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A self-made millionaire who overcame homelessness to earn £240,000-a-month has insisted that “poverty is a choice”. Dimitris Vakalis endured homelessness, being kicked out of college and saw his first business end in abject failure all by the age of 22. But the 24-year-old said he was “destined to be rich” and struck gold by working with adult content creators through his social media marketing agency Upped.
The Greek national – who now splits his time between the USA, Marbella and Dubai – blasted today’s “something for nothing” culture with people expecting to be rich without working.
“It doesn’t matter from where you start but where you are ending up to be,” he said.
“The key is to want it all and have it all. I’ve learnt something very important throughout all these years of hustling and that is you deserve to be to the place you are.
“The world doesn’t owe you anything. If you are flat broke and fat with no girlfriend then that is your fault.
“You deserve what have and where you are going in life.
“Poverty is a choice and too many people think that they deserve to be rich or that the world owes them a living.
“That bull***t and they’ve only got themselves to blame.”
Dimitris did not come from wealth and says his battle over adversity makes him “perfectly qualified” to make the controversial claims.
After he was kicked out of college in his home city of Larisa he travelled to the Greek islands of Paros and Mykonos to pursue his dream of being a DJ in 2017.
Unfortunately it didn’t prove lucrative and he ended up getting paid $35 working 10 shifts as a waiter on the party island.
He was so badly paid that he couldn’t afford to eat and pay rent so he ended up living in an abandoned house which had no electricity or water.
After realising the music wasn’t his calling, Dimitris travelled to the USA in April 2019 where he worked as a door-to-door salesman to improve his English before trying his hand at dropshipping, Forex trading and Shopify.
While all three made him money at points, they were no consistent enough to make him as rich as he wanted to be.
So sensing that he had to change direction, Dimitris opted to try his hand at social media management in December 2021.
His firm – which now employs 45 employees and over 25 models throughout the world – enjoyed skyrocketing success by helping adult stars reach as many people as possible.
It was quickly earning him $300,000-a-month, allowing him to enjoy a jetset lifestyle and own his dream car a Lamborghini Huracán Evo.
Dimitris credits his success on “outcompeting everyone” in his age group regarding wealth, relationships, his boxing ability, social skills and lifestyle.
He said that some of his peers might compete with him on certain aspects but when every aspect of their lives are taken into account he wins.
“I built myself from zero,” he explained.
“I’ve been through a lot of s*it that most of you will never experience even if you live two lives.
“But I embraced all my pain and turned it into a pure power which fed my hunger for success.
“Pain, sweat, tears, and lack of food made the man I am today.
“My advice for young entrepreneurs is that if you’re flat broke then you should focus on how to make money.
“You should also focus on how to change any ‘broke boy beliefs’ that are keeping you poor by studying successful people.
“And remember, success is not just about money. I know rich people doing drugs all day, is this successful? No.
“Successful people can outcompete everybody in every metric and not just material wealth.
“Think of things like social skills, fighting ability, body shape, language skills, sharpness, status, smartness, speed and brotherhood.
“You need it all.”
