40 dollars

something changed in me when I saw it.

I was 21. Summer. Decent job, but really I was more interested in partying and picking up girls. I was a legit dating coach, like Hitch. Didn't pay much, but it covered my nights out.

I came home one night wasted. Walk through the front door, lights dim but not off — long hallway that runs straight into the backyard. And I see my dad sitting out there.

Spark.

He's lighting something.

I walk toward the backyard, calm. I want to catch him. Take out my phone and start to record.

August 13th, 3AM. That's the date on the video.

There he was, smoking crack in our literal backyard.

We knew the addiction was back. He had it from when I was born until I was about 9. Clean from 10 to 16. Then he spiraled, slow, over the next 5 years.

This time I didn't punch him. This time I didn't push him. I recorded the video, sent it to his family in Egypt, and locked the backyard door.

You know what this sicko said? "I'll leave, just give me 40 dollars." Doesn't take a genius to understand why he asked for 40.

From that moment, I was different. Not meaner, not angrier — in some ways more positive. But mostly, more determined.

Took a job as an SDR at 22. Now I'm VP of Sales Development & GTM Engineering. I make 450K a year. And I kept the biggest promise I ever made to myself.

I will not be a failure like him.