After I graduated high school at 17 years old, I went on to do what I was told that would make me successful: go to college, earn a degree for a great-paying career, and get a good job as soon as possible. Supposedly, if I do this I would be guaranteed to be successful, make money, and be set for life.

I was highly motivated and I thought, “The earlier and faster I do this, the sooner I’ll be living large.”

In 2019, I created my master plan:

I accomplished all of it l but one thing.

Something wasn’t right.
And I realized I was actually a lot further from my dream life than I wished.

As a real estate agent, I was absolutely nowhere close to my goal of selling one house per month.

In my first 9 months of my career, the interest rate for mortgages went up THREE PERCENT. That’s a lot, especially over a few months! So people were less eager to buy a house as the housing market was shifting. I felt like I was fighting tooth and nail to persuade someone to buy a house.

I was young, afraid, and obviously an inexperienced real estate agent being the little 20 year old I was. I earned partial commission on some sales that I got to work on with a past colleague. I continued marketing my services and was able to close a couple deals on my own. But it was the bare minimum to cover bills, college tuition, everyday expenses, and taxes just like any other ordinary person who works everyday.

Getting a Job (and staying broke)

On paper and on social media I was highly successful for someone in their early 20’s. At just 21 years old, I was already accomplishing everything my peers dream of: finished with college, actively working in a professional career, and getting hired in career positions.

I was effortlessly hired for career roles in offices and earning minimum wage to start. I learned that while earning minimum wage, the work experience and skills add up— which is what can lead to higher-paying opportunities one day, but it takes time. I get it— any type of success will take time, but the way I was doing it didn’t feel right for me.

My issue with working like that is when you work for an employer, you’re building their dream and making them wealthy, and it leaves you stuck in the same place for years.

Why give someone you don’t know your all when you could be putting it into yourself?
I have reason to believe that I’m intelligent and a very hard worker so shouldn’t I use my abilities to build something meaningful to me?

This revelation was about knowing my worth and what I’m truly capable of.

My thought process was as follows:

I gotta work all day, everyday here for a whileeeeee
bust my ass off
do amazing work for someone else’s dream
get paid like $17 an hour
try to hopefully get noticed amongst other employees
attempt to negotiate a pay increase
- and it’s not even that much of an increase
- and it’s not even guaranteed it’ll happen—

—just to make a living?

No thanks.

The Last Straw

I absolutely knew this was not the formula for my dreams…..…'cause, baby, I’m supposed to be livin’ large! I’ve worked extremely hard to become “successful.” I followed all of the right steps….and yet I wounded up tired everyday. I was burnt-out and my health was declining. I was struggling to pay for my dream lifestyle. Every paycheck I got went to real estate fees, gas, and quick pick-me-ups. I had high debt and was paying interest on top of it. It was horrible.

Later on I received another job offer: a company representative reached out to me personally and offered to pay me $700 per diem (Latin phrase for “each day”). This felt kinda cool but I really didn’t feel good about working for someone else any longer. Plus, I experienced too much sickness for this to be any good for me. I would just be climbing the corporate ladder again, building someone else’s dream, and barely making a living. I decided not to work for them.

A Different Opportunity Unveiled Itself

As I scanned my life for a different way, an opportunity showed itself to me:

Partnership.

Because I held myself to such high standards in my education and career, I also held high standards for my potential partner. When I was courted, I paid extremely close attention to the young man’s ambitions, maturity level, self-respect, and hobbies.

I came across my now-husband, Mark. He was living on his own and hammered away to provide for himself. All the while, he was creating content on YouTube and Instagram with the intention of inspiring others to pursue their dreams.
It was so obvious that he had the determination to be the best version of himself. And as we dated, we brought out the better in each other.

To me Mark embodied independence, responsibility, and passion.

Over the years we encouraged each other to keep learning and growing as much as possible. We naturally found ways to support each other in this.

Eventually, Mark and I had been dating for two years. As the leader he is, he proposed a plan:

“How about I study and learn how to play this money game and put extreme effort into it,

while you take care of the home like cooking meals and cleaning?

It’s all you would have to do. You wouldn’t have to work a job and you won’t have to pay for anything unless you want to.

And I assure you,

you will be rewarded for supporting me.”

Growing Our Partnership

I said yes.

Right then and there I let go of the jobs, the networking, and the career I was in. Plan B’s no longer existed.

At 22 years old, I was officially committed to this [business] partnership.

This lifestyle came with an unexpected amount of growth pains and multiple iterations in business, but the cool thing is it was always aligned with my dreams.

As I executed on my designated role as homemaker, it evolved into other roles such as Executive Assistant and photography/videography work.

There was definitely a learning curve for both of us as our dynamic was being established.

But we kept seeing success together and we were building something good together.

We became Husband and Wife when I was 22 years old, turning 23 that year. I tend to say the Wife Life chose me (read about it here).

Officially Financially Independent

Since Mark was able to crack the code for generating wealth, he taught me the same skills.

Here’s a tidbit: it’s a matter of having an amazing credit score, a good relationship with banks, allocating capital into the markets to multiply it, and taking profits. Then, rinse and repeat.

(An intro to this technique is laid out in his e-book Internet Money. Get it here.)

I’ve never had to go back to working a job. Thank God.

Living My Dream Life

I built it with him by my side.

When I was younger, I thought livin’ large meant luxurious vacations and shopping designer brands.

But really what I was seeking was the freedom to experience life according to my own ideals.

To have this you need time, resources, and a healthy circle of people around you. It was hard to have all of this while working jobs but once I changed courses, I ended up getting just that.

I don’t work for an employer. I work for myself and my family.

I don’t have to attend to 9-5 work shifts. I work according to my schedule.

I don’t have to stay in one city. I get to travel to any city in the world on my own time.

I don’t struggle to pay bills. We’ve accumulated enough wealth to cover expenses and now we both don’t work jobs.

I don’t have a wrecked credit score. Today, I have the healthiest and highest credit score I’ve ever had.

I don’t expend my energy for a company whose values I don’t believe in. I only use my talents for myself, my family, and my empire.

This is livin’ large.

What I Do Today

Finally, we found our North Star and are determined to serve more people ⭐️.

After our many iterations in business, Mark and I have co-founded Chosen Few, Alchemy Academy, and Jessa Mary.

Chosen Few is our private online community of creatives and entrepreneurs on their journey to financial independence. It’s our lil corner of the internet where people on this similar journey get to connect and get through it together.
Alchemy Academy is our financial education mentorship program. In here, we teach people the very techniques and strategies we used to achieve financial independence. The best part is each student receives a cultivated plan according to their specific lifestyle and circumstances.
Jessa Mary is our consulting service for entrepreneurial couples. We help start-up entrepreneurial couples create their dream empire by providing special thought-processes and systems that we personally developed over the years.

Thanks for reading, friend! I hope you were inspired and maybe your eyes were opened to a new path. Feel free to DM me on Instagram @thejessamary if anything about my path piqued your interest.

Love, Jessa

How I Achieved Financial Independence at 23.