Potter, who worked at a start-up in Charlotte and was making $38,000 a year as of August 2019, founded a small-batch coffee roasting company,, in June 2018. Currently, she's living in Florida with family and working at a coffee shop in Fort Lauderdale. Her long-term goal is to open her own coffee shop.
That's similar to the mindset France had when he started his fashion brand in his early 20s. If you're self-funding your business, you probably shouldn't be paying yourself "for quite some time," he says. "I waited three years to start paying myself. I had a job on the side that paid for my cost of living, but as far as my business was concerned, every penny that I earned went back into the business. … That's, in my opinion, how you build a sustainable business.
France also reacts to Potter's spending habits. While living in Charlotte, she spent about $100 a month on her conditioning gym membership, which France is fine with: "When I was a business owner, there was so much stress every moment of every day and going to the gym just for that hour was a great distraction. ... It's great for your mental health."
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