Many people take the hand of cards they are dealt and play them. Unlike many people, JR Rivas took the hand he was dealt and used them to his advantage. JR is a serial entrepreneur who lived in New York with his sister and single mother for most of his life. JR was always in poverty throughout his life and states that as a waitress his mother never made more than $23,000 annually. One of his most impactful moments was when he was 13 and he went to turn on the sink but nothing came out. He was without water for six months so he had to take showers at friends house and wherever else he could. It was at this point that he was devoted to climb out of poverty.
After he graduated high school he decided college was not for him and began his job as a life insurance salesman. He was not too good at making sales so he made the plan to save up $10,000 to purchase a business and then enrolled in a class at H&R Block in order to learn to do taxes. Due to JR being the only person enrolled, the class was cancelled which prompted him to get a job at liberty tax. After a season at Liberty Tax he gained enough knowledge and experience so he purchased the franchise at age 18. He immediately began remodeling and creating a presentable building in the middle of a rough neighborhood. After taking ownership of the franchise he grew the business by sixty percent within the first year. Liberty Tax was impressed by his accomplishment and invited him to New York City to ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq live on CNBC.
He continued to grow his tax businesses and acquired an additional three franchises and grew them by 17 percent. After a year of ownership he decided to sell all his franchises then move down south where he purchased another office. At this point he was offered a job at the corporate office and as much as he enjoyed the experience his entrepreneurial mindset would not allow him to hold a traditional job. After quitting his corporate job he also sold his remaining franchise and began his new venture, a podcast.
With this new podcast he interviewed many different industry experts and eventually he decided to move into social media ads for small businesses. This business quickly took off and soon enough he had created a product for niche clients who wanted to learn how to create and manage ads. After only a month of this new business he had generated an income of $30,000. He had created a form of passive income and was now his own boss, he had reached his goal. As life changing as this money was, JR found more satisfaction out of all the lives he was changing and all the people he was helping.