Okay. It made my day. Suze Orman, internationally acclaimed financial wizard, Oprah money guru, and kick-ass woman, LIVED and WORKED out of a van in her 20’s. Just freaking made my day. Changed my whole attitude and perception of her as someone who “doesn’t understand us paycheck-to-paycheck” people.

And I quote, from her book Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

“I borrowed $1,500 from my brother to buy a Ford Econoline van and, with the help of my friend Mary Corlin (a great friend to this day), converted the van into a place I could sleep during the drive across country. With $300 and a converted van to my name, we set out to see America…..”

During that trip they stopped to watch a crew clearing trees and ended up landing their first jobs - as tree clearers. For two months, she writes, they lived out of the van and used a friend’s house to shower.

Suze joins a LONG line of famous people who have lived and worked out of their vans.

Jewel, the singer, and her mother shared side-by-side vans parked near the ocean while she pursued a singing career.

Steven Pressfield, best-selling author of The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
and Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
among many others, lived in a van with his cat before overcoming resistance and coming into his own as the writer he is.

I won’t bore you with the rest, but click under the menu bar at the top of this website under How-To and see dozens of other famous homeless people.

I think what caught my attention is the fact that when we’re YOUNG - like under 30, we see life as an adventure, and living in a van and traveling and working along the way, as an adventure. When you’re 35, 40 or 50, the mind thinks, “Oh no, I’m becoming a bag lady.” Not everyone falls into this trap though. I did. It took me a while to remember I was a writer, and not just “a homeless woman.” When I quit allowing other people to define me, and to define who I was and how I viewed myself, things changed for me.

It’s not just a one-time thing - change your thoughts and change your life. It’s a journey. Trite and cliche, but true. You change, must change your thoughts every day for your life to change. Ever since I redefined myself in 2007 and said, “I’m a writer. I’m a writer,” I began changing those neural ruts in my brain that would prefer I stick with the “I’m a homeless woman,” mantra, and the “You’re worthless and stupid,” programming my parents instilled in me.

It takes hard work to change. No one hands it to you, or gives it to you. If you want it, you have to go after it. Suze Orman did. So did the hundreds of others who made it after a stint on the streets.

Perhaps out of all the people I’ve read about, Suze is the one who impresses me most. After her short work as a tree clearer, she became a waitress. After six years as a waitress she decided she wanted to open a restaurant. Customers she’d served for 6 years got together and loaned her $50,000 to do just that. But when she invested that money with a broker at Merrill Lynch, she placed it with a broker who basically lost her entire investment - by investing in high risk stocks against all professional ethical standards. She went from having her dream in the palm of her hand to penniless (thank you Merrill Lynch). But, she didn’t give up. She applied to become a broker (remind you of anyone else? Like maybe Christopher Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness “>The Pursuit of Happyness? He too was homeless and became a broker and is now a multi-millionaire.

Anyway, Suze was interviewed by a number of Merrill Lynch folks - all of whom thought there was no room for women in a brokerage firm and one who even said he thought women should be pregnant and barefoot…(I don’t think I’ll use Merrill Lynch as an investment firm when I become rich…) But she got the job. As she learned how she had been screwed over by the guy in the firm she went to her bosses and complained - was essentially told to shut up. So she sued Merrill Lynch. Yay!!! And WON!!! BIG YAY!! They settled with her out of court and she got her money back and was able to repay her investors. (don’t you love a happy ending).

Suze went on to become the person she is now - not without a lot more drama and the usual “Hero’s saga.”

As with all “Rags-to-riches” type stories, what is impressive is how the one thing that drives us all is PERCEPTION OF SELF. In other words, ATTITUDE. I said it in my TED talk, and I’ll say it again. Homelessness is a matter of attitude. Change your thoughts and you change your circumstances - maybe not overnight, but be consistent and persistent and they WILL change. It’s been four years since I moved into the van, and I’m still working on it. I think this is my year to finish the book and move up. Is it your year? Are you just starting out? Struggling? Wondering how to change? Start with watching your thoughts. Then start reading the biographies of people who have moved beyond their circumstances.

You CAN change if you want it badly enough. Over this next year I’m going to be posting more articles on how to do that. And, to those who sign up, or have signed up for my newsletter? You’ll get all the tips - FREE. I can do this. YOU can do this. Together, we can do this! And if you want to get her book - BUY it through Amazon.com by clicking on the graphic below. Thanks!