Honest notes on what it really takes to start a business with no money while working a full-time job — the failures, the grit, the family history, and the lessons that didn't all fit in the book. Pull up a chair.
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The Build
Starting with no money, working full-time, pivots, and what actually works when you have more grit than capital.
Read the build posts →The Roots
Faith, family, and five generations of grit — the legacy underneath the business, beginning with my grandmother.
Read the roots posts →The Book
The story behind Journey Began — what it's about, who it's for, and the memoirs that shaped it.
Read the book posts →Latest Posts
Honest Memoirs: The True Path to Success
by: Eddrick Javon TrumplerPublished on: 29/06/2026Discover why honest memoirs of success reveal the true journey behind achievements.
Look Where He Brought Me From: My Grandmother's Faith and the Church She Called Home
by: Eddrick Javon TrumplerPublished on: 28/06/2026The story behind the memoir Journey Began: how Dorothy Bell Hunt carried her faith from a Dawson, Georgia cotton field to Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Miami Gardens. Available now in print and eBook.
What Is "Journey Began" About? The Story Behind the Brown Paper Bag and the Borrowed Shoes
by: Eddrick Javon TrumplerPublished on: 24/06/2026What Journey Began by Eddrick Trumpler is about — the business memoir's story, the meaning of the brown paper bag and borrowed shoes, and who should read it. Out now on Amazon.
7 Business Memoirs Like Shoe Dog for People Who Started With Nothing
by: Eddrick Javon TrumplerPublished on: 23/06/2026If Shoe Dog hit you in the chest, here are 7 business memoirs like it — books about founders who started with nothing, worked a day job, and almost lost it all.
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