How Quitting My Job Changed My Life in 2 Years | 057

Justin Martin shares his two-year journey of quitting his job to become his own boss, highlighting the incredible freedoms and control it offers. He discusses the benefits of flexible scheduling, environment control, and the importance of starting early to achieve independence.

Transcript

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Well, today's a pretty big day for me because it's June 22nd, 2026, and um, you know, of course, I'm gonna keep track of this date. I don't expect you guys to keep track of this date, but this is officially the two-year anniversary of me quitting my job and going full-time with my own companies. Now that's pretty dang cool. Now I was super nervous to do this in the first place because you know who wants to leave a nice cushy job where you make low six figures every year and you have your health insurance, and you know, you know that check is coming every week or every two weeks, you know, and it's it's safe, it's comfortable. That being said, I do want to go over a few things in this video that I think are the best, the top reasons why being my own boss has been so incredible. All right. And you know, I'm not gonna, you know, do a whole bash on my ex-employer or anything like that. It has nothing to do with that, it's just different when you're working for yourself versus working for someone else. And so I've made a little list, I've got it right here in the right in front of me here, so that way I can kind of keep track of what it is I'm talking about, stay on topic, and all that stuff. And the first thing is I get to make my own work schedule. So if I want to schedule a meeting, I schedule a meeting. If I want to stay up and work till 4 a.m. and then sleep in until one o'clock, I can do that. I get to absolutely dictate my workload. Now, of course, I gotta make money, I gotta make my bills and all that kind of stuff. But fortunately for me, I was able to build this thing to a point where I'm I'm able to operate the way that I want to operate. And I have trained my customers to do business with me the way that I want to do business, and that's a huge thing that I tell people all the time is people will do business with you the way that you want to do business. Always remember that. Okay, so if you train your customers to take advantage of you, they will take advantage of you. If you train them that, hey, this is how I operate, and they know that, they know that's how you operate, and you can just keep doing business the way that you want to do business. So that's one little part of it. But that segues into a much bigger thing. That segues into this, which is I get to take vacation whenever I want. So, guys, I get to take vacations whenever I want. If I'm feeling like going out and you know, going to Gatlinburg for the weekend, or if I say, hey, let me catch a quick flight to whatever and see a game somewhere if I was into that kind of thing. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter what it is. I get to do that and not worry about, oh my God, are they gonna be short-staffed? Are they gonna be this? Are they gonna be that? I don't have to think about any of that stuff. It's my business. As long as my customers are taken care of and I've organized it the way that I want to organize it and it's good to go, we're set. I don't have to worry about it at all. And this whole conversation kind of came up because my girl and I are sitting at the dining room table and we're discussing things. She is now fully remote. She works from home now, which is awesome. And it's great because I just kind of started the conversation by making a joke like, Hey, you sick of me yet? You know, because she sees a whole lot more of me now. And so we have to give each other our space. You know, people need their own space, and that's okay. Uh, so being that, oh being that she's home all the time and I'm home a lot of times, we, you know, we make sure we make time for ourselves, which is great. Hence, I'm out here on the golf cart just cruising around, enjoying this hot day, you know, um, getting out of the house, getting out of her hair for a little bit. And that's just because I can. Again, I get to make my own schedule. There's nothing else I gotta be doing except making this video, talking to you, which is technically kind of part of my work in a weird way, but that is what I get to do right now, just because I decided I wanted to do it. Now, also with her being uh fully remote, she gets to work from anywhere she wants. If she's got a good internet connection, she can basically work from wherever she wants, which is awesome because I can kind of do the same thing, being that my trailer rental business operates pretty much 100% remote because of the way that I've set everything up, as well as the trailer hustle type content and the brand partnerships and all that that I have. I get to just load up with content over the course of maybe, I don't know, a month, and then I can just space it out. And now I've got content that's going for the next month, and I've planned it and it's good to go, and I don't have to worry about it. All I have to do is get on my phone and respond to a few inquiries now, and then that's it. And it works out great. It's really uh, you know, her being remote has been great for our relationship as well because we get to do so much more stuff together. It's like, well, we don't have to worry about planning for a day off or here or there or whatever. You know, we we get to do what we want. Now, here's the other thing. I don't within that, I can take vacations when I want, which is awesome. But within that, I don't have to go and ask another adult for permission to use time I have accrued or to use my contractually approved or given vacation time or whatever you want to call it. I get to just do what I want. The freedom is incredible, it is certainly the number one thing. Okay, the number one thing about being your own boss, being self-employed is absolutely the freedom to do the stuff you want to do. Okay, it is it's incredible. It does not get any better than this. It's awesome. Okay. So the next thing is kind of talking about freedom and commuting and all that kind of stuff and doing stuff. I don't have any more commute to work anymore. I get to wake up and I'm at work. Now, I had a 30-minute drive to work every day when I was still employed two years ago. Okay, I was working in Orange Park, I live in Jacksonville, it was a 30-minute drive. If the bridge wasn't stacked and you had no idea what was gonna happen, there were traffic, sometimes it'd be an hour or an hour and a half. But let's just assume best case scenario, perfect traffic, 30 minutes a day. Guys, that's each way. All right, that is five hours a week. That's 20 hours a month of just driving in the truck on my way to work. What could you do with an extra 20 hours a month? Drop in the comments, what would you do if you had unrestricted 20 additional hours per month? Would you get more sleep? Would you uh I don't know, uh work out more? Would you uh do more meal prep? Would you spend more time watching your favorite show? Would you read more? You got 20 hours a month to do something. You know, would you finish that project truck you've been working on? You saw this house things, it's unlimited. 20 hours a month is uh man, especially when you're busy like I am. I mean, I plan my days, what feels like in 15 minute intervals. So you give me 20 extra hours a month, an hour a day? Crazy. So anyway, so that's huge. That's a that's a huge thing. Now, the other thing is too, just kind of the the principle of it in in your gut, when you know you're making somebody else money, that's the thing that drives me kind of nuts. You know, I understand you got to make the government their money, whatever, that's all fine, good. But when you're making somebody else money, especially in me with me when I was in sales, you know, I could look at how much I did in sales, like, oh yeah, you sold uh one and a half million dollars in product, and you know, your your uh commission was this, and your profits were, you know, on your gross profit on everything was this sold and what great. I can sit there and look at how many millions of dollars I've made a company over the course of a 10-year career with them and just be depressed. Now, sure, that company developed that opportunity, they developed that company, they developed those processes, they developed that whole thing for me to be able to operate, earn a living while also shaking their hand and saying, hey, you're gonna profit off of my existence and my work within your company. Totally understand that relationship. I respect that relationship. I have no issue with that. However, the more that I participated in that system, the more I did not want to be a part of it. The more I realized, well, if I go through the hard work and the struggles and the BS of building something like that, why can't I just do that for myself? And so that's what I did. I'm not gonna keep making other people a bunch of money. I'm gonna make myself a bunch of money as much as I possibly can anyway. And sure, I'm not gonna have the same kind of cap or ceiling to make money as they did right now. But if I keep working hard and keep building my things that I want to do, then I'm gonna do it. And also, I got an extra 20 hours a month now. I could get another project started and see what happens with that. I have more time. We see that comment all the time about oh, it's not enough hours of the day. You gained 20 hours. I did anyway. Some of you guys drive way more than I did for work. You know, think about it. If you drive an hour each way every single day, you're adding double the amount of time that I just talked about. So, guys, it's that is a huge thing for me is getting a lot of my time back, my cherishable, perishable, irreplaceable time. So important to me. Now, another really cool thing is I get to control my environment. Now, this is big. A lot of people probably don't understand this the way that I intend it. And I'm not gonna do a good job probably of explaining it, but I get to control my environment, which means if I want to listen to music, I get to listen to music. I don't have to worry about a customer interrupting me or my boss being like, why do you have headphones in or any of these wacky things like that? If I want to put on some low lighting and kind of have it dark in the house and you know have that type of mood, I can do that. If I want to put on the TV and listen to it or watch a movie while I work, I can do that. I get to control my environment. If I want to take a lunch break or stop working for a minute and go outside and, you know, water my grass or get a chore done or go to lunch with my mom or go to lunch with friends that maybe I haven't seen in a while. I get to do that. It is absolute freedom. It is awesome. Controlling your environment is uh is a very, very, very, very big thing. Um, it's a very big selling point to wanting to be your own boss. You don't understand uh until you're out of it what it felt like while you were in it, if that makes sense. Like it takes it takes a little bit of of being separated from the bullshit of working for somebody else and that kind of thing, in order for you to realize, like, holy crap, I haven't breathed or felt comfortable or whatever correctly in this role in five years, you know, or whatever it is. But when you really, I mean, at first it feels like a vacation, then when you really get settled in, then it's like scary. You go through the scary phase, like, holy shit, it's all on me now. And then you just you just keep going. I was setting these little benchmarks for myself, like, all right, if I can make it to December, let me make it through the holidays. If I gotta go back to work, I gotta go back to work, fine. Then it was like, let me see if I can make it six more months. Let me see if we can make it six more months. Now, here I am today on year two. Okay, today is the second, the two-year anniversary of me telling my boss, yeah, I think this is it for me. See you later. You know, and it's incredible, it's incredible. And I'm sure some of you guys are watching this that have already been able to do this and already get that satisfaction of it. Awesome. I am super happy for you guys, and I hope that other people that are watching this now that if that's your dream or your goal to do that, I hope you get to do it because it is absolutely awesome. And I hope that you get to it to experience it. Speaking of environment, and this is something that some of y'all are gonna be like, the hell is he talking about this for? Whatever, it is what it is. Speaking of environment, I don't know about you guys, but you know, I got some tummy problems sometimes. I have EPI, my pancreas doesn't excrete enzymes to break down food. I promise there's a point here, but my pain, I have pancreatic issues, so sometimes I have these uh troubles and I gotta go to the bathroom, okay? Who who likes using the bathroom anywhere other than their house? This is real talk, guys. I get to use my own bathroom anytime I want. I don't have to worry about being at work, being in being in some other building, right? And you know, co-workers and customers knocking on the door and bugging me, and you know, whatever. Man, it's it's it's again, it's such a small thing, but man, is it a big thing? Being able to say use your own bathroom, use your own kitchen, go grab your own bottle of water. You're not having to have a shared space of a refrigerator with you know 25 other people, 30 other people, whatever it is, depending on where you work, or working out of your truck or something like that with a little cooler, or having to find a gas station somewhere to use a restroom or buy a snack or something. I'm at home. It's awesome. And again, that might be a no-nothing thing for a lot of y'all watching this, but that's a huge thing for me. So uh yeah, this is just one of one of those things. Now, here is another thing that is huge to me. Now, I loved my coworkers, I loved my work, I loved my job. But I've said in previous videos that we have to remember you are a number on a page. And unfortunately, a lot of times that does go for your coworkers as well. Even the ones that seem like they're your best friend, even the ones that you can't wait to go see in the next day. All right, even the ones that you occasionally see outside of work, right? And you guys go to dinner and you do stuff, y'all hang out sometimes, or when there's a company event or outing, you always gravitate towards one another and you kind of hang out and you kind of click up. Even those people, most of these people that you are friends with or friendly with, or any of those examples just gave at work, they will never talk to you again. They won't reach out to see how you're doing, they won't call you, they will lose your number. And it sucks. I mean, they may even tell stories about you after you leave, you know, funny stories like, hey, remember when Justin did this? Or oh my God, yeah, this there was this guy, Justin, that worked here that did it. Right, those stories exist. That's just that's awesome. But you don't have to deal with any of their stuff anymore. You don't have to deal with superficial relationships anymore. You don't have to worry about who are you gonna piss off today? You don't have to worry about, oh, did I tell an offensive joke today? Oh my god, HR is gonna get involved, or oh my god, I offended somebody, right? You don't have to worry about that stuff, it's your business. Now, you do, of course, have to worry about the consequences of your actions and all that stuff with your own business, and you can ruin the reputation of your own company. That is certainly uh something that could happen. But when it comes to just telling a stupid joke, I'm man, I could make an entire episode of this show or make an entire video all about just you know jokes that I've made or comments that I've made with my crude, stupid, kind of sometimes dark, but generally really good sense of humor. And yes, I was very conceited how I said that, but truly, I've got a great sense of humor. I am a funny person, all right? I I enjoy being funny, I enjoy making people laugh, and sometimes, honestly, I enjoy shocking people and watching them go like, whoa, man, like I can't believe he just said that. At the same time, I know how to be professional, I know when it's time to be professional, I know how to turn it off and on um within reason. But that being said, I don't have to worry about somebody taking something I said wrong or being artificially mad about it or offended about it. I don't have to worry about any of that crap. Okay. I get to create the circles that I want to create and just live in them. Now, there's a laundry list of other things that I could certainly add to this list of, I guess, seven or eight things that I just said regarding, you know, why I am happy that I'm my own boss and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, these are the bulk of them. A lot of it has to do with the freedom, a lot of it has to do with the control that I have over my future, over my day, over my relationships. It's it's very, very nice having that. You know what I mean? Being in control of your own future, being in control of what your again, what your day looks like. Like all these things I just said, it's it's terrific. And a lot of y'all had a a lot of people, I should say, commented and messaged me about a line I said in the video that was uh my basic trailer rental setup that I posted. And everybody was just simply saying, like, dude, the the line I said was, I have a shitload of freedom. That was the line I said. And so many people reached out to me saying, dude, that's what I need. That's that struck a chord with me. And it's true, it's absolutely true. Now, I'll probably make a follow-up video because it's not all rainbows and sunshine or whatever analogy you want to use, um, or whatever that's called, it's not all that, okay? There is certainly things that do suck about being your own boss. It can be lonely, it can be this, it can be that, it can be scary, whatever. I will make a follow-up video. So this is part one. Part two will tell you guys the things that I didn't expect, or the things that I don't like, or the things that are hard to deal with and cope with sometimes. I will make a video all about that. But if you are setting a goal for yourself to become your own boss, to grow your side hustle into your full-time hustle, or whatever it is, if that's a goal you have, I want you to work very hard. You have to work very hard to get to it. And also start now because if you wait until something's going bad at work and you're like, man, I gotta get out of this place, or whatever it is. Well, if you start then, you're you're not gonna have the time to be mentally proficient enough. You're gonna be dr you're gonna be dragging at work and hating life at work all because of you wanting to get out of there, and then you're not gonna have the mental um capacity to properly grow something behind the scenes. So even if you love your job, if it's still a goal of yours, if it's still a goal of yours to be full-time on your own, running your own company, being your own boss, start now, okay? And that way, when you do get to that point where you have to make the decision, do I go this way or this way, you're ready. You're you're not gonna be able to make that decision unless you have both roads that you can take at that time, okay? Uh, that's just all there is to it. If you get to the point where you're just fed up at your job, I gotta get my own thing going. It's it's a little different. If you're like me, if you get lucky like me, I should say, and you get to a point where you've you have this thing, you've created it, it's doing its thing, you've already kind of been thinking about going out on your own, and then some political BS happens at work and you don't feel like dealing with it anymore, or something happens, or you're just like, screw it. See ya, you know. My mom, I'll give you an example about my mom. She retired from work. Um, she was lucky enough and smart enough to be able to retire a little bit younger and like 55, something like that. And uh then she went back to work because she was bored. You know, she went to CBS, it's right around the corner. She's like, I can walk to work, get my exercise in, whatever. Um, zero responsibility, really. I'm just stocking shelves. Like, she was really like, I just love this little job. There's nothing to it, it's fun, it gets me out of the house 20 hours a week, whatever. She she was great with it. Well, she said, Hey, y'all, I'm gonna be taking Thanksgiving off, just so you know. And they were like, No, you're not. She goes, Oh, that's funny, because yes, I am. And she just quit, you know, she didn't have to have the job because she was fine. She has a retirement, you know, whatever, whatever you know, she had going on. So my point is, don't wait. All right. Now, if you're watching this because you like the content, or maybe you have a side hustle going on, whatever, but it's not your dream to be 100% self-employed. It's not your dream to be um, you know, your own boss and that type of thing. That's okay. Make your side money and stay working for your current company. There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with somebody that wants to work your 40, 50 hours a week, have your two vacations a year, make your good money, have your healthcare, go home at the end of the day, and you're fine. Your life is structured because of that uh employer-employee relationship, because of that job. And that's terrific. There's nothing wrong with that at all. If that's your situation, great. If that's what you want, great. There's nothing wrong with that. I myself, I am not wired for that. I am wired to be my own boss and to create things for myself and not make other people rich, other than the IRS, of course, which you know there's a whole nother video there. So, again, guys, thank you all so much for watching. Thank you for your support in this thing that we all do. Thank you for watching this content. I hope this inspires you, and I hope you guys understand I'm gonna be as transparent and honest about my life. All right. I make these videos, I am being as straight up as I can possibly be about the things that I do in my life, situations that happen. I'm never gonna be the guy that gets out of a rented Lamborghini and says, Let me tell you how to make six figures this month. That's not reality, that's not what I do. This life and this thing that we do, this side hustle, this trailer industry thing, or any industry, it requires hard work, it requires sacrifice, it requires a lot of bullshit to go along with the great things that I just mentioned in this video. And by the way, there's probably 10, 15 things that I didn't mention just now that would probably be the big thing for you, whatever that is. So insert your examples here, and uh you weren't paying attention. So, yeah, insert all your examples in the comments. Tell me what it is about you, y'all's lives. If you're already self-employed, tell me what it is about your life and your job and your career and the way that you operate that keeps you happy. I want to know what it is. Is your list the same as mine? Is it similar? Is there different examples that I'm just not considering as much that maybe I'm taking for granted? You know, help me and help yourself and help other people by throwing it down in the comments. Let's do it, let's network, let's talk about it. Thank you guys so much for being a part of Trailer Hustle, taking in the comment, the content, watching everything, and and really the biggest thing too is this Facebook group and the app, and everything is growing like weeds. It's crazy how quickly everything is growing. We're approaching 2,000 members on the Trailer Hustle app. Don't forget to join the giveaways for the car hauler. That's ending end of July. Thank you guys so much. Y'all have an amazing day. Talk at you soon.