Have you ever been broke? You’re probably thinking there’s more than one way to be broke, and that is certainly true. Most of us have been broke in one way or another, and when we are broken, it is hard to see our strengths or even imagine positive outcomes.
A little over fifteen years ago, one phone call changed my life. I was in my kitchen preparing dinner for my husband and me when the phone rang. It was a police officer calling to tell me my husband had been killed in an accident. That broke me—my heart was broken, my spirit was broken, and to my surprise, my bank account was broken due to gambling debts my husband had kept secret from me.
Having lived through being broke, I was intrigued by the title of Daymond John and Daniel Paisner’s book The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage. Of course, this book focuses on how the power of broke can help entrepreneurs build a business, but I found it to be more than that. The book shares over two-dozen success stories about entrepreneurs from various industries up against all sorts of roadblocks and disadvantages. Again and again the stories illustrate that when we are broke, we need to rely on what we do have. We must dig deep, start from where we are, and trust in ourselves.
Besides being the owner of a $6 billion global fashion company, Daymond John is known as the “People’s Shark” on the hit TV show Shark Tank. He optimizes his Shark Tank fame throughout the book, but this read is not about shiny items or fame. It is about substance over flash, creativity over certainty, and taking a shot over playing it safe.
The book also contains power facts, shark points, and broke‑power principles. The power facts are hard data to help you make difficult decisions, the shark points are concrete steps to success that are illustrated in each individual’s journey, and the broke‑power principles are a recap of lessons learned from the entrepreneurs’ struggles. As if that wasn’t enough, at the end of every story you will find an explanation of the key shark point.
Although packed with information and data, those are not what the reader remembers. What will resonate are the stories of conflict, resilience, resourcefulness, and perseverance. Facts and data inform, but stories engage and influence the reader.
The stories are intended to inspire you to become a solid success. However, Daymond John makes this point abundantly clear: the power of broke only works if you recognize it, tap into it, and put it to work. I could have used that lesson the day I got the phone call that changed my life. Now I know I can use the lesson in my personal life as well as my business life.
Faye Fulton of Training & Communicating is an inspirational speaker, an author, and a professional storyteller. In addition to telling stories at business events and conferences, Faye works with businesses and nonprofit groups by using the power of story to grow the bottom line, increase marketing and fundraising results, and improve customer relationships.
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