It's Millionaire Next Door week on So Money. This is going to be an exciting week, and it is all thanks to your feedback. Many of your wrote in saying how much you enjoyed the first Millionaire Next Door series that we did in August. It was so popular that I decided to do a Part II. Because as it turns out, which is good news, there are so many successful people out there, who started from humble beginnings, who started making average salaries, who ended up becoming part of the 1%. I know the 1% often gets a bad rap, but there's truly something to be proud of when you reach millionaire status. It's not something that's easy. It's takes discipline, it takes effort, it takes consciousness. And so this week is going be dedicated to talking to everyday men and women who have reached this status and how they did it and maybe we could learn a thing or two along the way. Kicking us off is MaryEllen Miller who is a real estate investor from San Antonio, Texas, also Des Moines, Iowa. From an early age MaryEllen found that she was fascinated by money. How people make it, how they spend it. She followed the route that most people take, which is to get an eduction followed by a corporate job. Sound familiar? But by midlife she realized money was not the goal, it was how money could and should be used to create a "wealthy life." MaryEllen tells me that she's experienced living in every socio-economic class, from poverty, qualifying for government cheese, to now becoming a member of the 1%. And believe it or not, she didn't even realize when she hit the $1 million net worth mark. Her mission is now to help people create a wealthy life full of both money and meaning. For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices