Seth's Story

Birth to early 20s 

Born the day after Christmas on a cold night in 1977, I grew up with a love for rapping, beatbox, dancing, and the outdoors. 

At age 12 the story of Jesus Christ who lived the life I failed to live and died the death I deserved to die, traveled the greatest distance in the world, from my head to my heart. 

From my mid teens to early 20’s, I built custom homes with my father, played drums for a jazz band, hosted a talk radio show, worked as a tableside magician, became a professional tap dancer and choreographer, and eventually decided I wanted to go into full time ministry. 

Marriage to ministry 

I met KK in 1998 and we said “I do” at the altar eight months later. In 2005 I graduated from The Masters Seminary, and I also wrote a couple books, Loving God’s Word: Seven Strategies to Slaying Bible Apathy and The Truth Behind the Passion Film and How to Respond. 

KK and I gave birth to four kids within four years and four months. After serving at a church in Kalamazoo, MI for almost four years, I drove my family 1200 miles to Austin, TX to plant a new church. The church plant took off quickly, but it became my obsession at the sacrifice of my marriage. I couldn’t keep both the church plant and my wife, so I stopped the church plant and focused on restoring my marriage. 

Apple to entrepreneur 

A few months later I landed a job at Apple, working from home selling Macs. My close rate consistently outperformed 800 sales people in my department, and I thought my new career was taking off when I was promoted to a managerial position in the Applecare department. But my hopes were shredded as I discovered the political games people played in this department, using others as stepping stones to build their career. 

I reached a breaking point the day my boss threw me under the boss for doing exactly as she had instructed me. I turned to my wife and said, “I am building a new life for our family.” 

I grabbed a paint can and had just enough room to spray paint Dave Ramsey’s quote on the wall in front of my desk: "Live like no one else..."‍ 

The very next day I poured my heart into learning how to start a business.

While working for Apple, I did 500 rides driving for Uber and Lyft in the evenings and on weekends, using my payouts to pay off my car. I launched a business selling vapes, an alternative for people addicted to nicotine-packed cigarettes. The business reached its peak at $400 in revenue in one month and I later sold it for a whopping $35. 

I set out with a single dime, dead set on doubling it 20 times which would put me over $100,000. I got to $400 just for asking strangers and used that to buy my first private label product on Amazon: cremation urns. This expanded into more products until I eventually ran three different product brands on Amazon. 

In the meantime, my wife and I sold everything in our house we didn’t need and used that cash to buy and resell items on eBay, Facebook, Craigslist, and Amazon. When the products wouldn’t sell, I put them in a bag and walked door to door, selling them to our neighbors. 

I also started subleasing condos on AirBnB to generate more cash flow. 

Within months I reached my $100,000 goal, had paid off our mortgage, and eventually generated several million in product sales between my own products and products I launched for others. 

Just One Dime

People began to ask me to coach them which gave birth to Just One Dime, a coaching company whose mission was to teach people how to sell on Amazon, creating freedom to do the things they love with the people they love. 

Amazon flew me to their headquarters to consult with me on improving their third party platform. A company invested in on Shark Tank asked me to run their Amazon and e-commerce division. Two countries asked Just One Dime to train their top businesses. I flew to China three times with Amazon sellers, showing them how to source and negotiate with suppliers and we set up our own sourcing team in China. I even got to interview Kevin O’Leary in his own Miami Beach apartment and consulted for BMW, Forever 21, and a business who won an investment on Shark Tank. 

Two investment firms reached out asking if I was open to selling Just One Dime. I turned them down, intent on building something never built before. 

Just One Dime trained over 10,000 students, many of whom became millionaires and some multi millionaires. One of our student couples got to present their product on Shark Tank. Another sold his business for seven figures. At one point the combined Just One Dime network (leaders, coaches, and brand builders) generated over $100 million a year on Amazon. 

Done For You

In 2020, Just One Dime launched “Done For You,” a service that built Amazon stores for clients. Done For You launched powerfully, but when the rise in online demand began to clog ports, spiking the cost of raw materials, and Covid outbreaks moved the Chinese government to shut down factories, the delays pushed out Just One Dime’s launch plan for most of the stores. 

All the while Just One Dime was burning monthly cash flow, paying for over 350 staff. I liquidated my personal rental duplex and my wife’s and my 401K as well as cash reserves from my Amazon stores and put all of this into Just One Dime to try to keep it afloat. But Just One Dime could not launch products soon enough, resulting in the company running out of cash and having to file chapter 7 bankruptcy on November 23, 2022. 

Ninety percent of the clients understood what we were up against. But about ten percent of them sued me and my company at local, state, and national levels.

A forensic accountant did a deep investigation on all the finances and came up with nothing. But angry plaintiffs would not relent and because I could not afford the litigation costs, I filed personal bankruptcy on March 8, 2024. 

I owned no home, no car, and had just a few months of savings in the bank. At one point I sold furniture out of our garage to pay for groceries.

Heart change 

Up to this point in my life, I often placed my sense of value in what I achieved. But God reminded me that my worth comes from Jesus Christ who said, “I love you,” by dying on the cross for my sins. My worth comes from Christ my King. 

My real battle was not angry creditors, fork-tongued lawyers, or people who try to build their fame off of someone else’s downfall. 

The real battle was inside of me. These external forces were simply God’s tools to reprioritize my heart. 

New life 

I started training my body really hard. Harder than I ever have before. 

I booked a chapel and renewed my vows with KK. 

Snowmageddon hit Austin so I borrowed a chainsaw from a friend and my family and I did branch and log clean up for peoples’ yards where the ice had brought down massive branches. 

But snow storm cleanup is not a long term plan in Austin, TX, so we launched our own online arbitrage store on Amazon and built another Amazon store for a former client of Just One Dime. 

I also launched my knife sharpening kit on Amazon which I had personally designed to solve a problem that no one in the industry was solving. 

When I was strapped for cash, I picked up roofing on the side and closed $103,360 in sales in two and a half months. 

After ten years of selling on Amazon and coaching others how to do the same, I took everything I learned and put it all into one book: How to Make a Fortune Selling on Amazon. You can grab it for free.

Today I run a company that helps businesses and founders get better clients. We build full marketing systems, turning followers into dedicated customers. I also consult for business owners and speak at events.