📰 You Are Perfectly Designed — Week 19

Dear Visionary,

If you’ve been incarcerated, in foster care, battling addiction, or recovering from mental health struggles. Then you already know what it means to start from behind.

But here’s the truth: You are not behind. You’re building differently.

This week, we’re focusing on wealth not just dollars, but the power of owning your time, your business, and your future.

💸 What Wealth Really Means Wealth isn’t about looking rich. It’s about being free.

Free to provide for your family. Free to leave a toxic job or situation. Free to invest in your healing and your purpose. True wealth creates options. And when you’ve been system-impacted, you know how valuable that is.

Wealth means stability. It means your past no longer decides your next move.

🧱 Building Wealth Starts With What You Have.

 Here’s what you don’t need to get started:

A perfect credit score. A huge bank loan. A co-sign from people who don’t understand your journey. Here’s what you do need:

A mindset shift. A simple budget. A willingness to start small and stay consistent. 🔹 Claudia Shivers, for example, wrote her business plan while in prison. After release, she began roasting coffee beans at home with a popcorn popper. That small start became Queen Coffee Bean, a thriving café and roastery. Her wealth-building journey began before she had money—she had vision and grit.

🛠 Real Wealth Tools for Second-Chance Entrepreneurs

1. Keep Your Business Money Separate Open a business bank account and register your business (LLC or sole proprietorship). It protects your assets and builds credibility.

2. Rebuild Your Credit Start with small steps like:

   A secured credit card On-time payments Using apps like Self or Experian Boost to report rent and bills

3. Tap Into Community Support Look into:

   Inmates to Entrepreneurs Microloan programs from nonprofits SBA Community Advantage lenders Crowdfunding to share your story and fund your dream ⚖ Legal Tip of the Week: YES, You Can Own a Business with a Record

   Most states do not prevent you from owning an LLC or sole proprietorship just because of a conviction.

   Even better:

   Some states allow you to expunge or seal your record. This can help with funding, licensing, and reputation. Check your state laws or ask a reentry legal aid clinic for help. Running a legitimate business is not only legal. It’s encouraged. You’re proving what’s possible.

🧠 Mindset Shift: “My Wealth Is Built, Not Given” Motivational speaker Eric Thomas once said:

“You can get through this. You are bigger than your circumstances. You are more than your past.” The road to wealth might be longer when you’ve been system-impacted—but when you make it, your foundation is stronger. You’ll own it all. No handouts. Just real results.

✅ Quick Wealth Wins Automate savings (even $5/week). Sell a product or service using free platforms like Shopify Starter or Etsy.

Read or listen to one financial book or podcast a month. 🔥 Call to Action: Join the Movement You deserve more than survival. You deserve ownership, peace, and wealth.

💥 Subscribe to our newsletter and share it with someone who’s ready to rise. Let’s grow a community of second-chance CEOs building real wealth from the ground up.

📬 [Subscribe now] 📲 Follow us @perfectlydesigned918