From Sleeping in a Restaurant to a Rental Empire — My Real Story

In 2013 I landed in Boston with nothing. No money. No connections. No English. My first place to sleep was the back of a restaurant.

In this episode I tell the full story. Not the highlights. Not just the success.

The restaurant floor. The hunger. The corporate job I crushed at AT&T. How I became the number one sales rep in my entire region. The moment I walked away from a six figure salary. And how I went from zero to owning 11 rental properties and running a construction business with 35 employees.

If you are building from zero — immigrant or not — this one is for you.

Drop a comment on YouTube and tell me where you are right now in your journey. I read every single one.

🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8CSYEB6zafI?si=Zk9WIMSOonmt0Vpf

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Landing in Boston With Nothing
02:30 Sleeping in the Back of a Restaurant
04:00 Finding AT&T and Crushing Sales
06:00 Becoming Number One Sales Rep
07:30 Why I Walked Away From a Six Figure Salary
09:00 Getting Into Real Estate
10:30 Starting the Construction Business
11:45 The Hardest Part of the Journey
12:30 What I Would Tell Myself on Day One

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In 2013, I landed in Boston with nothing. No money, no connections, no family here in the United States. I did not speak really good English that I could get in a deeper conversation. And I didn't have a place to stay. And I didn't have a full plan how I'm gonna make it in America. So I came on a program, a culture exchange program, and after the program ended, I made the biggest decision of my life at 20 years old to stay in America and chase the American dream. Now that journey was not easy, and it started by me working in a restaurant, pizza shop, and sleeping in the back of that restaurant. And I remember waking up every morning, cleaning that restaurant, getting it ready before, because that was my task, before anybody shows up, clients or my co-workers. And I remember asking myself, is this what I left Egypt for? And I want to tell you the story today, the full story, not the highlights, not just the success. The restaurants, the jobs I had, what was going in my head, what made me push through, getting a corporate job and crushing it, the moment I walked away from a six-figure salary, and how I went from zero to owning multiple companies to owning real estate rentals, portfolio, and a construction business. Because I think people want to hear the real version. Because there's a huge value in knowing real stories and what people go through. I personally enjoy listening to people's stories because you can learn so much from it than just what the success they have. And very few people really understand what it takes. So when I landed in America, I came to Boston first. And a funny story, you know, Boston people known for having an accent. So I learned like British English in school, and I remember I texted my English teacher, Oh, what you taught me this year is does not work here, right? People sound different. It didn't take me very long till I started picking up on the accents and what do people mean. I didn't know really anyone. I didn't have a whole lot of money. I had just enough. We arranged a place to stay on that program, and then I had enough to get a bike. My first purchase was a bicycle, so I can buy from the place I was staying to work. But then after the program ended, I went into the journey of like staying in America and I worked in a pizza shop. And I was very, very grateful for that pizza shop back then because it gave me money and it gave me a place to stay. Even though the place to stay was at the back of the restaurant, there was a small room, and I was very grateful for this job. The reason is because it gave me what I need to survive, it gave me pay and it gave me a place to stay. Although that place to stay was in the pizza shop in a small room they had, but it's something, and I was very grateful for that then. But the reality was a lot harder for a 20-year-old me that back then I did not expect. I was sleeping in the restaurant, I would wake up, clean up before people come in, or any you know, clients come in, get the restaurant ready, prepare it for you know the owner when he shows up. And um, I remember I was I would sit there in the morning and ask myself, is that really what I left Egypt for? Left school, left everything? And I was like, like, no, no, no. Is that what I left my family, my country, everyone for to come here to work in this pizza shop and sleep here? But here is the thing. I never in these moments believed or thought that that was my life is gonna be like, or the ending. I knew that was just what I had to do at this time to get where I want to be. I had that drive and hunger inside me that I could not explain. I knew I was gonna do more, God willing. I just didn't know how or where to start from yet. Looking at it now, that feeling was the most valuable thing I had. More valuable than money, more valuable than the connections that a lot of people have because it kept me moving, it kept me going, it kept me dreaming, while everything else around me and my surroundings was saying to stop, quit, give up, this is too hard, and go back. After the restaurant, I kept uh things have gotten a little bit better for me after a year. I was able to get a job in a cell phone company to be a sales rep. And I remember walking into this interview and I was nervous. Not nervous because of the interview or what question they will ask me, like mostly what people are nervous for in an interview. All what I could think about, are they really gonna pay me what they're saying they're gonna pay me? I think they posted like 11 or 12 an hour because coming from where I came from and the jobs I had, you learned fast that not everybody keeps their word. But I got the job, and I remember in an interview I asked him, I was like, so it says here you guys will pay me $12 an hour plus commission. Are you gonna give me all that money? Is there something? And he was like, What where do you think you're working at? We're a big cell phone company. And um, after that we became friends and he laughed. But I just didn't know if I could trust that they would really pay me what they're saying, or they just want to get me in to do labor and uh and not pay. And what happened next surprised even me. I was good at sales, I was really good. I think part of that was working in you know, in a building like that. There's AC, not outside in the rain, or you know, sleeping in that place, and they actually talk about like you know, giving you benefits and insurance and you have rights, and there's HR. And I think part of it too was I was just hungry and driven in a way people around me were not. I was not working for extra money or because it's like something to pay for the weekends, it was because I had to, and there was no any other options but to. I came their number one sales rep, not just in my location, in all the east coast locations for the whole year. And I won a big trip uh with the VP and everybody, and everybody knew me like I was a celebrity from just how these numbers were possible. Somebody do that. And to be honest, I don't think I was talented. I mean, everybody else there had probably an advantage than I did. They speak the language better, it's their place, it's their town, they have friends that send friends, but I had more better advantage than they did. I had that drive, I had that hunger. They did not. I remember I would stay right in front of the door, waiting for the next customer to walk in. What were they? Where were they? A lot of times they were in the back on their phones. Just so what? Omar will get the client. Then after that, I got promoted, then promoted again till I became an area manager. The money was good, better than I've ever seen. And for a moment I thought that was it. I made it. This is the dream dream. They gave you a company car, vacation, everything. Things I didn't even know exist. But something kept bothering me. The more time I spent in the corporate world, the more I realized something that changed it for me. Hard work and talent can only take you so far in this world. After that, it becomes more about who you know, who fits more into the system, and that was just not built for people like me. And then I had a realization that I think about all the time till now that time is the only thing you cannot make more of. Money we can lose and we can make it back. Opportunities come and go. But every day that passes is gone forever. And I was building all my time away from my family, so I was paying a higher price because my family was in Egypt. I'm not spending time with them, I'm here, but building somebody else's dream. At that moment, I knew I had to leave. And when I would go and ask them for a vacation to spend more time with my family, they would say, Well, well, you have vacations. But they had to decide, and I just couldn't take that. I couldn't take that somebody else, after spending seven years away from my family, finally being able to go see them, somebody else tells me no. Somebody tells me, Well, you cannot. And I was like, What in the future? I need to go for any reason. I have to come and ask permission. I just couldn't simply take that. And I knew that I had to go and build something on my own. And to be honest, leaving it wasn't easy. I want to be honest about that. Right, you know. It was uh it took me three years to really finally make that leap between working with them and working on my business on the side. When you're making a good money and you're into the system and I was there with them for eight years, you have a title, people respect you, people tell you have they look up to you, that's what they want to get to with the company. Walking away of not to mention, you know, getting rid of that mindset because from where I come from, that's like is the dream. You work for a company, you move up, and you stay there till you retire. You know, they gave you pension for 1k, all that good stuff. So walking away from that at that time felt like crazy, right? So that's why it took me a little bit longer, but I always knew I was gonna leave. Everybody around me, some of my good friends that work for that company told me I'm unappreciative for the company or I uh uh I'm crazy, something is wrong with me. But that time I had to start learning about real estate, and the more I learned, the more I understood something fundamental. You can own things, and when you own things, those things work for you when you are not working. I started with one property, I studied everything I could about how to analyze a deal, how to find a deal, what is a deal, how to run numbers, how to call, what to say, how to structure a contract, and I learned all that in a very small period of time. And then I bought another one. But here's where my story took a turn, most people don't expect. And when I got in real estate, I realized that renovation was one of the toughest parts in real estate where investors get destroyed, there is issues, people are afraid to make deals, and I saw an opportunity to provide value after doing so many deals, understanding how to communicate, how to work, actually skills I learned from my previous jobs, running multiple locations. I saw the opportunity to provide the service renovation for real estate investors that actually gets the job done. So I started Mr. Property Remodeling, and today this company grew to over 30 people working for it, over 50 projects last year, and it can feed directly into the real estate rental portfolio because we can renovate our own deals. So, one decision build two businesses. And people ask me what is the hardest part of your journey? And I'll tell you, it was not the language barrier, it was not not having money, and it was not building the business. The hardest part was not going back to see my family for seven years. But I've made a decision when I was 20 years old that going back was not an option until I become someone, until I have something I show for as a man by myself. Not for anyone else, but for myself. I owe it to myself. So every hard day that went by in this journey, every rejection, every mistake, those moments actually were doing something to me that I didn't realize till now. 13 years after, they were building me. If I could go back to talk to myself on that first night sleeping in the restaurant, I would say this. These are the moments that will make you. Every hard thing you're going through right now is building the foundation for everything that comes next. Let it make you tough. Let it make you even hungrier. Let it make you the person you're fighting for to become. Because that drive and hunger, that is your advantage. I'm sharing this story because I know someone right now in their own version of that, in their own version of that restaurant. Maybe you're working a job that does not feel enough. Maybe you left everything familiar to you to build something special. Maybe here in America you left your country and you came here and you are questioning if it's worth it. Maybe somebody who's close to give up. I want you to know the fact that you're still here, still watching, still learning. That means you have the same thing I had, I had, and I still have. That drive, that hunger. And that is more than enough for you to make it. This channel exists because I needed a GPS when I was starting, and nobody gave me one. I want to be that for you. Real numbers, real stories, real experience. Subscribe so you do not miss what's coming and drop a comment below. Tell me where you are in your journey right now. I read every single one, and I'll see you all on the next one.