In a Reddit AMA, one man shared how embracing a persistent YOLO — or you only live once — mentality helped him and his wife nearly triple their income in two years. The story, filled with calculated risks, personal finance lessons and candid insights, seemed to resonate with Redditors, netting over 1,000 upvotes.
A Leap of Faith
In 2022, the couple was earning a combined $90,000 to $100,000 annually. The original poster's wife worked as a contract massage therapist for a high-end retirement community, and as a staff physical therapist assistant. However, the community's homeowners association decided to shut down the spa, and OP's wife didn't want to abandon her clients. So instead, they took their first big leap of faith, draining their savings to buy the spa's operating license. A $3,000 loan from the OP's father helped them stay afloat while the wife transitioned from day-job to entrepreneur. The risk paid off. Within a month, they had a fledgling business.
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Later that year came the next YOLO moment, which led to a third: The couple booked a spontaneous trip to Iceland. No hotels. No itinerary. Just plane tickets and a rental car. The OP says the experience reignited their love for travel, and despite lacking any prior experience, he decided to launch a travel agency.
Although the first year cost him $8,000 in losses, he persisted, reinvesting in repeated trips to Iceland to build his brand and expertise. Eventually, bookings began to roll in. By leaning into risk — and his wife's steady income during the shakier early days — their combined earnings soared to around $320,000 per year.
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Skepticism in the Peanut Gallery
Not everyone in the AMA subreddit bought into the OP's story at face value. Some commenters said the OP’s story reeked of privilege. In response, the OP said that their success wasn't handed to them: A pair of mid-30s professionals with three jobs scraping together $100,000 a year doesn't exactly scream privilege.
Another skeptic questioned how someone with no prior travel agency experience could suddenly sell tours. The OP explained that while he had business experience — including a past failed venture — and extensive personal travel knowledge from visiting more than 40 countries, he still invested time and money into learning Iceland's landscape. He also met with local suppliers and built up relationships to establish a solid place in the market.
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Key Lessons: Niche Markets and Avoiding Lifestyle Creep
When asked how he competed with big travel agencies, the OP emphasized that he had unearthed a niche, and wasn't sifting through over-mined territory: “You can’t sell tours of New York to New Yorkers, you can’t sell ski trips to people in Salt Lake,” he wrote. He also had the benefit of his wife's spa clients becoming his first travel customers, demonstrating the power of personal connections.
Another key takeaway: Despite their income jump, the couple avoided lifestyle creep. Although his wife bought a modest $30,000 car as a reward, "I still drive my paid off 10 year old Honda," he wrote. They also kept their same home with a modest fixed-rate mortgage. And while he "probably could quit," the OP even kept his day job, reinvesting profits into the business.
True to his post’s title, the poster summed up his biggest takeaway. “Whatever the thing is, do it.” Whether a small side hustle or a big idea, taking the first step, despite uncertainty, can lead to unexpected success. And staying nimble while taking strategic risks can be the real drivers toward a personal finance renaissance.
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Image: Shutterstock
