I remember graduation day. I was so stoked. I was going to walk out of college and get the highest paying job in town. After all, I graduated with honors. Had the degree, the portfolio, the grades to match.

Reality was a slap in the face.

First agency, NO. Second, NO. Third, NOPE. Fourth, NO WAY JOSE. Took me about 30 days to get a no from every agency in Jacksonville. Thirty to forty rejections easy.

I quickly ran out of money. My lease was up, so I sold everything I owned for about $83 and moved to South Florida to live with my sister. Six months in, credit cards stacking, I was eating macaroni and cheese for days. Sometimes just plain bread. I used to drive up to the Florida Turnpike toll booths and pick up the quarters people dropped.

I was ready to quit. Ready to go back to cooking. But for some reason I kept at it. Landed another interview. He said no, and I asked why.

His name was Morris. He didn’t sugarcoat it. The projects in your portfolio are good. They got you in the door. But you don’t have experience. You need to put in the reps.

So I went home and grinded.

Not one site. Ten sites. And not safe ones either. Loud ones. Flash animation. Over the top. Built sites for famous musicians and artists. The first one took forever. The third was faster. By the tenth, I had a system.

I sent out the new portfolio and got hired by an agency. Well, sort of. No pay. I took it. Reps build experience. I learned how they sold, how they pitched, how they billed, how they priced and delivered. I wasn’t just coding websites anymore. I was learning how to run a business.

Balls Out Marketing, Chapter 1: The Mindset