Welcome to the next post in The Power Of Broke Community Series!
I hope you had a chance to read last weeks post on Sheri Collins. This week's post is a very inspirational story of another extraordinary woman, Dr. Elon Bomani and an great example of how she practiced the power of broke to go from homeless to millionaire.
Enjoy!
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My addiction to poverty started while growing up with a single mother on welfare and a deadbeat, auto-body/mechanic by day, drug dealer by night entrepreneur, Dad. I had my first beer when I was five and my first joint when I was eight. I tried so desperately to get the love from my dad that I yearned for. All the while, my mom suffered several nervous breakdowns trying to support two kids on her own. Let’s just say the odds were against me, but the Universe and I had other plans.
Mom: My First Millionaire Mentor
At some point down the line, my ‘Mompreneur’ tapped into the power of broke mindset. Being so sick and tired and fed up, she channeled that energy into creativity and passion, turning her desperation into opportunity. The result? She became a cosmetologist and built a million-dollar hair care business called Headquarters Unlimited. I shadowed my mom during the entire process and learned how to become a millionaire from my first mentor, my mom.
Both my parents taught me what to do and what not to do when it came to acquiring wealth and success in life. I employed the best and released the rest, so to speak.
Fast forward to my road to recovery and being born from two successful entrepreneurs, I had the bug in me to become an entrepreneur. Via my mom’s instructions, I honed a trade as a cosmetologist that paid my way through Rutgers University. Hating them both, I followed my mom’s path to become a traditional Naturopathic Doctor with a degree from Clayton College of Natural Healing. I had found my purpose in life: serving others in the realm of holistic healing. And I loved it.
To be a Mom or to be a Millionaire
I got married to a college professor and had a beautiful baby with the determination to run my private practice with my son in tow. Unfortunately, it became difficult to run my private practice and take care of my son. So, I had to make a tough love decision: run my private practice or become a full-time stay-at-home mom. It was a no brainer for me. I could always have a private practice, but I had a limited amount of time to spend quality time with my son and raise him to become a productive young man that society and I could be proud of. Time is so much more valuable than money. I can always get the money back, but I can never get that precious time back. I fulfilled a dream my mother did not have. I became a work-at-home mom who homeschooled her child.
Unfortunately, my husband was not pleased with that arrangement and like most marriages with financial issues, we were on the brink of divorce. The straw broke the camel's back when my husband emptied our joint checking account and left me financially destitute. Instantly, I became a homeless mom with just $36 in my checking account.
Out of necessity comes ingenuity
I was initially denied a bed at a women’s shelter, but stayed patient waiting for my opportunity. I became ‘prosperity conscious’, and wasn’t willing to play the victim blame, shame, game. Even as a homeless single mother, I bought a home in Sacramento, CA. How I accomplished this I will explain below.
The mindset of how I did it was accepting the fact that, 'Yes, I was homeless, but I wasn’t hopeless or helpless.' This is one of the most important message I try to instill in others.
“Millionaires know you have to take calculated risks and I took one.” – Elon Bomani, Millionaire’s Mindset Blog
Divine intervention had its way with me and within 18 months, I became a millionaire by investing in real estate during the real estate boom. It was a matter of being at the right place, at the right time and taking immediate action.
Here is a cliff notes version of how I incorporated the power of broke to purchase my first home with no money out of my pocket. Matter of fact, they paid me to buy the house. I got a check for $643.00 at the closing. Can you believe it? I paid more for a dress at Nordstrom than I did my first house!
Divine Appointment
My attitude was that if God could provide for the birds, bees, flowers, and trees…sure nuf,
God would provide for me. – Elon Bomani
I created my first million by doing 3 simple things that anyone can do:
- Become financially literate
Education is not only power, but financial education makes you profit. I went to the library (FREE) and studied every book on how to become a millionaire. I found out that the quickest way to develop wealth was by investing in real estate.
Luck is preparation meeting an opportunity
Luckily for me, I was right in the middle of the real estate boom. I found a house that had a SOLD sign on it, but my spirit (intuition), you may want to call it your sixth sense, told me that the house was mine. I called the Real Estate Agent who informed me that the house had just fell out of escrow and it was available.
Yippee! This was a sign from God that I step out on faith and take action. The Universe would provide me with the people, places, money, situation and circumstances to make things happen.
I was already at my lowest. The only way to go from here was up!
I went to the mortgage broker to try to get a loan. Now, my credit was very bad and I started rebuilding it a couple of years prior. Quite frankly, I thought it was still bad but I kept my fingers crossed when he checked my credit. To my relief, I had a score of 701! I needed 700 to qualify for a 100% finance loan.
I had the loan now but there was one small problem. I needed $7,000 dollars for the closing cost.
After studying real estate investing, I negotiated a deal with the seller to include the closing cost within the loan so I would not have to come out of pocket with the cash. The seller agreed and instead of paying $115k for the house, I paid $123k for it.
- Develop a millionaire Mindset
Ok, I have the house but how do I build a real estate empire? I followed the actions of many self-made millionaires. I used other people’s resources to grow my real estate business. I formulated limited partnerships and opened my private practice out of my new home to generate cash to invest in property.
- Network to increase your net worth
Once I accomplished my goal of becoming a millionaire, I found another business that could help others achieving greater financial gains. I created The Dynamic Diva. It was a company dedicated to financially empowering women to achieve their wealth dreams.
Publish or Perish
I created a website, books, seminars and conferences that had me traveling the US meeting people of like-minds and money to formulate joint ventures that were financially beneficial for all.
Life was beautiful because I was living my purpose.
With my newfound financial success came fame, I was featured in the Louise Hay Movie, You Can Heal Your Life, a BET reality show, Mom, Myself and I, the Talk TV Show and I even got a call to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show! I was so happy to share my rags to riches story that would inspire so many others to realize their financial dream, and to remind them that the ‘American Dream’ is alive and well.
Unfortunately, my second marriage did not survive based on the fact that I had married a person like myself-addicted to poverty. As a result, I was forced to end my marriage and my million-dollar fortune. Not deterred, I relocated to Atlanta, GA with my kids and built a six-figure e-Commerce business that is on its way to seven-figures.
Now, I have reinvented myself into The Pajama Momma where I help mom and dads fire their boss and hire their kids. At The Pajama Momma I show people how I, and many of my peers, are making money online in the comfort of our PJs and how they can do it, too!
“You gotta believe in yourself more than what’s showing up in your life. Its is your birthright to be massively successful.” – Elon Bomani, Millionaire’s Mindset Blog
My motto is: A dollar a day, keeps poverty away… and I am the road to a full recovery from being a BrokeaholicTM! Out of necessity, comes ingenuity is the #powerofbroke.
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I hope you enjoyed Dr. Bomani's story! I encourage you to join the conversation below and tell me what you thought.
As a reminder, if you haven't submitted your story as of yet, I encourage you to do so by clicking here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and type away!
Have a great day! - DJ
