Failure to Success

In April of 2013 I had to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as a matter of fact, I was so broke I couldn't even file it all at one time. The price to file my bankruptcy was $3,300, which I had to pay off in many installments due to my financial ruin. I remember being deeply depressed for about 3-4 months. I felt sorry for myself, and I kept asking myself that horrible question "why did this have to happen to me?"The answer was multiple bad business decisions. Those decisions led to what I thought was the most embarrassing period of my life. Today, I can look back on my "dark days," and realize without them I would not be as successful as I am today!To put it into perspective, going through a bankruptcy is a truly horrible ordeal. You feel embarrassed, ashamed, humiliated, and most of all you feel that all hope is lost. The truth of the matter is I would not wish a bankruptcy on anyone, not even my worse enemy.However, for me, assuming I had not gone through such a life-jolting experience, I would have never learned from my past business and life mistakes. The most important thing I learned in my failure process was "a client will worry about their bottom line, over yours every day of the week!"I also learned things like profitability over revenue is key, exponential growth can be catastrophic, and business is never personal. Assuming I had not gone through these experiences, I would not be the man I am today! I took the negatives in my life, and turned them into a positive to help others avoid my mistakes and be successful.I have been able to speak on topics such as overcoming great adversity, leadership, improving sales, organizational structure, and more. I've spoken to companies like JP Morgan, Cisco, Siemens, and I was just hired by Home Depot to speak at their MET Forum later this year. I know my story has helped, and will continue to help, others that are going through some sort of adversity. I will help them push forward to be successful in their lives.If you've gone through a period where you feel you have "failed," stop beating yourself up about it. We all make mistakes in life. The important thing is you learn from your mistakes, and move on with your head held high!Remember this golden rule and you can always be successful "as long as you are willing to roll up your sleeves, get your hands and elbows dirty to work for what you want in life, you can always be successful!"Remember this golden rule and you can always be successful "as long as you are willing to roll up your sleeves, get your hands and elbows dirty to work for what you want in life, you can always be successful!"