I called my mom from the supply closet the first time I had ever made $200 in a single day.

It was a Friday night. I was waitressing at Drakes, a job I was totally unqualified to work but had somehow convinced the managers I would be a great server even with no experience. I fucked up SO many orders and checks that first month.

With an apron full of 20’s and a smile on my face, I was squeeling: “Mom, this is like office-job money. Like big girl money. Someone get me a pantsuit!”

 You would have thought I had won the lottery. It felt like it.

I was 21. I had no kids, no responsibilities. I could live on this money for weeks if I played my cards right.  And if I played em REALLY right…I could buy my friends’ drinks at SideBar. (Thankful for the BFF special, IYKYK)

I remember that day perfectly. It was fall. There was a UK football game against the Gators. I was wearing a UK headband. I had olive juice running down my shirt from a martini mishap. If I think hard enough, I can almost smell that day.

$200 dollars. In one day. I couldn’t believe it.

It’s been 12 years since that record-breaking day. My highest sales day now is somewhere around $170,000 dollars. What’s significant about this is that I don’t even really know what the number is: 169k? 180k? 173k? Idk. Or what date I hit it. Or where I was standing when I found out. Or what season it was. Or which football team was playing when I hit it. I’m sure I could find it in my accounting books somewhere.

Because you see, being “successful” isn’t nearly as thrilling as the journey and hardships required to achieve it.

When successful people sit around a table, do you know what they talk about? They talk about the grind. Starting from the bottom. The hardships. The rejections. The people who told them they couldn’t. The failures. The breakdowns. The long nights and early mornings.

The beauty is in the hard.

The beauty is in everything on the timeline before it got easier.

If you’re in the grind..look around. Soak it in. Smell the olive juice. This isn’t your enemy. This is your story. ❤️💪