Fashion brand owner Adam Frisby has urged youngsters to follow their dreams after building a £40 million empire.
Eight years ago after being made redundant, Adam ploughed £1,000 of his savings into online fashion venture In The Style from his bedroom.
The Manchester-based business floated on the stock market on Monday, handing Adam a £12million payout, while also leaving him with a big stake the company, The Mirror reports.
To mark the success of In The Style, 33-year-old Adam took the opportunity to talk about how he started out.
Adam says he was just 15 when he left home.
After leaving he got a train back to Great Yarmouth, where his grandmother, Norma, still lived and used his last 50p to call her from a phone box.
He left school with no qualifications and did a variety of jobs, including working in Burger King.
At one stage he gave up work for a spell to look after his brother, Peter, in Cornwall after he lost his eyesight.
“He had a very, very serious car accident and was lucky to be alive,” says Adam.
“He was on hospital for six months so I gave up my job to look after him.”
It was this experience that inspired him to work for a charity, but was later made redundant.
With his redundancy money and other savings he hit upon the idea of starting the website.
“If anything I was probably a bit naive but I saw an opportunity with combining social media and fashion,” he told the Mirror.
He initially bought six dresses from a wholesaler and sold them at three times the price through social media.
Another early success was convincing The Only Way Is Essex personality Lauren Pope to work on a range with him.
Adam’s gran died a year ago.
He says: “I remember having a conversation with nan before she passed away and telling her my goals.
“She used to joke that I would look after her when she got unwell and put her in a nice home.
“She always used to joke about it, but it was never a joke to me.”
He added: “All of this wasn’t my plan, making her proud was and I really hope she is looking down feeling that.”
Adam says he does not know what he plans to do with his new wealth and is concentrating on running the business.
But he has a message for others, particularly the young, who may be going through tough times.
“Do whatever the hell you want in life," he said.
“Never let anyone tell you that you can’t.
“You should always give it a go and believe in yourself.
“I am proud that I did this from nothing, so never doubt yourself.”
