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Many people have this vision of entrepreneurs as coming from money. That is hardly the case. In most cases, it is people who come from hardships and work on themselves to have more.

Such is the case with our latest guest on The Inner Edison Podcast. We had the pleasure to sit down with Mike “C-Roc” Ciorrocco.

We talked about his upbringing. Mike discussed his rough start in life and what it was like for him growing up.

He also shared his groundbreaking new book, Rocket Fuel: Convert Setbacks. Become Unstoppable. We also talked about his start with entrepreneurism and his goals for the future.

Mike has an incredible story that you won’t want to miss. Read on for inspiration.

Growing Up in a Broken Home

Mike describes never seeing his parents together except for wedding photos. They got divorced when he was young.

He spent his early years watching his parents fight. They fought in custody battles, courtrooms, and before all that, in their home. He separated his time between his mom and dad.

After his mother’s third marriage, he decided to go live with his dad at eight. It was there that he became subject to the emotional and psychological abuse of his father.

He recalls sleeping with a baseball bat because he was afraid of the fights in his home. He left his father’s home after filing court papers.

He remembers his dad wadding up a $100 bill and throwing it at him. Then his dad said, “You’re going to need this when you’re living on the streets with your mother.”

He was eleven. After that, he spent the rest of his childhood with his mom and his stepdad, George. His stepdad would become his first mentor. Although he didn’t know much about making money, he knew about hard work, respect, and showing up.

Finding His Path

Mike attended college to play football. He played for two years before dropping out due to a lack of focus. He decided to go into sales.

He got into home sales selling water treatment systems. He worked that way for nine years. He recalls he was making enough money to think it would be hard to leave and have the same income. He states, “It was all a mindset thing.”

He equated it to walking around in the wrong-sized shoe. You’re uncomfortable, but it’s familiar. He decided he needed to break out, and he landed in real estate. He became one of the top real estate agents in his area for a couple of years, but he wanted more.

That’s when he found his path, mortgages. He excelled and asked the owner if he and his team could break out and form branches. His owner gave him his blessing, although he thought it was a foolish decision.

Mike turned it into seven branches with 40 employees and growing.

Forging His Own Path

Today, Mike has moved into coaching, speaking, and other streams of income. Most recently, he moved into the tech sector. He’s creating an app with a tech partner to disrupt the coaching and consulting industry.

On top of that, he is getting involved with the Young Entrepreneur Movement. They want to help 10,000 young entrepreneurs launch and scale their companies by 2031.

His inspiration comes from a need to give back and help kids find their path faster than he did.

Use Setbacks as Rocket Fuel

Mike left us with one piece of advice from his book. He calls it the Rocket Fuel Law: turn all setbacks into rocket fuel for your future.

He says it’s all about mindset. You have to change your perspective to see the bigger picture. Then you can turn setbacks into moments that can improve a situation.

Looking for more great content? Please check out The Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut.