When Kim (Meyer) Kiyosaki left her home in Oregon and boldly moved to Hawaii to attend college, she had no idea that her move to an island paradise would transform her life in every way and set the course for a future that would transform the lives of millions. Like many college freshmen, she figured she would go to school, graduate, get a job, work, and begin the steady climb to the top of some corporate ladder. She figured that college would be the ticket to a more secure life.
The problem was that while working for a local business in Honolulu, Kim discovered that being an employee wasn't her dream. It wasn't getting her where she wanted to be. There had to be something more. That's when Kim's real education began.
It took several years, many of which were spent with her future husband Robert, before Kim made her first investment in a tiny house in Portland, Oregon with $5,000 she didn't have. In fact, for a time, Kim and Robert were penniless, choosing to follow their dream of becoming financially free and learn all they could about money, people and life. Rather than take jobs they studied and worked to develop a company that would teach people what they themselves were learning.
Kim's Portland investment netted her $25 per month in cash flow. It wasn't much even back then, but it was a start. And more importantly than the money, it represented freedom. "The first deal is the hardest one," Kim says, "My hand was shaking signing the papers. But once that $25 was rolling in, I was hooked. I knew I could do it again, I knew I could do it bigger."
From these humble beginnings to self-made millionaire, Kim Kiyosaki followed the Rich Dad teachings, elevated her knowledge, and grew with every deal. Did she make mistakes along the way? Absolutely. "Those mistakes were my greatest teachers," Kim says. Despite setbacks now and then, Kim has always cultivated her entrepreneur's spirit. She started an apparel business in 1989 and has been involved in several businesses since, most notably as Co-Founder of the Rich Dad Company.
Today Kim has the freedom to do whatever she wants in life. Aside from spending a few weeks every year in her beloved Hawaii, Kim has developed the Rich Woman brand and leads a team of inspired women who help her bring it to life. As an author of the Business Week bestselling book Rich Woman, Kim travels around the world teaching and empowering women to be financially independent. According to Kim, "Women can't be truly free unless they are financially free." Her mission is to teach women about money and get them to do their first deal. "It's more than a first step," says Kim.