We were lucky to catch up with Michael Ballerini recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

No, I don’t wish I would have started earlier, I came in at 26 and in my opinion that is super early. I look at it as I started when I was supposed to. If I started earlier I may have failed because I was not mentally ready to handle large amounts of capital in my early years. If I started later it would not have been a bad thing though as I would still have had the same drive and determination I had at 26.

Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I came from a very small town of like 3,000 people in Illinois that not a lot of people make it out do do the things I have or get to have the opportunities I have had. I fell in love with business around 16 and learned everything on my own early on through trial and error. My big break came when I was approached to start selling calendars at the age of 26. The calendar business lasted about 3 years before it became not worth it to do anymore. The calendars allowed the finances to open up Stardust Vapes at the age of 28 in Champaign, IL a town of around 100k people. I ran and built that store for 5.5 years before selling it off at the start of 2022. I then moved to San Antonio, Texas to open 210 Double Vapes, but unfortunately that will be closing towards the end of the year due to construction above my space. The plan now is to open more vape shops while getting into Beer & Wine stores, vending machines and real estate.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Again, my journey starts around 16, I always had a hustle. My 1st hustle would have been alcohol. My group of friends were the only ones who could get booze because we knew older people. We would get the booze for 1 price and times that by 2 and that would be our price for the products. I would also be the one throwing the bigger parties and buying kegs for said party, I would then sell cups for $5 each. My 2nd hustle was cannabis, I turned the 1st paycheck from job into an ounce and went all the way up to pounds over a 5/6 year period. My 3rd hustle was throwing hip hop shows and I did that for about 3 years and then that ended around the te I got into selling calendars and the rest is history.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the major things I hand to unlearn was cash management. I was always tought growing up.to hold your cash and save and that’s what I did. Coming into the vaping industry I had to unlearn that and holding your money is actually wrong in business to an extent. I learned that you only hold whatever you need on a month to month basis for operating expenses and you re-invest everything else back into your one business, expanding into more locations or investing in a new industry entirely.

Contact Info:

• Other: Google 210 Double Vapes.

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