Question: Have You Ever Had To Do Something Inauthentic To Make A Dollar?

The hustle culture has been a thing in my life since I was in high school, so was the concept of "fake it till you make it". When I launched Sofrito Media Group in 1997... I believed to be the best web designer in the Latino community. I joined a Hispanic chamber of commerce and quickly made lots of friends who would refer me to people they know...

After a lot of networking events, many meetings and a few verbal agreements to start work on their company branding, I would get ghosted. I racked my brain to figure out why this kept happening... and one day it hit me like a ton of bricks when I walked out of a meeting and I saw my new clients face when the valet pulled up my car, a brown 1987 Toyota Corolla 1.8 hatchback. He didn't say anything in the moment but the next day, he pulled out of the project citing budget constraints.

I had a full time corporate job with Kinko's (Fed Ex Office) at the time and ran a somewhat successful start up while still in college and trying to scale. My wife, (also gainfully employed) and I lived in Freeport Long Island, had a house, two cars and our twins in private school. We were not rich but we made good money but only enough to have one new car, the one my wife used for the kids.

Unfortunately... my business did not see a surge until I started borrowing or renting new cars to attend networking events. A small price to pay from a business perspective but a huge price to pay when you walk away feeling like you are not good enough. I have so much more to say about this, there is a few chapters in the book I am writing, where I share truths behind some of my biggest successes and failures. I will hold no punches.

My question to you is... have you ever had to do something inauthentic to make a "dollar"? How did it feel...? How did you overcome it?

Let me know in the comments.... or via DM if you want to keep it confidential.

PS... I now teach... "believe it until you achieve it"... I like that version better.