In the final years of my Olympic rowing career, I had a harsh realisation - I have ZERO money-making skills.
When I stopped rowing, I won't be immediately valuable to ANYONE—and I have a bloody mortgage to pay!
So I HAD to change that.
I found this guy named David who ran a small digital marketing agency. I hit him up and said:
“If I pay you $5K, will you teach me EVERYTHING you know?”
David knew I’d become competition—hell, I even told him that. But he said yes 💪.
Now, where’d I get the $5K?
Being an Olympic athlete, I had access to the Prime Minister’s Scholarship. It’s meant for uni and formal quals.
With a bit of creative thinking and support from the team around me, we were able to align the scholarship with the bespoke training I wanted to pursue. Genuinely grateful for that flexibility.
Funded by that scholarship, David's hands-on training gave me everything I needed to start, grow, and scale SK Digital.
Investment: $5K
Return: A business that funds my life, supports my family and gives me PURPOSE.
I stand by it—this was the best ROI I’ve ever had.
That scholarship exists to help full-time athletes get ready for the real world.
Well—this was the real world, and I'm pretty thankful for it.
So here’s the takeaway:
🚀 Invest in yourself.
🚀 Be creative with the levers you’ve got.
🚀 Find your “David.” Pay them. Learn everything. Then go get after it.
Lessons that worked in the trenches 🤙
