My Story
Welcome to the story of me, myself, and I, Torrey Brothers. I was born and raised in a very small country town called Norlina, NC, located not too far from Raleigh-Durham. My mother was a driven and determined school teacher and my father was a hard working white collar plant manager at a local warehouse. At the age of 9, my parents divorced leaving my mom to raise me alone until she remarried four years later. Because my mother was such a no mess parent and no nonsense teacher, I graduated from high school with high expectations from my family and friends. Everyone predicted that I was going to be great at whatever I did in life. As a matter of fact, I was awarded “Most Likely to Succeed” in the senior superlative by my classmates.
After high school, I attended North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC. A whole new world opened for me and boy did it bring me a different perspective to how I was going to embrace life. College life was the best! School became such a wonderful social opportunity for me, that after my freshmen year, I begin to focus more on the college life and less on academics. This was not the idea that my mother had for me being that she was paying for my education out of her own pocket because I didn’t qualify for financial aid. After spending my freshman year getting the good grades, I was ready to party like a rock star! I dedicated my sophomore year to fun-filled days and hard working nights! My sophomore year I was constantly on academic probation and was still trying to figure out how to help my mom with my education. I ended up having to give up school temporarily, for a couple of semesters, so I could work full time and get myself in a position to support myself . When I did go back to school I still struggled to keep my grades up because of bad choices. For the next 4 years I was in and out of school and finally after so much sacrificing, my mother was to the point where she couldn’t afford to help me pay for my tuition any longer. I really wanted to finish school and accomplish that task without limitations, therefore, I turned to the streets and the school of hard knocks to help finance my education and personal life. I have to admit, when fast money is being made, consequences are not in the equation or one’s psyche, just the desire to keep getting paid and building up what I thought was a world of opportunity!
Life was good! I wasn’t working in no ones structured company, I was my own boss and I was in school full-time trying to finish what I started. The money was coming in so fast and at unbelievable rates, that I lost all of my focus and had gotten addicted to the fast life. Originally hustling was suppose to be my way to independence and a vessel to simply pay for my tuition. Even though I was moving fast and furious, I still managed to finally, in December of 2000, graduate from College with a Bachelors degree in Occupational Safety and Health. Whew, but little did I know at the time that I wouldn’t be able to use that degree and that my life was about to take a major transition to true reality.
Summer 2002, everything that I had obtained and was striving for was taken from me in a blink of an eye. Reality became fierce and my world felt as though it was crumbling down. As with any person thinking that they are above the law and will never get caught, I inevitably, got in major trouble with the law and my squeaky clean record and presence was forever tainted. Because of my careless actions, I now had a permanent identity scar that would shadow me for the rest of my life, even though this was my first offense. Everything I had was taken from me, my home, my cars, my money and even a part of my freedom. I am not one to let bad situations in life direct my path, therefore after serious readjustments with my thought process, I was forced to start over from scratch. I was so ashamed, embarrassed, and disgusted with myself and my circumstance, that it became more and more of a challenge to not go backwards. I had destroyed my whole career before it even got started,but I was determined to make it work. I cleaned myself up and searched for an opportunity in my field, but that scar followed me like a shadow. No one would even look at me once they knew about my history. I was forced to sit back and strategize a better way.
By this time it was 2005, and my mother purchased me the Carlton Sheets course. I begin looking at real estate as the vehicle to carry me to financial freedom. I got into the real estate game and jumped in feet first! Initially I struggled, but after falling forward several dozen times, I finally got a break. On my first deal I scored $8K! Bam! It felt great to finally get some positive results from all of the hard work. Over the next several years I completed more deals and made more money.
As the years went by and the economy begin to crumble, so did my checks. So I sat down and researched the best way to create residual income. From years of working in the real estate business, I knew that residual income is what it’s all about. Residual income creates wealth and financial freedom. This is what the big dogs were doing, buying assets that paid a hefty residual income. I knew I could make residual income from rental properties, but how long would it take me to create a $10,000/mo residual income from rental properties? Too long for me to wait. But I found out that using network marketing as the vehicle, I could create a residual income of $10,000/mo in a very short time frame if I really dedicated myself. No tenants to worry about, no repairs, no vacancies, no law suits, none of those things I was concerned about in the real estate business. At this point, I made up my mind that I would put 100% into my home-based business.
“What drives me?” I had to prove to myself that I can be successful, even with the odds stacked against me. I don’t want to be just another statistic! I had to prove to myself that my mother raised a great man, that her work wasn’t in vain. I’m the father of 4 boys and a step-daughter, so I have to be an example to them. This is my “Why”. This is my daily motivation.
Network marketing and real estate investing has provided me with another chance! This business doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t care what you did years ago or whether you have a Phd or GED. I’m so blessed to have been introduced to one of the greatest home-based businesses around! This business has taken care of me financially! I want to thank God for strengthening me and thank my family for believing in me.
Thank You,
