At five years old, I ran to my father asking for a toy.
Like most children, I wanted immediate gratification. But instead of simply buying me the toy, my father, Muhammad, gave me a choice that would shape the course of my life.
He said I had two options: I could buy the toy and never have any money after, or I could invest the value of that toy into learning a skill that could produce income for a lifetime.
“The value of a dollar isn't what you can buy with it — it's what you can create with it.”
That lesson changed everything.
Born in 1987 and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, I grew up in the John Hope Apartments and attended Brown Middle School and B.T. Washington High School. I am the sixth child of my mother and the ninth child of my father, as well as the youngest of three boys.
My parents, Muhammad and Ra'eesah, were entrepreneurs before I even understood what entrepreneurship meant. They made clothing for a living, while my father supplemented the family's income through photography. I watched them create opportunities with limited resources, and from an early age I learned that wealth was not something you waited for — it was something you built.
Growing up, our family experienced hardships that many people never see. There were times when we went without gas, electricity, and running water. As a child, I did not fully understand what we lacked. But as I grew older, I realized that scarcity can either break a person or ignite a vision within them.
For me, it ignited a vision.
Those experiences planted a burning desire in me — not only to create a better life for my family, but to build systems that could create opportunities for others.
My entrepreneurial journey began at the age of five, selling oils and incense. Long before business plans, websites, or corporations, I was learning the principles of value creation, customer service, and ownership.
In 2004, while still in high school, I launched Axis Jeans Company. Soon after came H.M. Fashion and Axis Express Transportation. In 2009, I entered the entertainment industry through Gas Pack Entertainment and partnered with my mother on Mizan Prototype, a pattern design company. Years later came Environmental Cleaning, HHRUMURZ, Axis Experts, and ultimately Heads Up Enterprises.
My path, however, was not without adversity. One of the hardest chapters of my life came in July of 2017. My family and I experienced foreclosure and eviction. For two weeks, I slept in my cargo van.
Those moments taught me lessons that success never could. When you lose everything, you quickly discover who truly values you, who supports you, and who remains when there is nothing left to gain from your presence.
Those experiences did not break me. They refined me.
“Success is not measured by possessions, titles, or temporary achievements. Success is a state of being.”
As I studied credit and financial systems, I realized that many families and communities lacked access to information that could transform their financial future. I saw how generations of people had been excluded from conversations about ownership, investing, leverage, and capital. I made it my mission to help change that.
Today, through my businesses and educational efforts, I help individuals and businesses understand credit, funding, entrepreneurship, and wealth-building strategies. My goal is not simply to improve credit scores, but to help people create opportunities, ownership, and lasting financial stability.
I believe education is one of the most powerful forms of economic empowerment. I believe ownership creates freedom. And I believe wealth should be built intentionally and passed down responsibly.
As a father of three — and someone who helps guide the growth of the children throughout my extended family — I think deeply about legacy. Fifty years from now, I want my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to say that I created a lifestyle of ease for them. Not simply through money, but through knowledge, systems, values, and opportunities.
“When my name is remembered, I hope it is remembered as someone who taught others how to fish so they could eat for a lifetime.”
Because true success is not measured by what we accumulate. It is measured by what we create, what we teach, and what we leave behind.