20 People Shared How They Escaped Poverty

20.

And finally, “I was homeless, bouncing from shelter to shelter, hustling weed. One day, my cousin took me to a place where construction companies pick up a day laborer. At the end of the day, you go back to the office, and they cut you a check for the day’s work. When I got to that job site, the other punks were lazy and slow and complaining all day. It pissed me off. We were hired to work. So I worked my absolute guts out. The boss came during the day and saw me carrying two steel 5-gallon pails filled to the top with mud up the stairs and out the back door constantly. He took me aside and said, ‘You’re not going back to the agency tomorrow — you’re hired.'”

“From there, I continued to work my guts out for him and eventually was promoted from laborer to a carpenter’s apprentice. I learned a few trades there since they were a general contractor. From there, I moved on to other companies and continued learning new trades. Today, I’m a jack of all trades, making good pay. I do everything: windows, doors, flooring, brick and concrete repair, drywall, mud and tape, tile, siding and aluminum, you name it. I’ve got my own brand new van, fully kitted out with all the best tools I could possibly need to do any job. And my work is appreciated because I am meticulous and hardworking.”

—u/Response-Cheap