From $0 to Starting Over: How I Rebuilt My Life After Losing Everything

Rich Dad Radio Show: In-Your-Face Advice on Investing, Personal Finance, & Starting a Business

The Rich Dad Company

Entrepreneurship, Business, Investing

4.1 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I take you back to one of the lowest points in my life—negative $17,000 in my bank account, struggling to make ends meet, and desperately needing a way out. I share how I turned that rock-bottom moment into a thriving online business that gave me the freedom to live life on my terms. You’ll hear about the Google spreadsheet that changed everything, why I created a fake persona named “Tony Tigray,” and how I built a scalable, automated business that supported my dream lifestyle.If you’ve ever felt trapped by financial struggles or an overwhelming business, this episode will give you a new way to think about financial freedom—and show you how to start building it today.Key

Takeaways
✅ Financial rock bottom isn’t the end—it can be your launchpad.
✅ Break your dream life into daily costs—it’s probably less than you think.
✅ Automate & remove yourself from the day-to-day to create true freedom.
✅ Not every business is the right business—choose one that supports your ideal life.
✅ A well-structured business can scale without you running everything.

Chapters
00:00 – Welcome to the Rich Dad Radio Network
01:30 – How I hit negative $17,000 and learned a hard financial lesson
04:00 – The Google Spreadsheet that changed my life
07:15 – Breaking down the cost of my dream life
10:30 – How I designed a business that gave me freedom
14:00 – The story of “Tony Tigray” and why I used a fake persona
18:20 – The key to scaling a business without being stuck in it
22:00 – The challenge: Map out your dream life & make it happen

Transcript

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0:00.0	15 years ago, I had negative money in the bank, a fourth kid on the way, and no idea how I was going to turn things around.
0:06.9	I was staring at my bank account balance, and I was realizing that my career wasn't going to save me.
0:12.2	I felt completely stuck.
0:14.0	That moment forced me to do something that most people never do.
0:17.9	I mapped out exactly how much money I was going to need to live the life of my
0:22.2	dreams. And then I built a business to help me achieve it. This is the moment that changed everything for me.
0:27.8	And it can change everything for you too. Welcome out to the Rich Dad Radio show, the good news and
0:32.5	bad news about entrepreneurship. I'm your host, Tyler Jorgensen. I appreciate you tuning into this episode
0:38.8	of the show. I'm a new host here on the Rich Dad Radio Network, and I'm really excited to
0:44.2	start talking to you more about entrepreneurship and business. So I want to tell you a little bit
0:48.7	more about that time. 15 years ago, sitting there, I believe the number was negative
0:53.8	$17,000 I had in the bank account.
0:56.8	This happened because of a series of chargebacks and things that had happened in a previous
1:01.2	business and not knowing that I should keep my personal bank and my business bank separate.
1:07.4	And so, you know, the business was going through its own challenges.
1:11.3	I was trying to navigate that with former partners and do some other things.
1:14.6	But the bank wasn't as patient.
1:16.3	And they said, we're not going to wait.
1:18.2	We're just going to take all the money out of your personal account and wipe everything down.
1:22.3	So now I'm sitting at negative money.
1:24.5	I've got a little bit of money left on like on PayPal from selling some things
1:28.9	on eBay. And I use that to buy a half of a tank of gas to be able to go to the ultrasound
	...

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