The biggest risk thus far has to be the time I decided to invest in my very first vehicle and first apartment in October 2021. Long story short it was a BMW and let us just say I regret nothing. I knew soon after I graduated college from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that I would need to have saved up enough money to move into my first apartment and purchase my first vehicle. I graduated in December 2020 with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Psychology. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the degree but I knew I wanted to be able to invest more into my self-taught business. Finally, I graduated and somehow made my way back to a very familiar city also known as one of my hometowns Columbus, Ga, or Colga for short. Now when I first came back to my native town I had no choice but to stay with my mom in her extra room at least until I racked up more while working at home remotely for Yelp as an Account Executive at the time. Trust me it took over a year to find something decent to be able to afford both an apartment and vehicle. I didn’t realize how important credit was until I began my search for any housing property and car lot that would accept me because I had a fresh line of credit… I finally got my credit score up to where I could purchase just about any vehicle or live in an apartment home. I moved into my first apartment on October 08, 2021, with 2 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, a kitchen, dining, and living room, even with a front porch and back patio area. When I tell you I was so excited about starting my young adulthood in my own space with so much freedom I felt at peace finally. At least that’s what I thought… skip through a little I ordered my somewhat new 2015 BMW 320i. Carmax told me over the phone it would be $250 to ship the vehicle to view in person only from Indianapolis. I was scared of Carmax lying about the vehicle because I was putting my savings towards it and I work so hard to get here that I didn’t want anything to negatively happen. Mind you over the phone with Carmax they told me the vehicle was in perfect condition, no issues at all, good tires, it had GAP, interior, and exterior of the vehicle was in great condition but that was all… when I finally got to view the vehicle in person something didn’t feel right so I needed a second opinion and at the time my stepmom was available. She came to the car lot and we test-drove the car together. Everything seemed fine and in working condition… so I went ahead and decided to put a $2,500 down payment and pay $403 monthly plus warranty and insurance amounting to over $300. My dad was nice enough to help with the car insurance part… meanwhile I’m in the middle of talking to one of the representatives he seemed very uninterested in actually properly setting me up with the car but I didn’t pay too much for mine because I was so excited about having a car to my own and freedom was waiting. I was at the part where I just had to click and sign a few virtual contracts away. We got the gap portion and I noticed how it didn’t even have GAP as an option… I was saddened but still determined to take the risk of getting this car that day… I wanted her so bad I had already named her Lil Bat. She had such a beautiful body inside and out I couldn’t bare losing the opportunity of owning a BMW as my first car because why not, I freaking deserved every part of it! Meanwhile, I’m finishing signing a few papers my stepmom advised me of the car insurance cost and how I would have to add a warranty on her because it didn’t have GAP. Everything all of a sudden started to seem so costly. I still had to figure out how much my utilities were going to be monthly. But that didn’t stop me still, we got USAA as the car insurance, I was told I couldn’t leave the lot without full coverage on the vehicle… so you know what I made sure to get what we thought was the right insurance package… whole time they tricked us for uninsured motor vehicles only and I was paying $185 monthly for USAA on the vehicle. I was not knowledgeable of the entirety. I ended up putting my down payment and drove the car off moments later once everything was set… it was such a long process between saving, building the credit score up, and using my savings to get the vehicle shipped from a whole other state to Columbus Ga I didn’t want my first initial investment of $250 to go to waste because I’m not rich at all… at least not yet. Mind you next thing you know I noticed how the vehicle made a weird crank noise all of a sudden sounded like it was a broken belt or something… The crazy story is I ended up having to return the vehicle that same day I had already basically gone forward with the process and made my purchase with a down payment of $2,500 on a semi-new vehicle. The Carmax mechanics weren’t too sure why it was doing that so they ended up sending my vehicle off to BMW of Columbus to get it evaluated and fixed while I still have the 90-day warranty with Carmax. I made sure they fixed any other issues too afterward. I finally got the vehicle back and could drive it freely for the first time after a week of waiting for it to get fixed. Meanwhile, I’m at my apartment putting other deposits down on utilities such as my water, electricity, and gas. Phew, when I tell you it is expensive to live alone man… And everyone was telling me to buy an older used car in cash and a none foreign vehicle at that. But of course, I ignored everyone because I wanted a BMW, specifically a 320i. Life was looking grand for a moment, mind you when I was unemployed when I moved and was no longer working for Yelp. It was a good 5 months with them but I had enough the management more specifically my manager was horrible.so I was constantly applying to jobs back to back with no breaks until someone hired me. Finally got a job with Walgreens as a Pharmacy Technician, something different and I started in December 2021. It was all fine for a while until I realized Walgreens was paying way less than Yelp was and way fewer hours more like part-time when they employed me full-time, confusing I know. At that point I hated it, but I had no choice but to stay there for the moment. Skip through your March 14, 2022, that’s when I had to take my partner to get her job interview and was inside getting an interview and photos done for the server position. So I dropped her off, I end up looking for parking and while looking for a space, I got rammed by his truck into my just recently purchased BMW… I was so furious like how could this happen? Like why me? The individual ended up lying to his progressive insurance and said he didn’t ram my vehicle but I knew he did I heard the loud crunch sound and then why would someone apologize and willingly give me their information to supposedly fix the damage they did just to go back and lie… I know you are probably thinking well we’re their cameras facing the incident… unfortunately no, I asked the manager inside, and tell me why they said they only have two cameras facing the opposite directions. I was saddened… nothing was being done to fix it and I didn’t have witnesses. The case was closed and he got to walk away without fixing the damages to the BMW. It wasn’t even 4 days later while door dashing for the first time that week to try and make enough to fix the damages was the plan I had in mind. I was on my last order where I had to deliver Moes Southwest to a security guard at the Aflac location. Soon after I calculated I needed to pick up my partner from her school and I had 9 minutes left on the route and it was saying it was a straight route at that. Not many vehicles on the road at all. It was raining heavily that day and eventually, it slowed down some, it was green light ahead at this big intersection with 3 lanes on each side. Next thing you know my life flashed before my eyes… It happened so quickly and fast I was in shock… my first major car accident. The whole driver’s side of my vehicle was impacted severely to the point in the other vehicle slit through my vehicle’s metal door. Mind you the airbags all deployed thankfully, I’m not sure if I would have made it out alive without it. My car was dragged somehow to the other side of the intersection lucky no one was coming towards us. I tried my best to open my driver’s side I had to push so hard, I then got out and fell to the ground and couldn’t believe it still… my next thought was is the person who was in the accident with me ok at least. I limp over there while my head is banging severely to check on the individual. She was fine to the point she made the initiative to call the cops somewhat calmly… I was so sad I tried to find comfort in hugging the older lady just because there was no one else there at the moment. It was such a scary situation because I wasn’t what to do but cry from the pain of being hurt and my car being severely damaged also. A cop finally showed up moments later, an ambulance came, and then firefighters and others pulled over to the side because of curiosity. My dad finally came, and I felt instantly comfortable having him there present. The police were asking me so many questions and my head was hurting so freaking bad I couldn’t say much except that “I didn’t know how it happened” I’m crying so much to the point a firefighter commented and said, “she must have mental issues”. Like, excuse me??? I just almost lost my life and we both could have died easily. Lucky by the grace of God we didn’t but why was everyone trying to point fingers at me… I get I’m young but why? So I asked them to retrieve the footage of the streetlights. Tell me why one of the officers told me there were no cameras at that intersection. I couldn’t believe it… next thing you know I was about to get in the ambulance but realized I just wanted to go with my dad at that point and he could take me to the hospital because everyone was not acting with urgency. One of the cops walked up to my dad and told him they would be holding me liable for the car accident and I was in such disbelief because how could this have even happened to me you know? I had to only drive straight for 9 minutes with a door dash. I had receipts and all but at the time I was thinking about showing evidence like that to the cops which probably would have helped my situation now… he wrote “failure to maintain lane” on a citation. Like how could you just write down whatever you’d like to and blame the accident on me? What is happening?! I cried on the way to the hospital and didn’t get proper treatment at the location and at that point, I decided I wanted to sign papers to leave the hospital even with such horrible pain I just wanted to be cared for at home with those who actually love me and care for me truly. Long story short I had to pay a tow company, and court fines, and USAA plus Doordash both didn’t do anything at all to assist me with the car damage or my physical status. I had to do a voluntary surrender to my first ever car with over $14,000 of damages because apparently, I needed to add some extra package to my insurance to even Doordash in my vehicle… I was so confused… not a single concern or penny toward the betterment of my situation… it went downhill from there… Did I lose my vehicle because of this? How? Why? I kept asking myself… I receive a call from my manager telling me not to come to work anymore and I got laid off because of it. I couldn’t believe how quickly my life was turning around. I had worked so very hard for it all just to lose it all in a blink of an eye. Scary story, I’ve been unemployed ever since that accident up until recently I started a seasonal job in August 2022 with LifeTouch/Shutterfly as a School Photographer. It was a long time coming but you best believe I was finding any way to make sure my bills and rent were paid on time despite not having much at all 3 digits to 2 digits now in my bank account… going into the negatives several times. Luckily I have my partner now who has truly been a blessing in the process of getting back better so I could focus back on my personal business Real Authentic Work. I’m currently behind on my utilità but managed to pay my rent for August at least until I get another job that offers at least 40 hours a week consistently. I haven’t received a check just yet for my training with my new employer. But when I tell you God will put you through the worst just to make you stronger truly. I became wiser because of this and more cautious about how many companies are scams haha. Sad truth but I’m excited to embark further as I am aiming very high for myself. I can’t stop here. Life is a risk itself and we must take every great risk with caution. But do take it because you never know what doors it could open or the many people you’ll touch with a testimonial story like so. I’m grateful for all the battles I’ve faced so far because without them how else will I aim even higher? But this is the biggest risk I took so far…

I get to have an open mind about many different perspectives and I’m always thinking of some original innovations. It’s fun creating I think that’s what we are all here to do as you can see. Simply look around you, someone or something created life and its materials. I love every part of it.

Always hustling for my next big move. Many nights I went without sleep, I went days without sleep sometimes the longest was 3 full days of no sleep. But I’m ok with the sacrifices that needed to be made now or I wouldn’t be where I am today. Always saved just about any penny I could earn. While everyone else is sleeping I’m being a bat. And while most people like to spend money on unnecessary things I’m usually calculating my next big investment for my business. Doing research etc.