I remember one day feeling genuinely disappointed in myself.

Not sad. Not down. Frustrated. Honestly, kind of angry. The kind of anger that comes from knowing you're capable of something more and not being able to figure out what it is yet.

Here's the thing that made it complicated — I wasn't failing. By most measures I was doing fine. I was in college. I was investing and it was working. I had started two small companies, tried different things, learned a ton. From the outside, things looked okay.

But something was missing. Not results. Not money. Purpose.

I felt like I wasn't providing real, meaningful value to the people I was supposed to serve. Like I was doing a lot of things but not the right thing. Like I was running hard but on a treadmill — moving, but not actually going anywhere that mattered.

That feeling stuck around for a season. And then one day, something shifted.

The Question That Changed Everything

I heard a line that stopped me cold.

It basically asked: what is the single most valuable thing you know how to do — that you do well — that could actually make a real difference in someone's life?

Not what do you want to do. Not what sounds cool. Not what might make money eventually. What is the most valuable thing you actually know how to do, right now, that could genuinely help someone?

The question hit me hard. I sat with it for a minute and realized I didn't have a clean answer yet. So I decided to go figure it out.

I walked outside. It was the middle of summer — hot, probably over 90 degrees. I was thinking and walking and turning the question over, and I was climbing up over a fence when the answer just landed.

It was actually simple. Two things.

The Two Things

The first one was immediate and clear: talk about God. Share my faith. Talk about Jesus and what I believe. That is the most valuable thing I know. It's why I wear a cross every single day. If you ever want to talk about God, I will happily talk with you about that for as long as you want. That one was obvious the moment I asked the question.

The second one surprised me a little.

The stock market.

I had been investing for years. I knew how it worked. I knew that it worked. And I also knew that the vast majority of regular people — people my age, people just starting out — had absolutely no idea where to begin. Not because investing is complicated. But because nobody had ever shown them in a way that actually made sense. So they weren't doing it. And that was costing them something real, even if they couldn't see it yet.

And I thought — I can fix that. That's the thing I know. That's the gap I can close.

That was it. That was the answer.

The Day Stock Market Starters Was Born

Climbing over that fence in the heat was the day Stock Market Starters became real.

Not from a business plan. From a question about what actually matters and what I actually know.

I want to be honest about something, because I think it's important. It wasn't about making money. I mean, yes, I want to build something sustainable — that's real. But the reason I started this wasn't because I thought it was my ticket to something. It was because I genuinely believe that if I can teach someone how to invest wisely, in a way that fits their life and their goals and what they can actually do, that changes their life. Not a little. Meaningfully.

Most people are going to retire one day with most of their wealth locked in house equity they can't touch without selling or borrowing. Most people are going to trade hours for dollars their whole career and never build something that pays them back. Not because they're not smart or not hardworking. Because nobody taught them a better way.

That's the problem I want to solve. That's what Stock Market Starters is for.

What I Built

Fast forward from that fence to now.

I built the First Stock Challenge. It's a free, three-day challenge — 90 minutes a day — designed to give you the education, the implementation tools, and the knowledge you need to actually start investing for yourself. Not someday. Now.

The whole idea behind it is simple: the simplest possible path from never having invested to knowing exactly how to pick your first stock and get started. No fluff. No overwhelming amounts of information. Just what you actually need to take the first real step.

I also built AI tools to make it even easier — because one of the biggest barriers people face isn't willingness, it's the research and the overwhelm. If I can use technology to cut the learning curve down dramatically, that's what I'm going to do.

But it all started with that question on a hot summer day, climbing over a fence, asking myself what actually matters.

Why I'm Telling You This

Because I think a lot of people are in the same spot I was.

You know you want to do something more with your money. You know you should probably be investing. You've thought about it. Maybe you've even looked into it a little. But it feels complicated, or the timing isn't right, or you don't have enough yet, or you're just not sure where to start.

And you stay stuck. Not because you don't care — but because nobody has given you a clear, simple path forward.

That's what I built the First Stock Challenge for. Not for people who already know what they're doing. For people exactly where you are — curious, willing, and just needing someone to show them the way.

If that's you, the link is below. Come join us. Three days, completely free, and it might be the most useful thing you do for your financial future this year.

The most valuable thing I know how to do is teach you this. So let me do that.

Click here to learn about the First Stock Challenge

​P.S. I made a video about this story too. Check it out here: