I guess this is where it all started. The moment I decided to stop chasing safety and started chasing freedom. This is the blog post that started it all.

The beginnings

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. And not because of the money, but because of the freedom it gives you as an individual.

I remember when my teacher first asked what I wanted to become in life. My answer was simple: “I want to be a businessman.” Her face went from shock to uncontrollable laughter. Bear in mind, this was the 90s, and I was living in an ex-communist country. So even though we were technically living in a democracy, most teachers were ex-communists with the same old mentality. Hearing those words from a child back then was unusual, to say the least. But for some reason, I always felt like I was meant to do something different.

Growing up in Romania was a strange thing for me. I don’t know why, but I never quite fit in. I always felt like the odd one out. I remember reading about Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, and all these successful entrepreneurs from the West. I’d talk about them with my friends, about investing, building, making something real, and they’d look at me like I was crazy. So, in a way, I felt lonely and misunderstood for most of my early life. Until one day, everything changed.

The click

That day came when my partner and I decided to join a student work-and-travel program to the US. I was 21, in my second year of university, studying Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design. We had no money, no plan, just a crazy desire to get out and explore new horizons.

We enrolled in the program, got a job as waitstaff in Larchmont, New York, and off we went. A country we’d never been to. The furthest either of us had ever traveled. Looking back now, that was one of the best decisions we ever made, because that was the moment my mentality shifted. I remember landing at JFK and somehow, it felt like home. I can’t explain it, but for the first time in 21 years, I felt like I belonged.

We stayed there for six months, and during that time, my entire mindset changed. For the first time in my life, everything seemed possible. That “American Dream” everyone talked about? I had a small taste of it, and it hooked me. I went from a country where everyone told me that life was hard and dreams were unrealistic, to a place where people believed the opposite, that anything was possible if you worked for it. That experience redefined who I was. When I came back to Romania, I knew something had to change.

The hustle

After returning from the US, I spent the next three years chasing my dreams and trying to build a business. I blew all the money I’d saved working in America, around $3,000, on a platform called Pick Ideas. I thought it would be the next big thing since sliced bread. Spoiler: it wasn’t. I remember sitting alone in my living room the day we launched, waiting for users to show up. No one did.

I was ambitious, but I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t understand marketing, product development, or market research. I had zero clue how to actually run a business. All I had was pure will, and unfortunately, that doesn’t always pay off like it does in the movies. I failed business after business until I went bankrupt.

So, I took another leap of faith and moved to London. I worked full-time for a year, then opened my own consultancy. Finally, things started to click. I began working with big clients, earning good money, investing, and for the first time, things were finally moving. I had caught the wave I’d been chasing for years. But there was still one problem: I was selling time for money.

I was chasing financial freedom, but I was doing it the wrong way. Over the next few years, instead of growing, I got stuck in the consultancy loop, one contract after another. Another trap. Only this time, it was self-inflicted.

The awakening

I kept consulting and dabbling in different projects for almost a decade. I was terrified of losing it all, so I couldn’t say no to new work. Then life hit me with the hardest punch I could imagine.

My wife got very sick while pregnant with our son. She had to deliver early, and our baby was born extremely premature. We spent months in the hospital, living day by day. And just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, we found out she needed major heart surgery, and possibly, a transplant.

My life was falling apart in front of me. And the worst part? The money I was making was tied to my time. Between hospital visits, I was chasing invoices and managing deadlines. I was fighting two battles at once, one at work and one for my family’s life. And this didn’t last a few weeks; it lasted over a year.

That’s when I finally said, enough is enough. That was the moment I promised myself I’d never tie my time to my income again. Life was hard, and because of my inaction and fear, I had made it even harder.

But through God’s grace, things turned out well. As I’m writing this, my son is growing strong and healthy. My wife’s heart surgery went perfectly. And somehow, I made it through without losing my mind. Not only that, but mentally, I feel stronger than ever.

The future

So what’s next? Honestly, I have no idea. All I know is that I’ll keep chasing my goals and sharing the journey along the way, hoping to inspire others who are on a similar path. I don’t know if it’ll be easy or hard, but one thing’s for sure, I’m going to make the most of it.