How I went from broke and homeless to making $700K

Daily Mail​

8 hours ago

A man who went from completely broke and homeless to making $700,000 a year without a college degree has revealed how he turned his life around. Michael Brandon Pope, 26, from Las Vegas , Nevada , said he grew up in an 'upper class' household with his dad making over six figures through his booming truck business. But in 2008, his family lost 'everything they had' between the market crash and a 'series of bad rental tenants,' and suddenly, they went from living a life of luxury to being absolutely broke.
They ultimately lost their home, resulting in Michael, his three siblings, and his parents sometimes living out of their car, finding a cheap motel for the night, or 'couch surfing between different family members or family friends.' While his parents tried to get back on their feet by working extra jobs, his mom's health took a downturn which led to her having to retire when he was he was a teen. For years, he spent his days wondering where they'd sleep that night or if they'd have enough money to eat.
Michael got his first job at age 16 - as soon as he was legally allowed to - and he would work tirelessly and use all his earnings to try to help his family. 'I couldn't wait to work,' he said during an exclusive chat with the Daily Mail. 'Most of my money ended up going to help us keep a roof over our heads and to put food on the table. '[Or I would use the money to] help to pay for food or bills at whoever's house we were currently couch surfing at.'
A determined Michael dreamed of a better life for himself and his family, so he got to work on teaching himself how to code after one of his high school football coaches told him how lucrative the world of programming could be. After he finished high school he started taking classes at a local college while also working a job at Dunkin Donuts, which meant waking up in the early hours of the morning to make sure he had time for both. 'The coffee shop I worked at was all the way in north Las Vegas and I had the opening shift which started at 6am.
'So I would wake up at 3.30am to get ready for work, catch the bus at 4.15/4.30am, and arrive on the other side of town for my shift to start at 6,' he remembered. 'While I was working at this coffee shop, I was taking 15 credits at UNLV and also teaching myself how to code. 'I would get off at 1pm, go across the street to another coffee shop with Wi-Fi, and learn how to code building side projects and apply to entry level programming positions.'
Any free time he had was spent watching YouTube videos or reading articles on coding, and 'applying to entry level programming positions.' In 2018, Michael's hard work paid off as he landed his first real programming job at a 'local E-Commerce company that sold vape pens' that paid him $35,000 a year. 'They needed help setting up the software for their distribution website/software,' he explained. He said that despite showing up late - 'the Uber driver went the wrong way' - and not having a college degree, when the hiring manager saw how well he could program he offered him the job. He dropped out of college for the gig, but after taxes his earnings came to only about $600 per week.
Even so, he tirelessly saved and used the money to start renting a two-bedroom apartment for himself, his three youngster siblings, and his parents. In the years that followed, Michael worked various programming jobs as he made his way up in the tech industry, eventually scoring jobs at huge companies like Hulu, Disney+, and Warner Bros. He eventually launched his own successful software company. Flash forward to now, seven years later, and Michael brings in about $350,000 annually - and he's had years where he's made closer to $700,000.
He now lives in a luxury apartment and bought a five-bedroom mansion for his parents and siblings. And his lifestyle is certainly a far cry from the years that he would work tirelessly just to have enough money to eat. 'I would say that I do live pretty lavishly,' he confessed. 'I eat out multiple times a week at steakhouses and sushi restaurants, I spend quite a bit of money on things that I enjoy like extra wide monitors. 'Within the last month me and some friends went to eat and gamble at the casinos, I spent roughly $1,500 on that.
'I've had months where I spent $1,000 in a month on Uber Eats. When I looked at the month I moved into this apartment. 'I went from famine to feast in a relatively short period of time, so I think I didn't manage my money very wisely or even consider it until the last couple of years.' Michael explained that while the years of his life when he was broke and homeless were extremely difficult, he believes they sparked a 'drive' in him that has now led to his success. '[I had] a huge drive to get myself and my family out of that situation,' said Michael.
'The drive has since stuck with me. [Even now I'm] always feeling like I have to work exceptionally hard to prove myself, I look back on it as a blessing and a curse.' In the end, he said he hopes others in a similar situation will use his story as a reminder that they 'don't have to accept bad circumstances or fall victim to things outside of your control.' 'I didn't chose to be homeless, or for my parents health to fail, or for the 2008 market crash to happen, the list goes on and on,' he reflected. 'I could have given up and accepted my fate because I didn't know for certain I would be successful.