In the beginning.....

It all started the day i fully understood the dynamics of our financial system....I left school persueing a career in football,bad timing and silly decisions put an end to that idea 2 years later. I never took any of the business subjects offered at school,instead....i opted for the engineering package. So why on earth would i want to delve into a subject matter that i had NO understanding of,whatsoever, all of a sudden?and it was all of a sudden!!!i visited my cousin Denise in London for the first time at 20(sort of the age where future plans should be getting acted upon) but i was an unsigned football player with no future and no idea of where to go from there?I overheard her telling my Aunt,that night, that she had lost 4 million pounds in "one" day. She looked about as stressed as someone who had lost their carkeys.....but why.....i mean how can someone not flinch at an amount that could feed and house hundreds(if not thousands)??? Thats were the curiosity flourished, i didn't venture out the next day and decide that stockbroking was my next move....i made a point of digging,doing homework and searching for answers to a system that made no sense.I mean....she was an au pair before being a broker.....it was pure luck that she got into it and that lead to her being one of the head investment bankers for Bank of America.

Fast forward through 7 years of homework,digging,contemplation,own company,advertising,ATM placement and being shot at by locals. I was offered an intern position at a local stockbroking firm,Not one of the major players like the banks but a big enough company none the less. I breezed through my "Registered Persons Exams" and became a "Stockbroker".Nice title to have....but worth absolutely nothing at that stage of my career.

I made my clients close to 250% returns in 6 months(may have been a once off or may have been due to the fact that correct information and forward thinking help you make easy decisions in that line of work). My research produced 2 companies, that i thought were winners, which my boss quickly dismissed as not being money generating stocks for trades......that was probably the 2nd reaction to the markets(from an insider) that didn't sit well with me? Taste Holdings,bought at 52cZAR climbed to R1,60 in 6 months. Mr Price,bought at R52,80 climbed to R108 in 6 months.They both continued to climb over the rest of the year but by that stage i had not renewed my contract with the company as the offer of renumeration was.......R0,00. I was confused to say the least....i had just turned a R17 million portfolio into one that was now over R40Mil?how am i being offered nothing right now?Bernie Madoff was offering 18% returns and the world was flocking to get into his "investment house".We all know how that turned out but here i was....giving clients unheard of returns and i was being offered fresh air. The excuse was for me to generate my own clients and revenue....i did the math on the spot and told my boss that if i had gotten all my clients to trade atleast once during the month then i'd generate around R3000 for the month(that hardly covered my petrol) so how was i going to survive? The word 'Churn' was used......i'd seen that word before....in my rules and regulations of the financial markets. HE was telling me to churn their accounts to make money. Their are ruthless people out their but i was not one of them?i turned down the offer,a nanosecond later i was being escourted out the door by him personally,no time to collect my personal affects,i was told that the fellow broker(who i literally had to teach during my working day,along with performing my duties,watching trades and researching information) would get them to me?i had NEVER been so forcibly removed from anywhere like that,especially not from a place of work? saying i was confused would be an understatment.....

A short spell in commodities later and i had all the info i needed to understand the majority of what is playing out in our current financial system(its not good,at all,seriously,but this story is for the next installment). Investors are scared which inturn creates a downturn in growth,sales and production which results in job loses which results in more citizens having to rely on benefits....and the vicious cycle continues. So what idea formed in my mind after all that....start a petition,march against the bankers and government for allowing this,start prepping for all out riots when a recession hits...no! Do i try change the world with massive ideas that would benefit humanity.....no!It was while working and building up my OWN garden that i got the idea and the quote "be the change you want to see in the world" ringing in my ears. I started a small business called Grow Your Own Gardening Solutions and realised that by helping people become more self sufficient i'd be teaching them values and know how that is quickly being lost in our modern society. I'm not happy that i don't know what genetically modified food stuffs i'm buying from my local,any gardener knows that to produce hectares of produce,quickly,it can't be managed by hands hence pesticides and weedkillers are used to help were the natural processes of the past can't. More stories of close friends becoming sick with diseases not common for their age group and people falling ill more often have made me take control of the nutrients i need to ensure i live a healthy lifestyle. Yes, there are people starving all over the world and i hope this trend of self sustainment can eventually be taken up by everyone,help may come from communities and ultimately government should be helping its citizens accomplish these goals but don't count on it.Instead start with your own home and ensure your own family are getting the healthy benefits and know how. Save yourself some money and ensure your get the best food possible.....seek help getting started then DO IT YOURSELF!!!