Success does not come easily and usually always takes hard work, dedication and just a bit of luck. JR RIvas is one of the rare entrepreneurs who came from essentially nothing and turned it into his successful career. JR lived most of his life in New York with his sister and mom, their household income never exceeded $23,000. Poverty has played a huge role in JR’s life and after his water was shut off for six months and he had to shower at friends houses, he had developed the motivation necessary to change his life.
After graduating high school and realizing that college would be a waste of time and money, JR began selling life insurance. He quickly realized that he was not cut out to be a salesman so he reinvented his plan. He began saving up for his next business and signed up for a class at H&R Block so that he could learn to do taxes. The class was canceled because he was the only one signed up, but this is what led him to getting a job at a Liberty Tax firm. After working for the season he purchased the franchise from the owner, at age 18. He spent the months he had making the building look presentable and prepared for the upcoming season. Within the first year of ownership he grew the business 60 percent. Liberty tax was very impressed with his work and invited him to ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq live on CNBC in New York.
JR purchased an additional 3 franchises after this and owned them for a year, grew them by 17 percent and then sold them. After selling his franchises he moved down south where he purchased another office and then took a job at Liberty Tax corporate as a seasonal sales manager. As enjoyable as this experience was, he knew that he was meant to be an entrepreneur. After selling his remaining franchise and receiving an immense amount of support from the people around him, he started a podcast. He used this podcast to interview many industry experts and he eventually decided that he wanted to create social media ads for small businesses. After receiving many positive client testimonials he decided to turn his services into a product so that specific clients could learn to create and manage ads. Within a month of doing this he had received an income of $30,000. After living through a life of poverty he was extremely glad that he had finally climbed up the ladder of life. The money was a life changer for JR but he valued his ability to help people change their lives more. His goal was to make money but he realized along the way that the biggest reward was being able to make a lasting impact on people’s lives.
