My [Uneducated] Aunt Hit Millionaire Status at Age 57. Here’s What She Taught Me.
You don’t win today. You win tomorrow.
My Aunt-in-law has a kind heart.
She gave freely to those in need. Coffee? No need to pay back. Hungry? Come on in. She will buy you a bowl of noodles.
She is a titan.
I say this because,
- She was a middle school dropout (hence, uneducated).
- She raised 3 daughters. 1 became a millionaire at 37.
- She runs 2 coffee houses and is happy with her life.
I was baffled. How did Aunt-in-law make it? I got [really] curious.
And so, I asked her.
She smiled and pushed a cup of coffee towards me.
“Here. This is the answer you seek, young man.”
I stared at it.
I went silent.
The Cactus in the Desert
My Aunt-in-Law is that cactus.
The desert? My mum’s family.
As far as my memories go, they have been unkind to her. My uncles called her names.
- The one with no income.
- An uneducated housewife.
- The lady who makes coffee.
- That auntie who knew nuts about the real world.
I never knew why they did that. It was unkind. And they earned peanuts as odd-job laborers.
My Aunt-in-law [simply] looked away.
“They can say what they want. These big asses have a big mouth and thin wallet. They drop by my coffee house, ask for coffee, and never pay a single dime. Why should I listen to them?”
Aunt-in-law scoffed.
I laughed.
Hardworking Mum, Hardworking Daughter.
“Aunt, how did you get rich? You walked the unconventional path. What is it like?”
My [really] boring cousin, the girl who became a millionaire at age 37, just arrived at the coffee house. She dropped her bag, put on an apron, and swung by to say hi.
It was 7 in the evening. Yan came by after knocking off.
“Hello! You are here! Shall I make you a cup of black coffee! I improved, okay? Try it, try it!”
I chuckled. This baby cousin of mine will always be a baby in my heart.
“Yes, I will, sweetheart.”
She walked back to the drinks store and started doing her work. Life is [really] weird. A Public Prosecutor is busy making my next cup of coffee?
Haha. What a twist.
“Here you go! I will get busy. Enjoy your time here!”
I smiled and said my thanks. Yan disappeared into the background.
“Oh, Aunt. One more question. How did you raise a millionaire at home? Can you adopt me, too?”
We traded laughter bombs.
She was in a good mood.
Build First. Money Will Follow.
“Work hard, dear boy. No one owes you a living. Want to get rich? Commit your sweat.”
This is real talk.
No one I know accumulated wealth without effort.
Of course, I am ignoring folks who have killed it on social media. They lived in a parallel universe I have never seen with my eyes.
My Aunt-in-law continued.
“You grew up with Yan. You saw what she was like. She studied hard. She worked hard. She comes to help me after work. That is commitment. She committed to a better life. You can, too.”
I keep hearing commit, commit, commit.
It’s like the Gospel Truth on a broken recorder.
“How did Yan become so hardworking, Aunt? What did you do to her?”
She looked at her baby, smiled, and got her eyes back at me.
“I remember inheriting this coffee house from my dad when he passed away. It was a hot potato. Unhappy tenants threatened to leave unless I dropped their rental. I had no one to make the coffee. I had to stand in. I was here 20 hours a day.”
That is [really] tough.
“My girls followed me. They grew up in this coffee house. Yan is very hardworking. She would go to school in the morning, come home to change, flip burgers with you, and then come to help me when she was done, and she did her homework here because I was here.”
Millions of thoughts raced through my thoughts at this point. I ran out of words.
My Aunt continued.
“See that table? Yan studied there while I was busy with invoices. She slept there when she was tired, too.”
My cousin was busy building a strong character while I was busy chasing after skirts. Well~
“What about the business, Aunt? How did you build this?”
Aunt looked around. She smiled. This time, her lips touched both ears.
“Dear boy, the answer is… one cup of black coffee at a time.”
She watched me. I was expressionless. I was trying to figure her words out.
Aunt-in-law pushed her cup of coffee toward me.
“This is the source of my wealth and… the result of years of hard work.”
Big Problems. Small Actions.
This time, I kept quiet.
I wanted my Aunt-in-law to talk.
“Your mum’s family is right. I am uneducated. I knew nuts about the world. But I do know what life is like in a coffee house. I grew up here. I made coffee here. I brought customers here. This is my playground.”
It turns out that education and wisdom are 2 different concepts. My uneducated Aunt is wise.
“When the coffee house was in trouble, I focused on what I could do. One cup of coffee at a time. Good coffee keeps customers. Then, I took time to find new tenants. 3 years later, the coffee house got profitable again.”
She was proud. Of course, she should.
“I used profits from my coffee to renovate the space. I added more tables and fans and expanded the car park behind.”
Running a business always sounds easy.
In hindsight, of course.
Aunt-in-law ended with this nugget of wisdom.
“Don’t focus on the money. Focus your energy on building something to pass on to the next generation. That something will generate money for you and your next generation. You will know what to do when you have that thinking. You will.”
Fascinating.
The Close
I know what you are thinking.
“Hey man, your Aunt-in-law said nothing material! She did not mention any specific steps to become a millionaire!”
True. But I say this.
There is no step-by-step manual to get rich. You can get rich by selling that to millions of suckers. Reading that does not get you there.
Life is complex. So is money.
That said, my Aunt-in-law taught me the following.
To get rich, we must focus on,
- Working [really] hard,
- Surround ourselves with hardworking folks,
- Dedicating and committing our lives towards a better future,
- Build generation wealth for our children in mind,
- Stay firm and calm when besieged by naysayers,
- Focus on what we know and get better at it.
And perhaps…
This is why I read and listen to Matt | Financial Imagineer, Denis Gorbunov, and Sarina Chiu for matters relating to online writing. They know what is going on. I don’t.
I learn from those in front.
Do you?
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Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!