Today we’d like to introduce you to Sammy Warrayat.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
It’s my pleasure. It started when I got into bad debt after graduating from Georgia Tech, and not really having the discipline to pay it off faster than the minimum payments on a 0% APR card. I figured hey, no interest I’m not losing money, right? The stress was starting to take a toll on me though, and I didn’t want to just open another card to balance transfer every time to avoid interest fees. So I made a change, and reduced my impulse decisions and really started spending on what I truly wanted in life, instead of wasting my money on purchases that would ultimately lead to buyer’s remorse. After paying off ~30K in debt in less than a year, I realized I could invest more, buy a house, and make my money work for itself while not reducing my lifestyle. That was 5 years ago, and since I’ve coached countless others to do the same by following 3 basic principles: reduce stress, limit impulse decisions, and invest the rest to become financially independent. I’ve since moved up through corporate America before stepping out earlier in 2021 to scale up my coaching, the Successful Millennials Podcast, and other entrepreneurship ventures, as the financial journey led me to seek success in other categories of life: Happiness, Career/Purpose, Physical/Mental Health, and Relationships.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
For sure. Anybody who says success came easily is probably lying. I’m still not where I want to be, but that’s what success is to me: constantly making continuous improvement. The main challenges I had to overcome was my beliefs about money and imposter syndrome. The most common Money belief is that money doesn’t grow on trees and that it is the root of all evil. None of these have to be true, and by no means am I am a multi-millionaire or uber wealthy. It’s all apart of the overall success criteria: Are you using money in a way that makes you happy? Financial stress is the biggest inhibitor to mental health, and us Millennials have gotten a pretty bad shakeup with the 3 main massive financial crises we’ve gone through (Dot Com Crash, Great Recession, and COVID pandemic). In fact, 63% of millennials say that their financial stress has increased since the pandemic per a recent PwC survey. The other big challenge was imposter syndrome. Whether it be “Am I deserving of this promotion?” even though I’m putting in 70 hour work weeks and clearly the best performer, to “Why would someone trust me to help them with their finances and life goals?” imposter syndrome can really mess with your head. The best way I overcame that was by continuously putting my head down, doing the work, and never giving up, as cliché as it sounds. People will recognize it eventually and doors will open.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
I specialize in teaching discipline. I believe that it’s the best skill to learn and can be applied to everything. Motivation is nice when it comes because you have that fire, but it fades too often. Self-accountability is awesome because you can see yourself making mistakes, but you can get around that by having quality relationships that can give you those honest truths. In today’s Information Age, you can find pretty much anything on Google. It’s the application and the willingness to push through in the face of perceived failure that people need help on. My goal is to provide actionable tips and instill discipline in my clients, so that they can apply it to all of the 5 categories. That’s why each course related to the 5 categories and consulting all follow the WORK method. W for Why is it Even Important, O for Organize your Game Plan, R for Reach out for Help, and K for Knowledge to Kill it! Most of my competition dumps content and knowledge without application, and then sell coaching for the application “because every situation differs”. I put everything in the courses and only offer select consulting if you need accountability partners and further guidance. My goal is to fire myself, I don’t want a subscription model where you’re paying forever for a service. My goal is to get you on your feet and get you confident to do it yourself within 6 months and then move on to help someone else.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Discipline equals freedom. Remembering that and ignoring whatever everyone else says to you is somehow still underrated, despite the amount of times you see it posted and shared on social media. Limit impulse decisions by creating a shopping list and sticking to it NO MATTER WHAT, and only go shopping once a week. Build that discipline to remove the impulse purchases that lead to buyer’s remorse, estimated by many surveys to sit at over 50% of all purchases. Write down exactly why you’re budgeting and what for, and use that as motivation to crush your goals. After nailing down the budgeting, then invest the rest and over time, you’ll get to financial independence. But none of that matters if you’re also not making good money. Continuously push yourself out of your comfort zone, whether it be by moving up and around corporate America every year and a half, starting/scaling a side hustle, or both. But keep making sure you’re making visible progress every year in all of the 5 categories, especially in your 20s so that you have the power of compounding time on your side.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Constant continuous improvement, getting 1% better every day towards your goals in the 5 categories of Money, Physical/Mental Health, Career/Purpose, Relationships, and Happiness. Being financially independent, having a clear and un-envious mind with a body that makes you look and feel good, working in something that your passionate about and gets you out of bed every day, having quality relationships with a social circle, your family, and your significant other, and overall just being content yet not complacent in the moment and enjoying whatever it is that you enjoy doing. To steal yet another cliché, make the days count, don’t count the days waiting for Friday all the time.
What’s next for you?
Professionally, it’s continuing to grow my platform to continue helping my generation live the life they truly want. I also am growing my public speaking presence by attaining more gigs, something I used to be deathly afraid of and am attacking that former insecurity. Personally, it’s continuing to pursue my passions. I love basketball and being outdoors hiking, but traveling gives me my peace and I plan on going across the world in the next few years.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
The easiest place is to email me at financezilla@gmail.com to get your JUMP guide e-book or apply for a strategic consulting call. Alternatively, you can reach out on Instagram @financezilla, where I post information on the 5 categories to help spread more awareness and tactical tips to our Millennial generation. If you’re into more longer form discussion like myself, the Successful Millennials Podcast is where myself and other millennials share tactical and actionable tips on the 5 categories every Wednesday and is available on all streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.