The American Dream
An inspiring story of perseverance and success
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Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history.
– Oscar Handlin, historian
Recently, I was listening to this episode of Founders podcast which told the story of business rebel and real estate mogul Sam Zell. He built a real estate empire worth billions and did it in his own way, never compromising or changing his style, being scrappy, approaching his business like it was play, and learning from every person he met. But his story is all the more fascinating because his father landed in America as a refugee from the Second World War Holocaust with nothing to his name.
Sam’s father raised him with a keen awareness of the horrors they had escaped and the opportunities that America had in store. He grew up with an appreciation for how lucky they were and worked hard to make the most of the chance he had been given. As Sam recounts:
My father used to say that in the United States the streets were paved with gold and he never lost his appreciation for how lucky he was that he and his family were allowed to come here and prosper.
Sam passed in May this year. But his story is so inspiring because it’s one of the best examples of such stories that I hear on a regular basis. I firmly believe that America is the land of opportunity – if you work hard enough for long enough, you have a shot at achieving your dream. Recently, I stumbled upon a video that’s been blowing up on YouTube that further reinforced this idea – The new US citizen who is making $420,000 a year. Eddie Nuñez traveled from Peru to America, worked hard to become a cybersecurity contractor and IT consultant, got threatened to be deported by his in-laws because they weren’t happy with him marrying their daughter, studied law in the prison law library, and successfully defended his case, and went on to establish an empire! If that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is. Here’s my response:
A private yacht trip
One of the perks of being a content creator is that I get to make friends with other content creators who are really cool. Enes Yilmazer is one of those folks – his job is literally to visit the most beautiful properties in the world, shoot videos of them, and showcase them to people on YouTube. But this time, I got lucky. Enes invited me and my friends to a Super Yacht in Croatia that he’s marketing. It’s a dream. The cool thing is that though the Yacht is really expensive to rent out, it can host up to 30 people who can all share the expenses, so with proper planning it’s within the reach of anyone who wants to do it. It was a fantastic experience, and if you’re planning for something like this, check out the video:
What’s the most value-for-money you’ve gotten on a vacation? Let me know below.
The Federal Reserve Pivot
Well, 2023 has been a great year in hindsight – the market is almost up 20% year-to-date, inflation has consistently declined for the last 12 months, the recession that everyone feared looks like it might not happen, real estate prices are still holding… and amidst all this, the Fed delivered a surprise blow. After a brief pause, the Fed raised rates again by 25 basis points bringing the interest rate to its highest level since 2001. Why has the Fed suddenly reversed its strategy and what is in store? Here’s my video that covers everything you need to know:
The Iced Coffee Hour
If you grew up listening to rap and hip-hop, there’s a good chance that your favorite artists were wearing jewelry made by Ben Baller – JayZ, Kanye, Mariah Carey, Kid Cudi, and many more – with some artists even featuring his name in their songs. He’s a true rags-to-riches story, building an empire that gave him access to some of the top celebrities in the world – before he suddenly called it quits and left. Here’s the story of his life, business, and empire in his own words:
And finally, there’s another video from the Graham Stephan show where I react to another one of Caleb Hammer’s guests – an ex-militaryman and trucking intern who has a problem reeling in his spending on his hobbies – and Yu-Gi-Oh cards, of all things. As a Pokémon enthusiast myself, I felt a little bad for him, but while Caleb took him apart, he also gave him some helpful education on how to get his finances together. It’s a good primer for anyone in a similar position.
So that’s it for my weekly round-up. See you next week with another bunch of exciting videos!
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