I was kicked out of 8 different schools from elementary through high school. I simply did not find the school system mentally challenging enough. I only graduated due to the principal and teachers having sympathy for me. It certainly was no easy task raising little Mikey Barayev 😂. 

Ongoing family disputes and continuing turbulence in my home landed me in foster care at 15 years old, and I was sent to a group home. I spent 2 years there before I was released back into the custody of my mother.

 
After enduring such turmoil in my youth, and seeing the difficulties my mom and dad went through due to poverty, amongst other things, I made the decision to NEVER let money dictate my future, or my options in life. I wanted to be in control of determining my own destiny.

 
At age 17 I got involved in sales. Buying and selling jewelry in Manhattan’s diamond district, working odd jobs at kiosks in malls, setting up table events in the streets for different companies, and eventually door to door sales.

After spending 11 months as a Door-to-Door sales agent, I decided to start my own D2D marketing company at the age of 25. We grew the company very quickly and built a team of 150+ sales people in less than 3 years, taking the company well into multiple 8-figures.