WAITING by the window with tears in his eyes, eight-year-old Mindy Paul was left heartbroken when his neighbour’s friend broke his promise to drive him in his Porsche.
Growing up in a crowded three-bed house in , Mindy, who had never seen a supercar in person before, swore from that point on that he would never let a lack of hurt him again.
Mindy Paul always dreamed of owning his own Prsche ever since he saw one at the age of eight
Mindy pictured in his retail shop he opened with his dad
Mindy , now 47, lived with his parents, two sisters and grandfather when his dad bumped into the owner at a wedding.
The man promised he would pick Mindy up the next day and give him a drive in the car.
“It was the first time I ever woke up at 7am on a Sunday,” Mindy recalls.
“I waited the whole freaking day for him, I would not move from the bay window I was propped up against the settee. looking out, waiting for this car, just really excited.
“And you know what, the guy didn’t turn up. 10 o’clock came and I had tears down my eyes. I was so heartbroken.”
Mindy swore that he would never let a lack of money upset him again and went on to become a self-made millionaire by the time he was in his early 40s, but his journey didn’t come without struggle.
Despite being a hustler from a young age, buying wholesale lighters and selling them for a profit at lunchtime at school, Mindy admits he wasn’t academic.
He reveals to Fabulous that he was even told by one teacher that he wouldn’t go anywhere in life.
“An actual teacher said to me ‘You’re never gonna amount to anything,’ and for a long time, I believed that,” Mindy says.
“I used to go to school to mess about. I used to go to school to sell things in the playground.”
Mindy has since become a business coach, helping others achieve financial freedom
“I wasn’t very clever at school and could hardly spell, so I wasn’t really academic.
“But that comment really disempowered me for a number of years because every time I went out to do something, I always remembered his voice.”
Mindy went on to do his GCSEs and while he failed the majority, he was still able to go on and study business in sixth form.
But it wasn’t long until Mindy was on the cusp of being expelled for his bad behaviour.
How to effectively manage your money
Kara Gammell, finance expert at MoneySuperMarket, gives tips on how to get a handle on your finances so you have more left for saving,
- Analyse your spending
If you’re struggling to get a grip on your finances, the way to start is to do a proper inventory.
Try Emma, the money management app, which uses open banking to combine information from all your bank accounts, savings accounts and credit cards, plus investments. The app then highlights any wasteful subscriptions and costly debt and helps streamline your savings.
What’s more, it analyses your personal finances and recommends ways to conserve money so that you can get on track financially more easily than ever.
If you want to have a deep dive into your spending habits, go through your bank statement at the end of each month and give every purchase a rating of one, two or three.
Mark with a ‘one’ any purchases that didn’t make you feel good; give a ‘two’ rating to things that felt ‘sort of good but indifferent’; and mark with ‘three’ any purchases that you would make all over again in a heartbeat.
You’ll be surprised by what you learn.
- Monitor your credit report
From overdrafts to loans, credit cards, mobile phones and mortgages, it can be hard to keep track of your finances, and it can be all too simple to find yourself in the dark about how much debt you have in total.
But this information forms your credit score, which is used by lenders to determine whether you’ll be offered competitive rates and offers for financial products, or even whether you will even be accepted when you make an application.
I use MoneySuperMarket’s Credit Score tool , which is a free credit report tool that lets me see all my account balances in one place.
I’m automatically notified when my credit report is updated monthly, which can be a huge help in avoiding any financial problems from spiralling and means I always know what my overall financial situation is.
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Fortunately, his business studies teacher saw something in him, and argued for Mindy to stay in the school as he was ‘the most capable student in the business class.’
Mindy had already realised with his lunchtime lighter hustle that selling goods was a much easier way to make cash than working for a company.
So, when he left education, he borrowed a loan of £1,500 from his parents to buy a carpet cleaning machine.
Without even knowing how to use the machines, Mindy went out looking for his first client, knocking on in the Northampton area.
He recalls: “I walked in looking really serious, looking around, so I was playing some mind games.”
“I asked this member of staff if the manager was here, he disappeared, five minutes later, comes back out with the manager who’s worried and thinks I’m environmental health.
“I said a friend of mine was in here dining last week and he reported to me that your carpets weren’t up to standard and they were very sticky.”
“Now, this guy was so happy that I wasn’t environmental health, he would do anything.”
Mindy told him he could book him in for a carpet clean in a few days and from that point on, he was recommended to clean other restaurants as well.
Mindy was working just 15 hours a week, earning £200 for two hours’ work, while his friends took that home for a week’s wages.
He also went on to sell pots, pans and knives to the restaurants for extra income, and then invested in a retail store with his dad.
But Mindy was still dreaming about owning his own Porsche.
With no money to buy one, he decided to call up the dealership and asked to test drive a Porsche 911.
Looking in the mirror, Mindy began to visualise himself owning the car even though he didn’t have the funds to get it.
Mindy couldn’t afford school uniform for his kids, now he’s a milllionaire and finally owns his own Porsche
That all changed nine weeks later when he thought of a clever plan to pay for his car.
He decided to buy the car and then loan it out to others. It meant Mindy could finally get the Porsche he had always dreamed of, without even dipping into his own pocket to pay for it.
With many of his businesses taking off, Mindy decided to get himself a mentor to help him grow even more.
But Mindy revealed that this person took advantage, leaving Mindy in over £60,000 worth of debt.
“That’s when I ended up in hospital,” he said. “I felt like a total failure, just a total mug, and I was disgusted at myself.”
It was 2016 when Mindy, who was 38 at the time, spent two weeks in hospital, the stress had catastrophic effects on his body.
“I had this vision of my two children attending my funeral. This wasn’t meant to happen to me,” he adds.
Mindy refused to let his family in to see him, focusing instead on getting mentally better, with the help of Bob Proctor, a man he’d followed for a number of years.
Bob was a well-established personal development speaker and a leading voice in the law of attraction, believing what you put out into the universe will come back to you.
It gave Mindy the hope to carry on, and when doctors gave him the all clear, Mindy swore he would make the most of life and help others do the same.
Mindy eventually travelled to and met Bob, who became his mentor after hearing Mindy’s story.
Mindy was also able to help others by building a global coaching business as well as a podcast sharing how people can change their mindset and earn big.
“I couldn’t even afford my kids’ uniforms like eight years ago,” he adds. “Anything can change if you really want to make the change.”
Now, Mindy has two Porsches, a , and even bought his dad a .
He regularly makes six-figures a month, has a dream home and a fleet of , but says helping others reach financial freedom is his favourite part.
Mindy has now appeared on Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday to share his story and offer hope to others.
“I actually kept my part of the promise, I’m really passionate about helping people who are really stuck because everybody deserves success,” he explains.
“People talk about money like you shouldn’t want money, but money gives you freedom, it gives you choices, it gives you safety.”
“Look at me, I ain’t smart, I ain’t the smartest kid in the block,” Mindy says.
“I want to share with the world that just because you’re defined by your current results, it doesn’t mean that that’s the way it’s going to be for the rest of your life.”
Mindy will be on Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday on Channel 5 this Sunday 
