Monday

Blazing New Trails

I'm an avid fan of business. I like to talk about, read about, be about it. I'm always interested in how people make their money, because it helps to broaden my view and it expands my scope of knowledge. What also amazes me is all the different things you can get into while getting paid in the process. I first became interested in this line of thinking because as I took a look at our community it appeared as if the depth of businesses owned by African Americans was limited to a few community staples. We also seem to stick to the beaten path when it comes to professions. There is nothing wrong with that, but I think it's time we broadened our horizons a bit and started tapping into burgeoning industries that have put a new meaning to doing what you love.

For instance, take teenaged Tom Taylor out of Jupiter Florida who has made more than $450,000 playing video game "Halo 2". Taylor is one of a handful of teens who have made their own fortunes in the $7 billion a year industry in the U.S. You can read about how he's making a killing in the gaming industry by taking the link at the bottom of this post. He also has his own site where he teaches gaming techniques.

Tom played in Major League Gaming's National Championship this past weekend in Vegas and his team placed third to win $30,000 (split 4 ways). Here they are chillin.

The team that did win this weekends championship walked away with $100K. I was glad to find that their team had an African American kid who goes by the name Karma. Here he is with a couple of his teammates.

Reading these kids stories made me realize how much the world of business is evolving. It's changing so that you can literally get paid doing what you love, even if its playing video games. It also helped me to realize that I needed to evolve in my thinking as to what is a viable means of employment as it relates to my kids. Exploring their interests early enough may help them get on the path to wealth creation at a lot earlier age. It also would open them up to more options later in life if they make money doing something they like as a kid. In this manner, they don't have to end up like many people, working a job they hate just to make ends meet.

Yahoo: Young Pro Video Gamers gross six figures
Professional Video Gaming, Not all fun and games

Reading blogs at work? Click to escape to a suitable site!

4 comments:

Lance said...

nice post rich.
that's why i work nights, to network in the daytime to get my screenwriting career off the ground.

doing what you love and get paid for it!

be your own boss, regardless who you work for....

...if it's not working for the boss that's over you, it's the kids that's under you.

Saadia said...

My 8 year old keeps telling me that he's going to be a professional video game player.

Do you think this is an actual possibility, Rich?

Rich Fitzgerald said...

I meant to tie a link to this website for the post, but overlooked it during my editing. Check out Major League Gaming. They have a link for parents to get more info.
http://www.mlgpro.com/live/
You can let him enter some contests and leverage the activitiy so that he maintains his studies. He's only in what, the third grade, so this shouldn't be a major distraction. Try it for a season and see what happens. If he's any good, you will be able to tell.

California Dove said...

I think everyone should have a dream. It's the dreams that give us hope. My 6'0 14yr son believes he is the next Jordan. He has desgined his "shoes", practices his autograph, and has his house and car plastered on MySpace.His game is good, although his left is weak. With more practice his fade-away will resemble Jordan.Point being, we played him for a joke-until we watched him during a 3-on-3 and he was good. Allow your kids to dream and when they display their talents..you will be amazed.