Digital entrepreneurship is the tidal wave splashing into the future of our economy and Ariel Whitely has harnessed its energy for the masses. This 24-year-old boss, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, understood that digital media and communications were here to stay, and it would rapidly change the way the world consumed information.
From her first employment at McDonald’s at the age of 17, Ariel adopted a strong work ethic and gained an understanding of the importance of financial independence. Ariel graduated with her Bachelors degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan in April 2019, where she majored in Communication & minored in Digital Media. She chose Communication as her major due to her belief that good communication skills are critical to creating strong relationships which can be positively leveraged throughout your career.
“Being able to communicate who you are and what you’re about to the world is essential to success – those who work best with others, make the most income. When you can communicate well you can build relationships with people who have different skills than your own. I chose digital media as my minor because of the digital age that we’re in. On a daily basis, we’re constantly influenced by things we see on the internet, TV and the news. I myself am very into and influenced by digital media. I like the entertainment aspect of it – I like to partake in it, either by being behind the camera, editing, coming up with creative content or writing. So this career path of digital entrepreneurship just merges my two passions perfectly. Working for myself on my own terms, using digital media as the platform. So it naturally transitioned over from loving entertainment media to me actually being able to make an income digitally,” says Ariel.
With this understanding of her personality and strengths, Ariel created her business, Break the Bank LLC, combining her leadership and communication skills with her larger than life personality and passion for being her own boss.
“Through Break the Bank LLC, we help individuals globally accumulate profit on a daily basis from the largest financial market in the world – the foreign exchange market. We guide people through the process of becoming financially literate and create a greater understanding of digital entrepreneurship as a means to create generational wealth,” says Ariel.
Ariel’s company is mostly based in Detroit, Michigan but thanks to digital migration and remote availability she has talented team members working around the world, even as far as Nigeria.
When discussing the inclusivity of her business model, Ariel says:
“We’re helping people understand and gain the knowledge that they may not have had access to before. It doesn’t matter what skills you have right now or what your talents are. As long as you put yourself in the position to learn this skill set, and be coachable and open-minded to gaining new information, you can succeed.”
Ariel understands the importance of having a knowledgeable mentor and consistently working on personal growth throughout your entrepreneurial journey. Ariel now places that same emphasis on her own team, working with new and aspiring entrepreneurs to provide the mentorship that was so critical in her own endeavours.
“Having a mentor that genuinely wants to see me grow and succeed almost more than I wanted to see that myself, was so important in my journey. Last summer, June of 2020, my mentor told me I needed to start focusing on personal development with my team because that’s how I’ll grow and my team will grow. Ever since he told me that, my team has been getting up at 8:00 AM to work together on personal growth. It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to form a lifestyle, so now all of us are getting into that lifestyle of working every single day towards becoming a better person on all different levels,” says Ariel.
Having found such great success in building her team and enhancing the lives of those around her, Ariel is able to reflect on her journey and identify areas where she could have improved, and in turn share this with her mentees to build a network of unstoppable entrepreneurs.
“I know for a fact that if I was moving with intensity every single day like I do now, then today I would be at a completely different level than where I am now. So give it your all right from the get go even if you’re unsure of yourself or you’ve never done this before, you just have to go at it from the beginning. Surrounding myself with individuals who grind day in and day out made me realize that if I’m giving 100% right now, I need to be giving 110%, and that’s how I really got that stronger work ethic to get more done in a shorter amount of time,” says Ariel.
In the rapidly changing digital age, it’s important to have a structured daily routine to ensure you are in peak physical and mental condition to take on the challenges of digital entrepreneurship. When discussing her day to day activities that she performs consistently to keep her on track in both her business and personal life, Ariel says:
“I wake up and thank God for another 24 hours to become 1% better. I work on personal development, then I focus on making money in the markets. The rest of the day I focus on following up with my leaders making sure they have what they need because you can’t build a business by yourself – you have to make sure your team is working smoothly with you on the same page. To connect with them I’ll host training sessions through zoom or phone calls. My day revolves around my phone. As a digital entrepreneur in the network marketing field, it’s all about connecting with others and mastering the skill of trading.”
With Break the Bank LLC rapidly growing and Ariel’s vision coming to life, she continues to encourage others to place focus on personal development in their own lives and believes that we can only expect to keep up with the ever changing digital era by continuing to grow and make positive change within ourselves.