User:Richard White

I grew up in Munster, Indiana and have lived in the area my entire life. I have four younger brothers. My parents divorced when I was in high school. I was fortunate enough to receive a full tuition scholarship from the Eli Lilly endowment and I chose to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. I spent three semesters at Purdue before I transferred to Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana. I was majoring in psychology but somewhere along the way I began to realize I didn't want to be a psychologist. I dropped out of school in 2005. I was having a bit of an existential crisis. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I tried playing poker professionally but didn't really have a passion for it. I moved to Chicago and got a job working as a delivery driver downtown. In the meantime I started classes at a local Purdue campus to finish my degree although I knew my purpose did not lie with psychology. In Chicago, I was taking improv and acting classes and I co-wrote and produced a few sketch shows. I enjoyed sketch comedy but I didn't see it as the full use of my potential. In 2010 I read "A peoples history of the United States." That book coupled with the events surrounding the 2008 recession changed my world view. I was convinced that the economy would no longer work for middle class people. I knew something would need to change but I wasn't sure what. I decided to become more educated in finance and economics. In 2011 my cousin invited me to a real estate seminar. It was there that I was first introduced to some of the nuts and bolts of rental real estate. I approached my stepdad who was an investor and asked him to mentor me. He walked me through my first real estate deal and since then I have been on my own renovating and renting out houses. My current business model is paying the bills but I feel I can be doing more to help people and build a more sustainable and abundant economic system. I am working on a business plan to start a sustainable development company. I have a 2 acre lot in Dyer, Indiana where I hope to build my first eco home. I know that if I am able to build a successful company it would merely be a drop in the bucket for what it will take make meaningful change in the world. I feel it will take the collaboration of many organizations such as OSE. I am excited to see where we are headed with exponential technological advancement and open sharing of ideas.