Have you wondered what it takes to go from a 5 figures salary to a 6 figures salary? My name is Franklin Morillo, and I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, an island in the Caribbean. I came to the United States when I was 21 years old with nothing — zero, nada. In fact, I didn’t have any friends or any contacts that could help me get a job in a nice place. I had to start from the ground.
I had to start from the ground.
I can tell you that I felt vulnerable, alone, and even depress at times because I was immigrating to a new country where I only had my mother and siblings. My longtime friends were not around, and what made it more difficult was that I needed to learn a new language, English.
Dreams are powerful, and I had a dream. My dream was to achieve financial stability and get a bachelor’s degree. But, it’s very difficult to achieve some dreams — especially those dreams that are related to financial stability.
In 2014, I started working at Walmart as a cashier. It’s common for young people to start working in customer service jobs. I was earning $9 dollars an hour, and I used to work around 25 hours per week. Also, I had a college job where I used to work 19 hours at $9 per hour. My third job was in a hotel where I only worked 5 hours on Saturdays, and they paid me $100 bi-weekly. As you can see, I was working three jobs that would be equivalent to a full-time job; however, that’s not all. I used to go to college full-time, as well, and instead of taking only 12 credits, I used to take 14 or 15 credits. At this point in my life, I was making around $496 weekly or around $1,984 monthly before tax. That would add up to $23,800 annually — that’s not a lot of money.
I was able to go through college and work at the same time using a brilliant strategy. On the days that I went to college, I would work minimum hours to zero hours. That alone allowed me to focus either on work or college. The days that I worked I didn’t choose any courses, and the days that I went to college I didn’t pick up any hours at any of my part-time jobs. I can tell you that it was a crazy schedule because there were days that I would leave my house at 6 AM and come back at midnight after my late shift at Walmart.
… I would leave my house at 6 AM and come back at midnight after my late shift at Walmart.
I do remember I used to tell my colleagues that one day I would get a job that I would earn more than $30 an hour. There were some colleagues who said that it was impossible, and they didn’t know where I would make that kind of money. There were others that said that they would believe it when they see it.
I had a dream, I had a plan, and I was executing my plan. I planned out all the courses I would take every semester. I started getting important certifications in my field of work. And, wow, it happened. I finished my college degree and landed a job that would pay me $31 an hour. I was so happy. Finally, my plan had worked out. Instead of earning $24K per year, now I was making $59K per year. But that’s not all. Once I achieve my dream of getting financial stability and a college degree, I wanted to earn more.
Fast forward to 2021, I invest in real estate and work as an engineer. I earn a total of $114000 with real estate and my professional job. In addition to that, I opened my own company to support small and medium-size businesses with their technology needs. That side hustle is allowing me to earn more and more every year.
Life is hard, but you have to be better than your problem. I was able to achieve my American dream, but so can you. We just need to have a dream, a plan, execute it, and be persistent. In the end, you would get what you wish to obtain.