Who Am I & Why I Started Writing
My name is Quadir Russell, I am a newly turned 25 year old and my goal for this year was to do a better job at documenting my day-to-day in for a few reasons. One and most importantly in my first 18 months as an entrepreneur I have had several mindset shifts and I am rapidly learning on a day-to-day basis. My goals are constantly changing, my ideas are constantly changing, and the target is always moving. The ability to look back on my thoughts, goals, and mindset through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship I feel will only make me better as it will give me clarity and perspective on my growth personally and as an entrepreneur. Secondly in my time doing this I have found that a lot of people my age have a strong interest in business ownership and the idea of being their own boss without the risks associated with a business startup and by seeing me do it they've realized it's more obtainable then they've been led to believe in the past. This platform will give me the ability to talk about the life as an entrepreneur and allow people to better understand how they too can get there, understand the risks associated (I wish someone told me more about), and allow me to talk about the technical pieces and the how to's of acquisition entrepreneurship. Lastly I am starting this blog in an effort to start my content creation journey. I've never been much of an introvert, if you know me you know I don't stop speaking but for some reason the thought of getting on camera and talking just doesn't feel right. If I had to guess I feel this derives from the immense pressure I put on myself to achieve and the feeling that I haven't made it yet and therefore am in no position to educate or talk about the topic, BUT either way this feels like a good first step to garnering attention of likeminded individuals interested in what I have to say. These three reasons for starting will be considered my three pillars that every piece of content written will be based on in some form.
1. Documentation - Writing down my thoughts to look back on later and see how my perspective changes over time.
2. Education - Show others the possibilities that exist when it comes to business buying, the most overlook form of investment in my opinion.
3. Connection - Connect with others currently in the space and those looking to get in the space to bond and talk through the ups and downs of business buying (and sporadically other topics I find interesting).
My Journey to Entrepreneurship
One thing about me is I have no problem admitting when I don’t know something, but when I do believe in something, it’s hard to change my mind. A debate I often find myself revisiting is the classic “nature vs. nurture” conversation. Are people born with innate talents, or are they shaped by the environments they grow up in?
Personally, I don't think it's even a question; How people are brought up and the environement their in is the ONLY thing that matters. I believe, with some obvious exceptions, that most people are born on a relatively level playing field when it comes to mental ability. The difference, I think, comes down to environment. Too often we hear phrases like “I’m just not good at math” or “I’ve never been book smart.” But those aren't facts they’re merely beliefs. Beliefs shaped by what people are told, what they're exposed to, and what they internalize about themselves.
When I was young, I excelled in school, not because I had some rare natural gift as most would say, but because I was always told I was smart. My parents instilled that in me early, and I believed it. So when I encountered challenges, I didn’t shy away. I worked through them, because why wouldn’t I? I was smart. That belief became a part of my identity. It wasn’t a question of if I’d understand something, only how fast I could learn it.
That mindset of embracing challenges, believing I could figure anything out, and trusting my ability to learn became the foundation for my path into entrepreneurship. The picture above of the socks was one of my first entrepreneurial endeavors from when I was 16, I would go to Nike buy a pack of white socks, then convince my artistic sister to dye then in exchange she could keep a few for herself to sell (which she never did given she was the polar opposite of me, she got more joy out of giving them away). I would sell to my whole team for 15$ a pair when the whole pack could be purchased for 15$. Projects like this were the ones that gave me the most joy and were the early indicators to me that business was my greatest passion. When I was 13 it was shoveling snow for neighbors, when I was 11 it was selling gum to my peers for a quarter per piece in middle school. I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset and due to my unwavering confidence I've never had a reason to think I couldn't excel any endeavor I put my mind to.
My first major project was buying a student rental property on my college campus during my senior year of school. This was something I had thought about doing from the day I moved off campus as a junior and calculating how much my landlord was "making" from renting out his house to my friends and I (of course without ever considering the countless expenses that comes with renting to 8 college football players). From that day on I was obsessed and would regularly look at Zillow with a friend of mine even with both of us not having nearly enough money to buy anything but we would constantly evaluate houses on the market and what the potential cash flow could be. Fast forward 16 months to January of my senior year, after having saved my money from my summer internship and working on the side throughout the school year I one day was doing my routine Zillow search and found a home that felt like everything I was looking for; 5 minutes walk from campus, 3 minute walk from the bar, 6 bedroom, 2200 sq ft, with tons of parking. At the time of finding I was in the spring semester of my senior year and had no idea how i'd finance this deal, the process of buying a home, how much the renovations I'd have to put in, or if I would even have enough time to get it rented for next school year but being who I am the same day without much thought I scheduled a walkthrough and put an offer on the house that night. In a little over 2 months I was able to close on that house and shortly after got it rented for the next school year.
I tell that story for a reason. I tell it because what we believe about ourselves matters more than anything else. The people who think they can and the people who think they can’t are both right. I’ve always been someone who thinks I can. Not because I’ve had it all figured out, but because I’ve never been afraid to start.
Limiting beliefs are the silent killer of potential. Most people never fail because they tried and came up short, they fail because they never truly believed they could. They convince themselves out of action before they’ve even taken the first step. But the truth is, the people who go on to do the greatest things aren’t always the smartest or the most prepared, they’re just the ones who had the audacity to believe it was possible.
Don’t get caught up in “what ifs” or wait until everything is perfect. If you have an idea, act on it. Move fast. Trust that you’ll figure it out along the way. I believe in myself because I’ve trained my mind to default to confidence, not hesitation. And that belief that we’re all capable, that we can learn anything, that we’re not limited by what we were told growing up is the core of how I operate.
That mindset is what launched my journey into entrepreneurship, and it continues to drive everything I do today.