I believe that if you're doing what you are called to do, there will always be a way made for you. I was building my brand alone. I couldn't afford to hire anyone. I was balancing the dream and the job, and I was working nonstop. I spoke about my dreams to others. I didn't talk to people who were doing what I was doing because I didn't want to give away any of my ideas. I learned my lesson about that because I've had quotes, ideas, and plans stolen by others who were doing what I was doing. I would only tell people who weren't competing with me.

I published my first book in 2007. I promoted myself all of 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. I was building my brand organically, which I'll go into detail about in another chapter. I was investing in myself. I built something that was unique at the time, and it still is kind of unique today. I built a personal brand; I built it from scratch and against the odds. Considering my background, I was an anomaly so to speak. I think what I was building shocked and surprised a lot of people. There were a lot of spectators, but no real supporters. It's funny how that works. I think some people may hate you so much that they can't allow themselves to support you. People let jealousy get in the way. But you can rest assured that whatever you're building, people are watching.

I wrote the book, then I became a speaker in 2007. I don't remember anything special from 2008, so it must have been a year of groundwork. Then in 2009 I landed myself on Oprah, The Tyra Banks Show, and The 700 Club. You can't find any recordings of the shows because no one knew who I was, so no one cared to record them. I didn't record them either because I didn't want to see them again. I went on those shows talking about toxic relationships and how I once was a horrible boyfriend in college. I told that story because it related to my first book. The story was five years old when I finally got to tell it on live television and my book was a little more than two years old. I was making moves and making things happen. The story I told was shocking to people because no one knew that side of me. I was quiet and shy in public, so for me to tell a story of being a toxic and controlling boyfriend was news to a lot of people.

Right after my TV appearances in 2009, I started a Twitter account on the advice of a friend. I started building my brand, and I did so for two more years before I became attractive enough to an investor. I was building and building. I was balancing the dream and the job and I was coming up on my five-year mark. Remember, I set a goal to be off of my job in five years. It's important to have goals. I didn't write it down, but I didn't have to because I reminded myself of it every day. It was etched in my mind. I spoke it into existence, and I let people know that was my goal. If you see when you want something and you believe it, you will attract it. You'll attract it because it will be in your thoughts, on your heart, and it will come out of your mouth. You'll speak it to anyone willing to listen. That's the point I'd gotten to. I was telling my dreams. I had my weary times on my job, and then I found a peace about the job and changed the way I looked at it. I knew my time was almost up. But stuff really hit the fan when I asked for two days off because I had an event to attend, and my bosses denied my time off. I went above their heads, and I talked to their bosses. Even they denied my time off. I told them it wasn't fair what they were doing because I'd seen other people take time off when they needed to. I let them know that I'd even found coverage for my shifts. They were trying to railroad me. I wasn't going for it. I filed a claim against the company for discrimination, and we settled out of court with a mediator. The company had to pay me a certain amount that I agreed not to mention. They paid me over the course of three months. They also asked me to leave in the mediation, but I turned that down and let them know that I'd leave when I was ready to. I was outgrowing the job and even they knew it. I had gone on national television like a celebrity and then came back to this for another two years. If I were being led by ego, I would have quit the job two years earlier after those appearances. I was getting all I could out of the company, and it was paid training. Then as I was nearing the end of my payments from the settlement, which wasn't much at all, I was getting ready to leave the company. I told them in the mediation that I would be resigning soon anyway. I didn't know when or how I would be resigning, but that's what I told them. I was walking and talking by faith, but I didn't know how a way would be made.

My brand was getting bigger and bigger and gaining more exposure. Just the year before in 2010, I became a speaker for the NBA. First I spoke for the National Basketball Players Association. Then they called me back a couple months later to speak to the NBA. I spoke on choices, decisions, and consequences to the top one hundred high school basketball players in the country. Then I spoke about embracing manhood to the sixty NBA draft picks. That was huge for me. It was huge for anyone who did this. It was just a great stamp. I was one of only two speakers under the age of 30, so it meant a lot. My investor saw that too. He was watching everything. Someone is always watching, and you never know who is watching.

Then one day a friend reached out to talk to me. He was the same friend who invested $900 into the “Dazzlyn Dymes.” I call him a friend, but he wasn't really a friend. We went to school together, were cool in high school, and knew one another, but we were very different, so we didn't really run in the same circle. He had been there all along. He was watching, and I'm sure he was shocked at the things I was doing in my life. We had a conversation, and he asked me what I needed in order to go to the next level. I was just talking to him, but I didn't expect anything to come of the conversation. I guess God had other plans. He was my ram in the bush. I had walked by faith for four years in the making, and I was speaking things into existence with no idea how they would come about. Then in talking to him I told him that I needed to be able to take a year off from working for someone else, and I'd never have to go back to a job again. He asked me how much I made a year and I told him $20,000. I did not know he had $20,000 just lying around. He came from a good family, and they'd made smart investments and put some of them in his name, so as a young man he came into some wealth and was investing it wisely. He had money invested in many different areas, but I guess not as a driven individual. He told me to give him 20 percent of my company for $20,000. I said of course. I saw that as 20 percent of nothing at the time so I felt like it was a win for me. Then my broke-minded ways kicked in, and I knew I would need to splurge a little. I'd want to upgrade from an apartment and rent a house. My wife and son had struggled for the last four years; I wanted to take us up a notch. At the time my company was making $40,000 a year, and my job was paying me $20,000 a year. So I was earning $60k gross. Even though my company had outgrown my job, I still couldn't walk away from my job to be a full-time entrepreneur because that entrepreneur money was funny. I didn't know how or when I would make money. And because it came in funny, I spent it funny. So I needed some security. My plan was to get the money from an investor and then pay myself biweekly the same way the job had paid me. I would be grinding all week for myself then; I would be able to travel and network and build my brand. I asked my investor to up the amount to $35,000 for 35 percent. Yes, it was a horrible deal to give away 35 percent of my brand, but this was just one company, and I felt like if I made a million he deserved $350,000 for doing this for me. He accepted the deal very easily, which made me wonder just how much money he really had. I couldn't fathom giving someone $35,000 for the life of me. And this wasn't drug money or any funny business. This was legit money and a legit deal. I was floored, but I knew then that God was real, for real. I started my second company on March 11, 2011, and my last day on my job was March 13, 2011. I had just turned 27 years old on March 8. I was a full-time entrepreneur and free man at 27 years old. That may be old for Mark Zuckerberg, but for me that was very young, considering my parents were still working their jobs and no one we knew was a full-time entrepreneur that young. Not the legal way anyway. I couldn't believe it. My five-year anniversary on my job would have been May 6, 2011. I beat my goal by two months. It was a surreal feeling. I just couldn't believe it.

It was a real grind. People who are in the grind understand that, but the people who are watching the grind don't understand. People watching the grind from online thought I was already rich and famous. The people online had no idea that I was still working a full-time job. They thought I was a full-time author, speaker, and life coach. I had to hurry up and make that a reality. My investor was heaven sent. I don't see him as a human. I see him as an Earth angel. A lot of days I don't think he's a real person, and I don't think he knows what he's doing. I think he's a vessel and doesn't really realize it. I always tell him that he sowed seed on good ground and that he's going to reap a harvest that will blow his mind. I believe it with everything in me. The beautiful thing about it is that he doesn't need my money. He has his own money. He helped me, but he doesn't hound me for money. I've paid him back for loans that he gave me after the initial investment, and he's stuck by my side. I've blown him away time and time again. He earns his money differently because he is part owner of several companies and doesn't actually go into work on a daily basis. He's an investor. He's worth more than me, but he tells me that I earn more than him in income. I don't really believe that but I'll take it. By leaving my job and focusing solely on my brand, my income started multiplying very quickly. My goal was to be a six-figure earner before the age of 30, and I did that. I started earning six figures right away, and I just kept building.

From what happened for me, I tell people all the time to keep the faith and to keep working hard. Someone is watching you every step of the way and waiting for the right time to invest in you. It may not be a person investing money. It may be a company signing you to a deal. People invest in those who invest in themselves. My partner knew me when I was kicked off of the football team in college, but he didn't invest in me then. He knew me when I wrote my first book, but he didn't invest in me then. He knew me when I showed my book to the world on The Tyra Banks Show, but he didn't invest in me then. He knew me when I became a speaker for the NBA and the NFL, but he didn't invest in me then. He watched me and paid close attention to my grind. He saw that I was making waves and making moves without any handouts. I knew him all those years too, and I'd never really asked him for anything. It happened when it was supposed to happen. It happened at the right time. He didn't just invest and then expect a return right away. He helped me build. He was the ram in the bush. People were watching and looking and wondering how I was doing the things I was doing, but they didn't understand how God sent provisions for the vision.

You have to work and work like you're the only person you can depend on. Stop asking for help from everyone you talk to. Just work. I didn't ask my partner for an investment; he asked me what I needed. When it's meant to be, it will be, but you have to put in work first. I meet people who just started yesterday, and they want a handout today. It doesn't work like that. I meet people who want me to put my brand on the line to stamp them, and they just started speaking a couple months ago. It doesn't work like that. People write me all the time, and they want to partner on a project because they want brand alignment and to benefit from what I've built because they are weary on the journey. It doesn't work like that. People invest in those who invest in themselves. The best investment you'll ever make is investment in yourself, not in the stock market. If you invest in yourself long enough, then eventually someone else will invest in you and help you get over the hump.

I didn't have to walk off of my job into uncertainty. God showed me how I would eat. I still had to walk by faith because anything could happen, but God sent provision. If He tells you to build it, He will give you the tools. He won't tell you to build it and then turn His back. That's how I knew when someone was listening to their ego instead of God, when they would leave their job and then have to go back to their job after a couple months. That's not how God operates. He doesn't give gifts and then take them back. Wait until it's your time to walk away from your job. You'll be elevated to the next level when you're ready, not when you want it. I wanted to quit my job in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but I had to wait until it was my time. My time was almost five years; yours may be three, or it may be 10. You have to wait until it's your time. It will be painful and you will get weary, but if you keep the faith, you'll see the ram in the bush.

I'm a firm believer that we get what we most often deserve. Yes, there are bad things that can happen to good people but a purpose often comes from it. On average, things happen the way they are supposed to happen. If things aren't happening for you, then you have to check your heart, check your motives, and look into your character. I meet people all the time who want more favor over their life and they want a big break, but their heart isn't right. They can't see the ram in the bush because they aren't being obedient to the calling to begin with. They don't know the giver of gifts to begin with. They are doing it on their own grit and for their own merit. They want the fame and the power. They want the money and the respect. They don't want to be a servant; they want to be worshipped. They want to be an idol. Their heart isn't in the right place. In order to see the ram in the bush, you first have to be willing to make a sacrifice. If you aren't obedient enough to sacrifice, then you'll never get relief from your burden. You have to be able to hear the voice, and then be obedient to the voice. You have to follow the calling, not the crowd.

I believe that everything has to be in order for you to receive your breakthrough. When I got my breakthrough, my character was on point. Everything in your life has to be in order. In 2007, when I wrote my book, my heart wasn't right. I wasn't a good man. I was tiptoeing the line. I was halfway in the streets and halfway out. In 2008, I still hadn't become a great husband. I was still coasting and just getting by. In 2009, doing the TV shows went to my head. I got the wandering eyes, and my spirit got weak. I was feeling the buzz around my name, and I wanted the attention from the ladies. By the end of 2009, I snapped out of it and realized that my wife was the only woman for me, and I might as well stop looking around because no other woman would do for me what she did for me. The year 2010 was my year of pruning. I was being prepared for the journey. I was being set apart. I had to be separated before I could be elevated. I was growing in my marriage, on my job, and in my walk with God. Come 2011, I was ready! I was a man. I was focused. I was a good husband, a good father, a good employee, and a good boss. I was operating with integrity and leading with character. I had tens of thousands of followers online and I was leading courageously. My heart had shifted. When I started, it was all about the money. I wanted money so I could live the good life. I didn't realize the good life has nothing to do with money. It's how you live your life that matters most. I shifted to a purpose mindset. I stopped focusing on the money, and I started focusing on the people. When I made that shift, I showed that I could be trusted with the call. I showed that I was ready for the call. It won't happen until you're ready.

You say you're waiting on God, but truth be told, God is waiting on you. He's waiting for you to get your ego out of the way. He's waiting for you to stop counting dollars and start counting people. He wants your goals to shift from how much money you want to earn to how many lives you want to touch. Money is a by-product, but it can't be the focus. If you're chasing money, you'll always be lacking. Chase purpose, and the money you need will chase you. You've never seen a righteous man forsaken. The righteous will always be redeemed.

Are you ready for your breakthrough? Are you ready to go full-time in your purpose? Are you tired of your job? If the answers are yes, then do a heart check. Sit down with yourself and really check your heart. Don't be fooled by what you can fix your mouth to say. Let your heart speak. Hear what your heart is saying. What are you really doing in your life? Are you treating people right? Are you arrogant? Are you condescending? Are you manipulative? Are you backbiting? Are you scandalous? Are you a liar? Are you a cheater? How do you treat the people who can do nothing for you? Do you steal ideas? Do you steal anything at all? Check your heart. You don't have to be perfect, but your intentions have to be pure.

That's one thing I always tell people when they ask me how it happened for me. I tell them that I got my life in order, and then everything else fell into place. I remember seeing a guy who had the gift. He was charismatic, energetic, and gifted with words. He was shown favor early on in his life. He got into a great school and got an education. He had some big breaks in his life that seemed like they would last forever. He was way ahead of the competition. People were looking up to him and praising him. He had some big breaks on a level that put him ahead of his peers and his family members, but on a larger scale he still had a way to go. His résumé was building, and it looked good on paper. He had what seemed to be all the pieces to the puzzle, but what was on the inside wasn't right. He didn't know how to treat his wife. He was controlling. He was demanding. He was a cheater and a user. He had her bear his children, but he didn't know how to be a good father. He wanted to be famous. He wanted to be rich. He wanted to be world renowned, but he needed that touch. He needed that real touch of favor from the creator, but he just couldn't get it because he couldn't be trusted. He tried everything on his own will and might, and although it got him some places and it opened some doors, they were not the big ones that he wanted opened. Then here I came. I wasn't as gifted of a speaker. I didn't have the highlight reel and the résumé, but doors were being opened. When I looked at the difference between us, I felt like he should have been the one getting the blessings that I was getting, but his life wasn't in order. He went from marriage to marriage and continued to fail in them. I knew what his issue was, but I don't think he realized it. How can God trust you with the world when he can't trust you with your own home? Yes, you may go some places and you may do some cool things, but you'll never get the ram in the bush until you're humble enough to sacrifice completely. Until you put your heart on the line and you lay down your will for a greater calling, you'll always find yourself spinning your tires and being stuck.

You'll ask for help, and it won't come. You'll look for help, and won't be able to find it. You'll pray for a breakthrough, but you won't be heard. You'll have to get in line. You may look left or look right and see the next person appearing to prosper, but you don't know their behind-the-scenes footage. You see what they show you, but you don't know what's really going on behind closed doors. You don't know what demons they are battling or what fate awaits them. You can't get caught up in what it appears to be. You have to look in your mirror and come to terms with your truth if you want to see a change happen. I've watched people fail over and over again and have all the talent in the world, but none of that matters if your motives aren't right. You can try and try, but if you know right from wrong and you still won't get right, then everything will continue to go wrong. If you've never known the right path and you've never been on it, then you may be exempt from the laws, because you've lived all your life in ignorance to the way. Once you know the way and you choose to go astray, you'll struggle and you'll pay a much greater price than the ones who never knew.

Get ready for your ram in the bush. Be in expectation of your blessing, but work like never before. Train yourself to live the right life and trust that things will work out in your favor. I always say work twice as hard as you pray. You can pray and have faith, but you need to do your part and work. Once you've worked and done all that you can do, then you can expect your blessings to pick up where you left off, but if you don't do your part, it won't ever happen for you.

Don't rush the process. Don't be desperate. Don't depend on someone to make anything happen for you. You can't wait on someone to give you a handout or a hand up. You have to climb as if no one will ever look down to pull you up. You can't expect to be carried to the top. You may do enough to attract an investor or a partner one day, but you can't want just a deal. You have to have a plan on how you'll make good on the deal. I meet people all the time who want a deal, but they have no idea how they'll pay that person back. I know my plans will make my partner way more than he's ever given me. I know that one day he'll look back and say, “Wow, I was really fortunate to have met Tony and made an investment in him.” I don't have a doubt about it. It would have to happen otherwise to prove me wrong. Get ready today; don't wait any longer to change your life and get aligned for your breakthrough. Don't beg for it; work for it and know that it will come when it's supposed to come!