When the year started I had big plans; I wanted to grow my Youtube channel and start a Facebook Ad agency for local businesses. I sat and wrote down these goals at Ichiran a Ramen Restaurant in Tokyo. 2020 was supposed to be my year for growth. I could feel it. When I came back from Tokyo I had this resurgence for life that I desperately needed; for the first in a really long time, I was gonna accomplish my goals.
After countless weeks of calling local businesses, I finally got a client: a local pizza shop. I can tell you right now that this was the shit. $1000 per month. 6-month contract. You know the vibes. I felt young and alive and I just wanted to run. I left for my dorm to put my things away and celebrate. ONE. TWO. THREE.
BAM!
Something hits me from the back of my head and I fall face-first to the ground. I look up and it’s a guy who’s three times my size and seemed like he was bigger than everything. Like his ears connected to his shoulders.
Give me your backpack. You got a phone boy. I said you got a phone boy.
This Was My Welcome to Newark.
I gave him everything and If I had to do it again I would. The truth is if he asked for my pants I probably would have given it to him too. (There’s a lesson here: Nothing is more important than your life).
The next couple of months I lost that motivation. Flashbacks of the moment kind of hit me from different angles at different times. While I was in class, in the shower, playing basketball. But the weird thing is the more I started thinking about it the more I started laughing about it. To this day I still don’t know why I laugh every time I think about that day.
I guess it’s true you got to love your fucks up and your fears. The more you love them, the less power they hold over you
This is right around the time that I saw a quote that kind of changed my life. I don’t mean to sound cliche, but it kind of changed my attitude even though quotes don’t really affect me. Anyway, it went like this…
My life feels like a dream 50% of the time.. trying to get that number up.
I wanted that. I felt I was at like 10–15% max on a good day.
Well now, who do I think has the highest percentage…. billionaires of course. Lots of money, lots of cars, great partners… the percentage is probably through the roof.
So I emailed every billionaire whose email that I could find on the internet ranging from Musk to Branson to Tobias Lutke(CEO Of Shopify). Nobody responded. I knew they opened the email (Shoutout to Streak), but nobody responded.
Well now you kind of need to change your strategy up
I read about the Six Degrees of Separation where everybody in the world is just six connections away.
Well, let’s contact people who are important, but are still up and coming. The people who college students aspire to be in like 5–6 years.
2020’s class of Forbes 30 Under 30
I emailed everyone on that list. Top to Bottom. Sent over 1000 emails in a span of three days.
Oh, btw Gmail only allows you to send 500 emails every day. Learned that the hard way.
Out of the 1000 people, 90 responded, and only one person agreed to talk on the phone.
His name was Pete (Not his real name. Never told him that I was writing this article)
He told me his story, and I told him mine. Not only did he believe in my project, but he became a mentor and a friend over the next couple of months.
He introduced me to people who knew billionaires and opened the door for me in so many ways
Soon I was on the phone with guys like Evan Spiegel and Eric Yuan.
You have to remember that people no matter how famous or rich they are; are just a phone call or an email away no matter who you are
But the thing with Pete was I never asked he kind was just like I’m gonna introduce you to someone who knows that guy and that went on.
We would have monthly talks about life and people that we’ve met and eventually he asks me if there is anybody on my list that I haven’t interviewed yet. One name that was constantly coming up with was Tony Hsieh.
When I first Pete he told me he knew him and kind of applied that I could I have been introduced to him
In November we talked about Hsieh again, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring up the nerves for a favor and ask him to introduce us even though he was willing to
A week later news broke that Tony Hsieh had passed away in a fire.
When I found out the news time kind of stopped. 2020 wasn’t the best, but Tony’s death was kind of gut punch. Although I never got to meet him he inspired me to never stop thinking outside of the box
I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s better to ask now rather than later, and I guess that 5 minutes of courage can go a long way.
Now it’s December 31st, 2020, and I’m looking back writing this to say that the year hasn’t gone the way I thought it would when I first wrote down my goals on that sheet of paper in Tokyo, but I guess something good did come out
I’m still young and I’ve got a long way to go, but if 2020 has taught me anything it’s that if you want a happy ending it depends on where you stop your story
and a chapter of my story ends here.
-SCR
