The Fascinating Journey Of A Homeless Drug Dealer Into Business School

Rao’s memoir written under his nickname

What’s next for you?

To be perfectly honest, I feel like I got my ideal job at Wells Fargo. It has the challenge I’m looking for, and it also has that component where you’re out there talking with people, and that’s always been one of the things I enjoy. I’ve always been, at heart, kind of a salesperson. Plus, the people at Wells Fargo emphasized that they really wanted to make use of my writing background.

I should throw this out there, too: I got the impression that they were going to be respectful of my time. I have a young son and a wife, and I don’t want the i-banker life of working from seven in the morning until 11 at night. When I talked to the team, I saw a bunch of people who had been working at Wells Fargo for 20 to 30 years. I want to be part of an organization that will be loyal to me, and that I can be loyal to in return. In ten years, I see myself continuing to work there within the investment management track.

Going back into entrepreneurship is a possibility down the line. In terms of going back and running a company all by myself—I don’t know that I want to do that again. Building my own business took 16 hours a day, seven days a week. Right now, I don’t have any big entrepreneurial ideas that would elicit that kind of passion and commitment. Sometimes, I think people jump into entrepreneurship for all the wrong reasons. I hear people talking about it, and they’re saying, ‘Oh, I want to be my own boss,’ or ‘Oh, I can build this app, and we’ll use social media, and obviously it’ll happen, and then I’ll sell it for $200 million.’ And it’s like—you guys just don’t get it. You don’t know, from point A to point B, what it takes to get there.

How do your parents feel about your current place in life?

They’re really happy. My dad always said that he saw so much potential in me, and that it broke his heart to see me struggle. But all those struggles have drawn us closer as a family. I have deep and honest conversations with my folks and with my siblings as well. They can see that I’m happy and that good things are happening, so they’re as excited as I am about what’s going to happen next.

What’s next for you?

How do your parents feel about your current place in life?

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