From $350 to Scaling 5,000+ Brands: My Journey as a Bootstrapped Founder

April 4, 2025

People often look at where you are and assume that’s where you’ve always been. They see the wins, not the sleepless nights. The growth, not the grind. So here’s the truth behind my journey—from a broke 22-year-old trying to find direction to the founder of a marketing agency that’s helped scale over 5,000 brands.

This is what actually happened.

21: I Got Into Real Estate. Then the Recession Hit.

I thought I had it figured out. I was 21, just getting into real estate, ready to make things happen. Then the 2008 recession hit. Deals dried up. Opportunity vanished.

22: I Made $350 That Year, So I Started a Music Company

That’s not a typo. $350. Total. For the year. I needed to make a move, so I started a music company. I didn’t know everything, but I was willing to learn fast and figure it out.

23: I Learned What Entrepreneurship Really Meant

Trial by fire. That’s how I’d describe building my first real venture, Fame Wizard. It taught me everything school didn’t: how to hire, fire, pitch, pivot, and survive.

24: I Hired a CEO and Launched Swag of the Month

I stepped back from Fame Wizard and launched another company Swag of the Month, a subscription e-commerce business. The lessons kept coming.

25: I Sold the Company and Helped Build Ellie at Science Inc.

After selling Swag of the Month, I joined Science Inc. (the incubator behind Dollar Shave Club) and helped launch Ellie, an activewear subscription brand.

26: We Sold Ellie. I Started Consulting.

Selling Ellie gave me freedom and clarity. I started consulting for brands, helping them grow, and realized just how broken the marketing agency model was.

27: I Founded Hawke Media. No Funding. No Debt.

I didn’t raise capital. I didn’t take on loans. I just built. One client at a time. That’s how Hawke Media started—on the belief that every brand deserves access to great marketing.

28: Year One: $1.01M in Revenue, 17 Employees

We passed the million-dollar mark in our first year. More importantly, we were proving that a nimble, outsourced CMO model could work and scale.

29: The Fuse Was Lit

Hawke Media took off. We doubled, tripled, scaled. The demand was real. The impact was measurable.

Today: 38 Years Old. Still Building.

  • 5,000+ brands scaled

  • $2.9B in client revenue

  • 22 acquisitions

  • Still bootstrapped

  • Still hungry

The Truth About Building Something That Lasts

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about the wins. It’s about what you do when nothing’s working. When you make $350 in a year. When you sell your company just to start over. When you decide to bet on yourself, again.

That’s how Hawke Media was built. On persistence, vision, and a willingness to play the long game.

Still building. Still learning. Still growing.