Jamaury NorrisI grew up in poverty, but had no idea that my family was poor. I never missed any meals, always had nice clothes, and a warm bed to sleep in. My first encounter with making money for myself started during my time in public school. I always seized theopportunity to become an entrepreneur even though at the time, I did not know that's what I was doing. In elementary school I sold a Kool-Aid/sugar blend for a quarter per hand full. The kids loved this stuff always came back for more. In middle school I would buy jolly rancher sticks from the local convenient store and sell them to the student body for a nice profit. In high school I learned to make clay beads in art class and started selling jewelry to my family and friends. It wasn't until I graduated from Jackson State University and became financially responsible for myself that I realized there was a wealth gap in America. It seemed as if poor stayed poor and rich got richer. The only wealthy people I would often see were the athletes and entertainers on television. My only problem was that I couldn't sing, act and I wasn't athletic. Also, athletes and entertainers only make up 1% of the 11 million current millionaires in the United States. So apparently there had to be other ways to build wealth. I spent 16 years getting an education just to get a job but never learned how to manage, invest or build wealth from the money I brought home. During my adulthood I started to read and research anything that had to do with money, investing and entrepreneurship. Once I began to see some success through knowledge and application, I felt the urge to educate others and break the cycle of poor financial literacy within my community. From there I created my own business and started investing in real estate & the stock market. Like me, most kids were graduating from high school and college without the basic financial skills needed to excel in life. In order to break the cycle of lack of financial literacy in our schools, colleges and with young adults I understood that I would have to be a part of the solution and not let the problem perpetuate. The foundation of economic empowerment starts with financial literacy and if you don't know you can't grow. Read More Read Less