JR RIvas is a serial entrepreneur who used all the disadvantages and hardships that life threw at him and turned them into motivation to succeed. JR lived in New York for most of his youth with his sister and single mother. Their annual income never exceeded $23,000 annually which made it extremely hard to make ends meet. JR can recall getting his water shut off at the age of 13 and having to shower at friends houses. He took this moment and promised himself that somehow he would find a way out of poverty. After moving to Pennsylvania and finishing high school JR did not want to waste his time and money in college so he went into the life insurance business.

This new job was a failure due to his inability to sell, but he created a new plan. For this new plan to work he would need to save up $10,000 and learn how to do taxes. He signed up for a class at H&R Block but it was canceled due to him being the only person enrolled. After this detour he decided to get a job at a Liberty Tax firm. Once the season was over he purchased the franchise and began making it his own. He fixed up what was necessary to make it a decent looking building and soon enough he was ready to open for the season. After his first year of ownership he had grown the business by 60 percent. This caught the attention of Liberty Tax so they invited JR out to New York so that he could ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq in New York live on CNBC. 

After this successful year he decided to purchase three more franchises and grew them by 17 percent then he sold them after a year. After selling these franchises he moved down south where he purchased another office and started his job as a seasonal salesman at Liberty Tax’s corporate office. As much as he enjoyed this new job and the experience that he received, he knew that he was not meant for a traditional job and quit. After quitting he sold his remaining franchise and began gathering ideas for his next business idea. After a bunch of support from the people around him he began a podcast. Through this podcast he was able to interview many industry experts and eventually decided that he was best suited to create social media ads. He created ads for many companies and grew a reputation for himself. He figured that the service should be turned into a product so that’s exactly what he did. He created a course that teaches clients how to run and manage their ads. After only a month of this new business he had already generated $30,000. This new source of income transformed his life and dragged him out of poverty. He was extremely happy to be able to travel and afford luxuries but he valued being able to help people transform their lives even more. 

Topics #JR Rivas