Kale Abrahamson started playing basketball as a young boy practice every day of the week, and in his senior year, his efforts paid off: Kale was ranked 135th nationally. His success even landed him scholarship opportunities in over 15 universities, including Harvard.
However, one day, Kale realized his true motivation wasn’t in playing basketball, but in building a business up from the ground up and making money from his own success. “When you are working for a basketball coach those guys own you and I freaking hated it.” He later quit the basketball team and settled into a normal 9-5 work schedule.
Kale had always had an entrepreneurial mind. In high school, he sold everything from wristbands at his local games, to hoverboards at a mall kiosk, each with varying degrees of success that further proved to him that the best way to make money was to build your own success.
Taylor and Kale Start Their Path to Success
Kale began selling small items on Amazon to keep his entrepreneurial spirit alive while working a 9-5 job. He regularly attended church services in Pittsburgh, PA, and in 2017, he had a chance meeting with Taylor Hiott, who is now his other half in the world of business.
They got along with each other immediately; both had a shared interest in becoming millionaires, but neither had a clear path to reach their goals. While talking about potential endeavors and business ideas, Taylor offered to invest in Kale’s company so they could supercharge Kale’s already-promising Amazon sales.
At the time, Kale was making upwards of $20,000 in Amazon sales on just a few products, and Taylor wanted to see that growth skyrocket.
They continued talking, dreaming up ideas and business plans that might just work. They began small, purchasing a small amount of product here and there to test their ideas and build something substantial together, though they did not expect it to turn into anything more than a lucrative side hustle.
While some products soared in popularity, others ended up in their closet, adding nothing but clutter to Kale’s 500 sq. ft apartment.
The path to success was not easy for either of them. Their first Amazon venture together included the typical pitfalls of the platform, stalled products, and $50,000 of debt. The two were uncertain about where their entrepreneurial life was leading them.
“There were times when we were afraid of going bankrupt and thought we’d end up paying off our credit cards for the rest of our lives.” Kale says, “thankfully, we cracked the code of how to choose the right products to sell on Amazon before we lost everything.”
Their luck quickly turned around once they discovered the secrets of what made a product sell and how to differentiate themselves in the online marketplace. They were both able to quit their 9-5 jobs to focus on their joint business, something the two of them had dreamed of from the start.
Now, Kale and Taylor Have Turned their Attention to Nine University
Kale and Taylor run a 7-figure business to guide others through the Amazon FBA process, helping individual people navigate the waters of entrepreneurship, choose the right products, and achieve success that they can feel pride in having created for themselves.
Kale and Taylor found meaning in coaching others on how to make money with the platform. “The reason why Taylor and I started Nine University was to prevent other Amazon sellers from having to experience the graveyard of unsold products” Kale says, thinking back on the closet of unsold products from their first ventures in FBA.
Kale and Taylor’s goals are twofold; continue making money on FBA to support their coaching, and coach budding entrepreneurs how to achieve their own success and quit their boring 9-5 jobs. They believe that financial freedom is the missing piece in bringing meaning back into everyday life.
What Will You Do?
Kale and Taylor’s story has inspired many people to start their own business and own their success. Entrepreneurship has its ups and downs, and the risks keep many away.
For the inspired spirit, however, entrepreneurship can bring your motivation to life. You will truly own something, able to point to it and say “I created this.”
“Now I am free. I work for myself. I found a better way to make money, and that is how I found happiness,” says Kale. The feeling of freedom – not just financial, but personal freedom – is irreplaceable. It is also easier to obtain than you might think. What will you do to obtain financial and personal freedom?