comfortable speaking in front of large crowds, writing reports that went up the chain of command, and how lead people who didn't want to be led. Lol In other words I learned how to herd cats. (Try it some time... it is so much fun and challenging.)

After my retirement I went into to corporate America. That was a shock. But I got to do things that many rarely had the opportunity to do... I got to sit in the cockpit of a B-2 test plane. Now that was cool.

From there I went into ministry for several years, again speaking and encouraging people from all walks of life. Heading up several departments within the church and creating a newsletter for the congregation that went around the valley where we lived.

I got involved in Mary Kay Cosmetics and achieve directorship, along with earning the first level car. I did parties like most did, then I realized I was in one of the biggest areas of vacationers from the northern states and Canada. I proposed to the largest RV resorts in the area of having a glamour night for the ladies. At those I recruited a massage therapist, and a hair stylists to assist me, along with a caterer. I would charge $10 per person, the massage therapist gave chair massages to everyone for free (ended up with many as clients), the hair stylist also ended up with clients. And I pulled in members of my team and we sold to the 20 to 40 ladies that attended.

During that time I was member of the local Regions Chamber of Commerce. My peers nominated me for the Entrepreneur of the Year and Volunteer of the Year... I was surprised and shocked when I won. I've been world champion powerlifter and did feel the same shock and joy as I did when I won those awards.

In 2016 when we moved to the White Mountains in northern Arizona, I decided to 'retire.' Then I realized, the weather was too cold for my emotional support dog. So I started another business - sewing and selling designer dog clothing. Within three years it was paying for itself. But I had hurt myself physically, and couldn't continue doing it.

Six months later I was going nuts... have you ever been so restless in your spirit that you can't settle?

I'd always wanted to write fiction. Up to then I'd only written statistical reports and religious tracts/treaties. I hadn't been to an English class in over 50 years. Was I nuts to think I could write fiction? No I wasn't.

I looked at my hubby, and said, "I think I'm gonna write a book."

He gazed back at me, one side of his mouth kicked up into a grin. "Why don't you go ahead a write book."

In 45 day I wrote 108,000 word novel. It was terrible, but I was told it had good bones.
Since that day in 2020.... when I was told that, I have written five novels, two are published and I'm self publishing my 3rd this month. The other two are first drafts and will be ready next year for publication.

I also found out just prior to that, that my father had adult ADD. He loved to read but couldn't. So I asked some budding writers if they would like to join me writing anthologies (this is a book of short stories normally written by several individuals). There ended up being 10 of us. And I started to learn how to self publish. We call ourselves the Transcendent Authors. We have published six books and our seventh is coming out on Black Friday, Nov 29, 2024, These writers are now authors. All because they joined me and are now published.

Which is why I am here, now, at Wealthy Affiliates. I can see a winning scenario. Kyle and Carson, along with the ambassadors have broken through the ice to open a new door for me and you. Here I will have an avenue to not only learn but earn. How can you go wrong with that?

Being here is also opening a new door for me in that I am a trained podcaster, but I love chatting with people, getting to know them. So instead of 'podcasting', I interview those who are 'ascending.' People like you... working to grab the gold ring, and when you get it, you reach for the next.

I can have my cake and eat it too. I get to sell my books and introduce to the world those who are achieving.

Now you know most of what got me where I am today. If you have any question... I'm open.