I Moved Back In With My Parents

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“Hi Mom and Dad. Can we live here?”

I moved into my parents’ house.

But not my own parents.

My in-laws. 😳

It was 2019.

My wife and I just sold everything.

Sold our car.

Got out of our condo lease.

Sold all of our possessions.

Everything.

In two months, we would be venturing halfway around the world on a one-way ticket to Australia.

So, we quit our jobs.

We left Vancouver.

And we were ready to launch into the next adventure: entrepreneurship.

Or, at least that’s what we thought we were doing.

But… we really didn’t have a clue.

We didn’t think our timeline through properly.

We were on our way to Australia in June…

But we had to leave our apartment in April.

Do we temporarily rent a place for two months?

Do we live in our car?

Nope, we did the last thing I ever wanted to do…

Moved back into our parent’s home.

As a married man, there’s nothing more humbling (and humiliating) than asking your wife’s parents if you can move in with them.

Everyone around us thought we were nuts.

All of our friends were getting married, getting their own homes, having kids, and getting “real jobs”.

And here we were…

• homeless

• jobless

• and seemingly aimless

On the outside, it looked like our whole world was falling apart.

It looked like we were taking steps backward in life.

Remember… we were like 26 years old at the time.

Conversations during that time were pretty funny – especially running into old friends from high school.

“Oh hey, Brandon! Long time no see! So, where are you living these days?”

Me, “Uhhh, well, at Jenn’s parents’ house.”

“Oh…? Well, what are you doing for work?”

Me, “Huh. Funny question, well, actually we just quit our jobs.”

“Umm?”

Me, “But, we’re going to Australia! And then Thailand!”

“Oh, nice! Vacation! That sounds fun!”

Me, “Well… it’s not exactly a vacation. We kind of have to. So we don’t run out of money. Since we don’t have a job anymore.”

“Ummmm what?”

At this point, his face said it all.

We didn’t look like we were doing so good to those around us.

We looked like complete and utter failures.

To our friends, we were losers.

It was really difficult to run into anybody I knew at that time.

I’d purposefully avoid going out into public too much. 

It sucked.

But…

I had hope.

Because… what they didn’t see was our vision.

• They didn’t see our drive.

• They didn’t know our plan.

• They didn’t have our goal.

They didn’t wake up every morning for months on end at 5-6 am and write for hours.

They didn’t stay up late to trade their video games and Netflix for online courses, business books, and sales letter rewriting.

They didn’t grind at their day job for 10-12 hours a day only to come home and spend another 4-6 hours on their side hustle.

They didn’t see me with tears running down my face when I made my first sale online.

They had no idea.

They only saw what was going on externally.

They didn’t see our trajectory… that it was pointed upwards.

You see, when you have a goal, you sometimes have to do things that seem crazy or even stupid on the outside.

Sometimes you have to make moves that appear like you’re going backward in life.

→Maybe you sell your new car for an old beater, just so you have some more runway to make your business work.

→Maybe you stop drinking on weekends at the bar with your friends… and start masterminding with ambitious internet comrades to help each other reach their goals.

→Maybe you trade in your video game console so you can afford that online course.

…Maybe you move back in with your parents temporarily as a 26-year-old married man so one day you can fully provide for your wife and two little girls (and have the time for them).

It was humbling to move in with Jenn’s parents.

It was super embarrassing as well.

But, it was for a short season.

And I’m so grateful they took us in (I don’t take it for granted).

Because, in that time, I worked so hard to level up as a creator.

And it worked.

It was only a few months later when I finally hit a full-time income.

5 years later, and I’m still here. Still creating.

Now, people look at me shocked when they start asking about my life.

But, not because I’m still living with my parents.

But because they find out…

• I can work from anywhere and they look puzzled.

• I can visit family for Christmas for a few weeks (and don’t have to ask my boss).

• I do work I want, not what other people tell me I have to do.

• I took my wife and little girl back to Thailand for a month, just because.

• And earn a living doing it.

I don’t say these things to boast. I’m grateful to God for everything in my life, and don’t take anything for granted.

I say these things to share…

Sometimes you have to spend a few months (or a few years) living in a season of sacrifice… 

So that one day you can live a lifetime of freedom.

What’s the one thing you can do this month to level up?

• Maybe, you take on a writing challenge (i.e. writing for 30 minutes straight daily).

• Maybe you commit to posting on X (or another social platform) 3 times a day.

• Maybe you commit to applying to 100 jobs this month.

• Maybe you commit to pitching 10 people per day.

• Maybe you set the goal to gather 5 testimonials this month.

• Maybe you launch your newsletter.

• Maybe you start your own blog.

Whatever it is, I challenge you to keep creating.

Keep producing.

The digital renaissance is here. The creator economy is just heating up. There’s never been a better time to be a creator than right now.

I’ll see you next time.

-Brandon “I lived with my wife’s parents” Storey

P.S. Want to know what creator channel I believe will be most impactful for years to come?

Email.

Did you know email marketing has the best return on investment (ROI) of any marketing channel?

Yep, even better than social media, X gang. The average business owner earns $40 for every $1 they invest in email.

Email newsletters are the perfect way to own your audience and generate recurring income for years.

Not sure where to start and how to even monetize a newsletter? 

Subscribe to my friend, Dan Barry’s newsletter, Revenews (awesome name, isn’t it?). In it, you’ll learn proven monetization tactics to turn a newsletter into a revenue-generation machine.

P.P.S. Tune in next week to the Storey Time newsletter when I break down the exact steps I took to earn my first dollar online (without a single follower on social media).

But, it didn’t come without heartbreak.

I was rejected by the top freelance platform 7 times before I almost threw in the towel.

Good thing I didn’t.

I ended up earning ~$14,000 on another platform — a major boost to get my creator business off the ground. months as a writer or creator.

But… more on that later. Stay tuned. And… if you haven’t read it yet, check out my Origin Story: From Zero to $100,000.