Thank you to Qoins for sponsoring this story!
Life isn’t easy. It takes perseverance to reach your goals. During the journey there will be small wins and big setbacks, but everything that happens is preparing you for the future. Looking back, Christian can see how his drive to make his dreams a reality helped him start his own business and help others conquer debt!
Losing My Job
After college, I landed a job at a startup in Atlanta, Georgia. I enjoyed my work and started thinking about how I was going to pay off my student loans and credit card debt.
I found myself wondering if there was a simple way to work towards debt freedom without it feeling like a huge burden. I started brainstorming during my lunch breaks and found my passion for debt freedom consuming my evenings. As each day went by, my idea started to take shape. I even met Nate, who shared my vision and became my partner in turning my idea into something real.
While I spent every spare moment working on this project, I found myself at a plateau. I knew that I had the beginnings of an awesome startup, but In order to keep making progress I needed to dedicate more time to it. Unfortunately, I was maxed out.
The only way to gain more time was to leave my job. I wasn’t about to take that leap, but then my boss let me go. He knew I had been working on my own project and this was his way of telling me to go for it. He gave me the nudge I needed to focus on my own startup. He even helped with the transition.
Persevering
While the extra pay did help, it wasn’t going to sustain me. I was still going to need some income to pay the bills while I tried to launch my own startup. As I started the search for a job that would allow me to pay the rent without taking up my days, an old friend reached out about a temporary job. They were looking for a brand ambassador manager. While the hours were long, there was a lot of flexibility and down time. I decided to give it a go and hope for the best. It ended up being a perfect fit, allowing me to focus more on my startup!
Nate and I were making huge progress on the beta version of our business idea when another obstacle threatened to stop our progress. I became really sick with an internal heart infection (endocarditis), a risk factor from previous heart surgeries. There was talk of needing surgery again, but my doctor prescribed me a medication first with the hopes that it would do the trick.
For two miserable months I battled the infection. I couldn’t work. I barely had enough money to pay my rent. My saving grace during this time was that I was still young and under my parents’ health insurance.
Luckily, the medication worked and I slowly started to feel normal again. Going through that scary time gave me a lot of time to think. Did I want to keep going forward with my own startup? I knew I really did! I had gotten through the heart infection; I could certainly get through other obstacles!
It’s been about two months since I made that decision to keep moving forward. Nate and I officially launched our business - Qoins! It’s an App that rounds up your purchases and automatically sends your spare change to pay down your debt! We’ve already been able to help multiple families pay off their debts. I’ve even used it myself to pay off my $4,000 of credit card debt!
A Life Of Preparation
When I was let go I stepped into the unknown. I didn’t know if I would succeed, but I had the confidence to persevere. I knew how to hustle and not give up. I had been doing it all my life.
In elementary school I sold my artwork in order to buy ice cream. In high school I started a lawn care business in order to buy my own truck. In college I found work at a pub crawl in Spain so I could afford my rent. I had never let an obstacle or lack of income stop me before. All those experiences had built up my ability to persevere when the going got tough. It taught me how to navigate obstacles so that I could come out on the other side. Each season helped me get where I dreamed of being - starting my own business and helping people become debt free!
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