What I Do For a Living and Why I Decided to Sell Shoes

For those that don’t know me at a personal level, you probably see me as a person that re-sell shoes as a career, but for those that do…re-selling shoes is simply a hobby.  I started Netmag with absolutely ZERO planning…everything happened on the fly and I simply had some free time on my hands shortly after a relationship break up, so I decided to try it out for fun.  Re-selling wasn’t a new concept for me as I’ve been doing it ever since I was in high school.  I took a break from it when I went into university as I focused all of my attention trying to get through 4 years without getting kicked out my program. LOL.  I wasn’t an A+ student… I was more of a B student that managed to get through with the bare minimum.  I didn’t like school at all…I absolutely hated it but it was a must because without a university degree it would be impossible to find a decent job and the only focus I had at the time was how to make money.  To make matters worse, I studied science… which in my opinion led to ZERO JOBS after graduation.  It wasn’t till 3^rd year that I knew I was fked with a science degree and I needed to make the necessary steps to open more doors.  I only followed a path of what my parents expected me to do because I didn’t know how else to make money for a living aside from graduating and being employed from big corporates.

After graduating, I worked a few years at a pension plan doing investment finance. It was exciting for the first 2 months and it quickly got boring AF.  I wanted to get into investment banking because it made the biggest buck and it was like a status symbol for making it to the top in the industry.  Looking back now, I’m glad I NEVER MADE IT because now I realize how much more potential there is outside of the corporate world. After leaving the pension plan, I started working for the bank which I spent 5 years of my time there.  I got through the first 2-3 years hoping things would get better, but still the same shit or matter of fact WORSE!  I felt like I was going to an adult daycare everyday being monitored to make sure I got in at 8:30 AM on the dot and only allowed to leave at 5 PM.  But I always believed in everything happens for a reason.  Maybe it was because I was so fed up with my “career” that it motivated me to get further education.

I started selling shoes under Netmag about 4 years into my banking job.  This all happened while I was working, studying and selling shoes ALL at the same time.  Sounds hectic, right? It was F*CKING crazy…but somehow I managed to get through it.  I was maybe Level 2 CFA at the time, but I was determined to finish it because I know once I have my charter it would be my return ticket to get back into the industry had I ever wanted to leave it.  I didn’t necessarily need it, but it was a guarantee I needed in order for me to take any necessary risks in life.  While trying to get through the CFA at one point I thought about dropping selling shoes for a bit because I wanted to focus solely in passing the exams.  However, I couldn’t do it…I realized my passion was into buying sneakers and selling them and helping others get what is not readily available.  Though we all only have 24 hours in a day, I had to somehow MAKE TIME.  So without affecting my studying and working hours, I ended up waking up earlier and sleeping later.  I woke up on weekends at 6 AM to bid on shoes and didn’t sleep till 2 AM uploading photos and posting shoes for sale.  Most people couldn’t justify this lifestyle at my age because this meant no partying or social life, but that didn’t really bother me because making extra cash on the side and trying to get ahead in life is enough validation to satisfy myself.

After getting my CFA, it was the literally one of the best moments of my life… not because I feel superior that I finally have a CFA charter and think I know it all…but rather I was so happy that I have so much more time to focus on Netmag and selling shoes.  Things changed really quickly shorter after getting my charter.  I landed a job within a few months at an insurance company that paid me significantly more than my previous banking job, but more importantly offered me more flexible hours in terms of work hours.  I think this is when Netmag really took off.  I had more time to come up with more creative ways of selling and time to work out deals with clients/customers.  My focus completely shifted away from my “career” to create something different.  Though a lot of people have asked me why I’m still working in corporate even though I could probably live off solely from Netmag, but the answer to that was I am worried had I rely on Netmag fully on paying bills, the hobby that I love may become just another job.  However, if I could work under corporate and get a decent salary, any money I make out of Netmag would be bonus.  Hobby is defined as something we do for enjoyment and is typically done during one’s leisure time…so without the cash flow stress, I’m never put in a situation where I’m forced to do work when I don’t want to…and I think keeping Netmag as a hobby is probably the most optimal at this point in my life.