Bartender Turned Millionaire Inspiring Women To Be Ambitious & Fight For Equal Rights

By Melanie Bajrovic

Financial freedom in your 20’s is possible. I’m a bartender turned millionaire, expert Real Estate Investor and Educator, Serial Entrepreneur, Hospitality Business Owner, Public Speaker and Author of the #1 International Best Selling book “The Wealthy Barmaid”. I wanted to share my story, and provide help and guidance to show others that there is more out there. There is a path to wealth, and I am living proof of this strategy.

I built a multi million dollar real estate empire – literally on a barmaids salary. Bringing clarity to financial security and freedom is the motivation behind my book and my programs. If I could do it, you can rest assured that this is possible for everyone. Sharing this belief and my experiences with as many people as possible is now my life’s purpose.

I was extremely ambitious for as long as I can remember, I always had a hunger to do more, see more, achieve more and ultimately to reach and help as many people that I could. I decided early on that I would never rely on any one, any company, or any government to dictate how or when I achieved financial freedom or how or on what terms I would live my life.

I was determined to build security and wealth of my own. I wanted to first make it for myself, become successful, achieve financial independence and security for my own in order to have freedom – and then I wanted to use that to have a platform and to have the ability to help other people succeed, especially women. I wanted to find a way to be a catalyst for real change on this planet.

I was always bothered by the fact that so many people struggle in this life. So many people live in scarcity – in survival mode, living pay check to pay check. I saw that there are people out there who are lost, and they don’t know how or where to start. They don’t know what they are trying to do, but they know that they want more and that they are capable of achieving more.

They just haven’t figured out the system of doing something like this. Once I discovered that there is another way, a better way, that it really is possible to create a life of financial freedom for oneself, I felt compelled to share that with the world. So I created the Melanie Bajrovic Wealth Academy which helps others build wealth and financial freedom for themselves through investing in real estate and by breaking their belief patterns for why they can’t build wealth or secure themselves financially.

I wanted to share my system and experiences in a way that others could follow step by step, regardless of their starting point, financial situation, age, job, or credentials so they too can have the success and wealth and freedom that I have – without making all of the mistakes that I did. Our job is to make life easier for those coming after us, to lay out our findings instead of competing with each other or hoarding that information for ourselves.

And I can spout on about how hard it was to get to where I am today (which it was), how many challenges I faced to get here (there were many), to build my empire (one brick at a time), to be belittled and discriminated by men (and many women) at every turn… but the truth is, through all of that, I have been, and continue to be unbelievably grateful and fortunate to even have the power and the freedoms that I get to enjoy today thanks to the women who gave me those rights.

Thanks to those women who were arrested and imprisoned and beaten for me to have a voice. I’m thankful to the women who refused to back down, to the women who fought tirelessly to give me my right to vote. I’m grateful to the women who put their lives on hold and went to war so that I could have equal education. I’m thankful to those women who protested, took a stand and defied the decision makers for my right to work – my ability to work in politics and affect policy – for my legal birth control – for my reproductive rights… the list goes on. I am thankful for them because without them and their dedication to my freedoms and rights, these opportunities I have today wouldn’t even exist for me to seize.

Now some might think that we are fully there, that the struggle for equality is over – but it’s not. We still have a ways to go to liberate women, not only in North America, but all over the world. There is still a massive amount of injustice and suppression happening globally. And I believe it is our duty, our obligation and our responsibility to get up and do something to progress our rights even further.

We need to make it easier and better for our children, our grandchildren, and for all the subsequent generations coming after us. Every woman in the past that has suffered… every last one of them I am grateful for and indebted to, because they helped pave the way, little by little, so that I can have this phenomenal life, so that I get to have the opportunity to build my own empire and to amass wealth and freedom for myself, to have this power, and these rights that I get to enjoy today. I am unbelievably lucky and privileged thanks to all of them.

But its not over. Don’t kid yourself. We are not done. Despite the indisputable gains over the years, women are still being raped, trafficked, violated and discriminated against — not just in the rest of the world, but here in the United States. Most people seem to think that outside of a few lingering battles, the work of the women’s movement is done. It’s not. You still make less than a man for doing the same work. You make less as a CEO, as an athlete, as an actress, as a doctor. You make less in government, in the tech industry, in healthcare.

You still don’t have full rights over your own body. Men are still deliberating over your uterus. Over your prenatal care. Over your choices. You still have to carry mace when walking alone at night. You still have to prove to the court why you were drunk on the night you were raped. You still have to justify your behavior when a man forces himself on you. Women in Saudi Arabia still can’t drive or operate any mode of independent transportation (including riding a bicycle).

Women in Lesotho, North Sudan, and Tanzania can’t own land or property without a man co-signing – usually a husband or father. In Egypt and Lebanon, even abused women are forbidden to file for divorce. In Afghanistan girls are still banned from enrolling in school and getting an education. In Pakistan, women are expected to accept arranged marriages in which refusal can lead to “honor killings” that typically go uncontested by the government.

In Iraq, women serving in the military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. In Iran, married women can’t even leave the country without their husband’s permission. Husbands in North Korea can beat their wives to death in public with no repercussions.

There is so much more work to be done. The truth is, most women don’t have the privilege of being able to look at gender justice from a distance; they have no choice but to live it every day. Those of us who are lucky enough not to have to think about sexism, racism, poverty and violence on a daily basis have a responsibility to open our eyes to the misogyny right in front of us. And then to stop it.

We can fight for our rights while fighting for women internationally as well. In fact, our successes will help women abroad. Yes, women today fare better than our foremothers. But the benchmarks we talk about – the right to vote, working outside the home, laws that make domestic violence illegal – don’t change the reality of women’s lives. They don’t prevent 1 million women from being raped and killed by their male partners, female troops from being assaulted or the continued legal discrimination against gay and transgender people. And should American women really be elated with the most basic rights of representation? Thrilled that our country has seen fit to consider us fully human?

For women to continue to advance we need to increase the number of female ambassadors globally – open doors for women in other countries by speaking up and continuing to fight for our rights as women. We are not second class citizens.

We need to rally together for something bigger than ourselves – to unite and promote female founders, entrepreneurs, executives, activists and game changers who want to help progress us further instead of turning a blind eye. We need to empower each other. How we act and how we treat other women matters. It is of the utmost importance we stick together and lift each other up. We are our own biggest advocate and if we can break the stereotypical woman vs woman mentality that is particularly prevalent in America – there’s so much more that we can do. Something greater than ourselves to help pave the way further, just like the brave women in history did for us.

 

 

 

 

Melanie is a bartender turned Millionaire, Expert Real Estate Investor and Educator, Serial Entrepreneur, Hospitality Business Owner, Public Speaker, Philanthropist and Author of the #1 International Best Selling book “The Wealthy Barmaid” which teaches her personal strategies for success, investing in real estate and her entrepreneurial ventures that led her to becoming a Millionaire by the age of 27 and building a Multi Million Dollar real estate empire – literally on a barmaids salary. Melanie is an inspiration and unshakable optimist dedicated to helping others live their lives to their fullest potential.

Get to know more about Melanie on her website, and follow Melanie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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