Some of the biggest lessons we learn in life are from mistakes.Often times people treat our thoughts and actions as mistakes because they can't comprehend them. They like to tell us what is impossible based on what they believe to be possible. However they don't fully understand what we, the dreamers, are capable of achieving. That's why i feel it is my job to use my story to inspire the world. To fully understand my passion for success, you need to go to the beginning of my story. You said #introduceyourself, well here we go..
Growing up I always had a business mind and a lot of energy. I had a natural passion for the hustle, but I never had a legitimate outlet for it. When I was in grade school, i would hustle off starburst and other candy in the coat room for .25 cents a piece. I remember all of my friends saying i was wasting my time because no one would buy candy from me when they could get it from the store. Within a month 2 or 3 of my friends has bought candy or soda to try to sell at recess themselves. I made them learn they were mistaken.
Once I made it to high school, I met some guys that rapped and I decided I wanted to be a rapper too. As soon as it got around that I wanted to be a rapper, the negativity started to fly. Everyone said i couldn't be a rapper. I was half white. I didn't have enough rhythm. I wasn't a a gangster. I didn't have the right voice. I didn't even know enough about rap. Every possible reason they could think of why i couldn't be a rapper, weather it was true or not, they told me that's why i couldn't be a rapper. So what did I do? I engulfed myself in rap culture. All i did was listen to rap music and watch rap videos. When I wasn't doing that, I was writing my own lyrics. I carried a lyric notebook with me all day, and my that notebook owned my attention during the day. On the weekends, while other kids would be going out, I was working on music with my friends. By the time it was all said and done, I was performing 3 local shows per month, i had a solid following, and I was throwing own shows with success. I made them learn they were mistaken.
Some where along the path to "music stardom" I got involved with drug sales. With what many of you know about me now, this may not be much of a surprise. Back then, it was a different story though. You see, growing up, i was a Boy Scout, an alter boy, and an Athlete. No one would have expected me to become your one stop shop for weed, ecstasy, mescaline, mushrooms, and opium. In fact, when I first entered the drug world, everyone said i didn't stand a chance. They said too many people sold drugs. They said people wouldn't trust buying drugs from someone like me. They said i couldn't sell something i didn't do because i didn't know enough about it. What they forgot is I can out hustle anyone you put in front of me. I didn't care about how many other people sold drugs, i'd wake up to make money. I used my non drug dealer demeanor to stay below the police radar(until the end at least lol). Most importantly, i knew that since i didn't do drugs, i had more money to reinvest and expand with. When i reached the height of my drug business, i was selling around 12 pounds of weed per week, and I just about every other drug anyone could want on had. I've literally sold every drug you've heard of and some you probably haven't. I made them learn they were mistaken.
When my drug business came to an end, my lawyer told me that I could get off with probation, but i needed to have a job. I called my friend who was a regional sales manager for a door to door company. He told me he would get me a job in st.louis market. I found out later he told the local manager that I was ghetto and probably wouldn't work out, but they were going to give me a shot since we were friends. My family even told me I was wasting my time going door to door and I wouldn't make any money. My friends said that I worked too many hours for the amount of money I was making. Once again, everyone forgot that I am one of the biggest hustlers on the planet. I didn't take break, I studied off the clock, and I did everything I could to learn from the guys who were having success. Fast Forward a few months, I was a regional manager traveling around the country building and training my own teams. I made them learn they were mistaken.
The next few years after that in door to door were a wild ride. As a regional manager, i violated probation and had to do almost 5 months in jail. The state made me go through a rehab program. The counselors in the program told me I would never make it in business because i was a marijuana addict(seriously what they said). I used the time in jail to better myself through self education. When I got out, I hit the ground running. Within 2 weeks, i was running my own office again, and within 6 weeks, I had multiple offices again. I made them learn they were mistaken.
After I had my door to door hustle rolling again, I was offered a promotion out of state. This was my first real shot at making 100k in sales. My girlfriend at the time told me to pick between her and the job. I grew up poor. She didn't. I picked the job. She told me i would never find success because i didn't have a college degree. She even went as far to go out of her way to try and stunt my success. When she found out I moved on and had a baby with another girl, she called my probation officer and told her I was working out of state. My probation was violated again, and I had to serve 6 months in jail during 2015. She probably thought she broke me and that I would give up. Shockingly, I was offered a job at Best Buy 2 weeks after I was released from jail. I made her learn she was mistaken.
To be honest, Best Buy never really was the right place for me. The pay was too low and the ceiling was far too low. When I found out that the top managers rarely even made 100k. I knew I had to start looking for other options. I ended up finding a sales training company that I really wanted to work with. The only problem was they never hire people. The only way to get a job was to buy their $500 training product and sell it to 5 people with out any help. Even that didn't guarantee a job. It only guaranteed an interview. I had always been a top producer and I was a top rep at Best Buy at the time, so i liked my chances. One day I became fed up with the scheduling/meeting policies and I walked out on Best Buy. I told them I was going to work for the sales training company and they laughed at me. They said it would never happen. They must have forgot who they were talking to. I started hustling harder than i ever had before. In a few weeks, I landed the interview and a couple weeks after that, i was hired. I made them learn they were mistaken.
The job with the training company wasn't as great as i expected it to be. There were a lot of smoke and mirrors. However, i did learn a vast amount of information and it reminded me of my true passion. Helping sales people and entrepreneurs do better. Ever since, I have made a strong effort to help the business community however I can. The sales/business world has done so much for me and helped changed my life drastically. I feel i owe it to the community to help whoever I can and I owe it to the world to help everyone change their mindset and realize their true potential. Many have told me I will never be successful. They say every reason they can think of why i can't succeed. I'm ok with it because I haven't spent any time thinking of those reasons myself. I'm too busy figuring out why i will be successful and how I can help. I will make them learn they were mistaken.
-Andrew Sayles
