Late afternoon in South Los Angeles in May of this year, a young entrepreneur stepped outside of his store, Marathon Clothing. The 33 year old was headed to his car, when a man stepped out and shot him 10 times, fatally wounding him and tearing him away from his girlfriend and two children. Ermais Asghedom, may have breathed his last breaths, but his marathon continues. Self described as a “community activist with an entrepreneurial spirit”, Ermais, more fondly known as Nipsey Hussle, had received the nickname “Hustle” from his entrepreneurial ventures.
At 11, he shined shoes for $2.50 to pay for his school clothes, with a goal of shining 100 pairs of shoes a day. Later, he sold his mixtapes out of his car trunk at a strip mall on Crenshaw Boulevard in South LA. After he was with a label, he would experiment with unorthodox sales strategies, before eventually founding his own record label, All Money In.
“The game will test you, but never fold. Stay ten toes down. It’s not on you, it’s in you, and what’s in you they can never take away…It’s about ownership. Own you mind. Mind your own.” Nipsey Hussle knew that luck was a product of hard work, and worked every day from dawn to dusk to build his empire. At the time of his death, Hussle’s net worth was 8 million dollars.
The young boy who shines shoes for school clothes launched himself into stardom, ending up eventually selling his own clothes as an A-List Celebrity. Although his life was cut short, his race is far from over. For Nipsey Hussle, The Marathon Continues.
Great post! This is a super sad but a very great story!
Very interesting to see the determination and grit in such a great young man. Great story.
I did not realize how much struggle Nipsey Hustle had to go through. It was very interesting when you mentioned how he had to shine shoes for $2.50 and sold mixtapes out of his trunk.
Yeah, it’s an incredible story. Fought his way up from the streets, only to have them tear him down. Interesting insight can be found from analyzing his story. TMC.
Inspiring to hear about how evident his entrepreneurial spirit was from a young age, and the story about him shining shoes was a great example of his aspirations to make money and establish a name. Sad to see such a driven person go so soon.