Courtesy of Early Walker
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Early Walker, senior vice president of government affairs at Vehicle Management Solutions. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I've been working since I was old enough to swing a hammer. My dad was an electrician and preacher, and I worked afternoons with him since grade school. When I was 9 I started my own business, mowing yards and shoveling near my family's home on the West Side of Chicago.
Despite that, I didn't think I wanted to work for myself as an adult. Instead, I took jobs in sales, and later in government, but nothing seemed to work out. My family had shown me the value of being self-employed, and I couldn't unsee it. I didn't like knowing there was a cap on my income in a traditional job, or that someone else was profiting off my work.
Even when I was working a traditional job I was dabbling in entrepreneurship. Around the time I was 30 — 10 years ago — I was part owner of a car dealership. I got tired of paying other people to tow our vehicles, so I bought a cheap $8,000 tow truck. It was from the early 1980s and had no AC or heat, but soon other people were calling me for tows.
I wanted to quit my day job, but I had to find a reason for people to hire me and my raggedy old truck. So, I started advertising a $40 local tow. That undercut all my competition, and I was still making a profit. My schedule filled up.
I realized the real money was in municipal towing contracts. There weren't really any Black people holding those contracts, so I saw an opportunity. I started meeting with mayors, especially Black mayors, to learn about what I would need to get those lucrative contracts.
Turns out I needed a much newer truck, more tow vehicles and drivers, and a large tow lot to store vehicles. I was determined to make it work, so I took out a 20-year lease on a lot, and formally started W&W Towing.
Launching and scaling the business was difficult because my credit was terrible. Back in high school, my strict dad didn't let me have a cell phone. So, I'd taken out a cell phone contract that I couldn't afford, and never paid the bill.
That ruined my credit and years later it was keeping me from being approved for vehicle and business loans. As I built the business I was also rebuilding my credit. No one had ever taught me the importance of credit, but now I understood it first hand.
That hard work paid off. Within three years of launching W&W Towing, the business was bringing in over $1 million a year. This year, the company was acquired, which meant a substantial payment for me. I don't like to talk about my exact net worth, but if I didn't want to work again, I wouldn't have to. I've been a millionaire for a couple years at this point.
As I've built wealth, I've learned that money is a tool. You have to make it work for you. I was never taught that, but it's a lesson I want to teach my five kids, who range in age from 2 to 16.
Like any tool, you need to be taught how to use money. At first I didn't realize the importance of having an accountant, a business bank account, and insurance. Later, I learned about high yield savings accounts and investments.
I have a close friend who is a multi-millionaire. He teaches me things I don't even know to ask about. Once he saw me paying for gas with my debit card, which led to a whole lesson about credit card points.
I've learned that when you can play with money, you benefit. If I want to splurge on something, I try to find an asset that can cover that expense. For example, investing in real estate gave me a new income stream that pays for travel, including a recent trip to Kenya for my 40th birthday.
Another passion of mine is philanthropy. Having money lets me support the same Chicago neighborhood that helped me get here.
I think it's easy to obtain money, but hard to keep it. A lot of people want to keep up with the Joneses, and I get the temptation. I'm selling my house right now, and my first instinct was to upgrade to something bigger. But then I realized that I could use the profits, along with some savings, to buy a more modest house with cash. Living without a mortgage is the better choice by far, and will improve my finances in the long run.
My rich friend always tells me "money isn't loud." The people who have the most don't wear or drive their wealth. They let their portfolio speak for itself.
