#创业故事 ##转行##自我成长##宠物美容师##插画师#
This is the 3,690th real story we have told
My name is Mantou and I'm a 31-year-old illustrator.
Before I turned 30, I didn't know what I would do in the future or what kind of person I would become.
When I was a child, I was humiliated by my mother and teacher for delaying my homework because I was looking for the missing 5 cents.
In order to earn money for my father's treatment, I tore up my college acceptance letter and went to work as an apprentice in a hotel and distribute flyers on the street. Because of low education and no skills, he was bullied and looked down upon.
In order to make myself better, I worked as a preschool teacher, pet groomer, and plunged headlong into the unfamiliar field of illustration.
I have lived in an 8-square-meter house in Shanghai for 3 years, and I have seen countless times in the suburbs of Baoshan District at 4 a.m.
With a pen and a lamp, I have accumulated more than 100 paintings day and night.
I have successfully knocked on the door of famous enterprises and cooperated with many well-known brands......
At the end of 2023, I finally have my first deposit - 350,000.
For a lot of people, the money isn't a big deal. But for me, it's the answer to those two questions: what I'm going to do and what kind of person I'm going to become.
Teacher Luo Xiang once said: "Money can cure all inferiority complex and cowardice." It's useless to be kind alone, you have to be excellent and live. "I want to be better and live the life I want.
(Nowadays, I draw every day to attend classes and make money)
My name is Mantou Datou and I was born in a small town in Funing County, Yancheng, Jiangsu. I had an older brother and an older sister whom I had never met, and I was the third child in the family.
My parents are the same age as me, and they are a generation that marries and has children early, and they lack parenting experience. The elder brother was delivered in a hurry by the midwife when his mother was working in the fields. Because of severe hypoxia, he died 7 days after birth. My sister was only 6 months old and fell to the ground, congenitally seriously deficient, and she only saw this world for one day, and she died.
Therefore, I came into this world with the care and sincere fear of my parents. Because it wasn't easy, they had high expectations of me. Heavy expectations have always hung over my childhood and made me feel stressed.
In my growing memory, my father was always silent, my mother was very strict with my family education, and beating and scolding were the norm.
When I was a kid, I was skinny and played with my strong friends, and I was often assigned to play insignificant "roles". Once, when my buddies went to the cornfield to steal corn, I was "assigned" to be a sentry.
But when they left, they forgot about me. After being found by the owner, he carried it from the cornfield to his mother. My mother beat me with her slippers and punished me for kneeling on the ground for a long time.
(When I was a child)
At that time, my father was not sick, and he was one of the most skilled workshop masters in the factory, with many apprentices. My mother made a spiritual instrument with my grandfather.
Supposedly, the family's income is good, but they don't give me much pocket money. Once, my mother gave me a rare 5 cent, and I hid it as a "huge amount of money" and was reluctant to spend it.
One morning before going to school, I opened a drawer to take a look at my 5 cents, only to find that it was missing. When I arrived at school, I thought about it all day, and as soon as I got home from school, I was anxious to look everywhere.
My mother told the head teacher about my skipping homework for 5 cents. The class teacher criticized me unnamedly in the class.
5 cents was not found in the end. This is the first time I have been humiliated because of money.
When I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, my father fell ill and was misdiagnosed because he did not receive timely treatment. When I was in my second year of junior high school, my condition became more and more serious, and I went to a major hospital for an examination only to find out that it was cirrhosis. When I was in my third year of junior high school, my father and mother left Yancheng together and went to Shanghai to work while receiving medical treatment.
In order to help his father treat his illness, the family's money was emptied. My parents worked hard to earn less than 4,000 yuan a month, and my father took 37 yuan for a piece of medicine, and spent more than 3,000 yuan on medicine alone.
(Teenage me)
Two months before the college entrance examination, in the spring of 2012, my classmates were nervously brushing up questions in the classroom to start the countdown to the college entrance examination, and I took the train to Shanghai to start my part-time career.
In order to alleviate the financial burden of the family, with the help of relatives, he worked as an apprentice in the back kitchen of a chain hotel in Hangzhou next to the Oriental Pearl.
During this period, I went back to school to take the college entrance examination. As soon as the college entrance examination is over, I will go back to work immediately.
On the day the acceptance letter came, I worked overtime until 9 p.m. As soon as I entered the door, I saw my parents sitting on the sofa waiting for me, and the admission letter from Nanjing Textile Institute was on the table.
My father said, "You're pretty good, and you've been admitted." If we wanted to read it, we would have worked hard for another four years. The mother said, "Reading is the only way out, so go and read." ”
The monthly salary of the apprentice is 1,300 yuan, and I only keep 500 yuan for daily expenses and give 800 yuan to my mother. If I didn't work, I wouldn't have this money to support my family, and I said to my father, "I don't want to go." ”
That night, I lay in bed, unable to sleep for a long time, crying and tearing up the acceptance letter.
I went to work at the hotel as usual, but I thought to myself: I must go to college again in the future.
(A family of three lived in an 8-square-meter dwelling for three years)
Our family of three lives in an old community in Baoshan, with a rental house of only 8 square meters and a monthly rent of 300 yuan. The house is not soundproofed, it is very hot in summer, and it is very cold in winter, so I can only put a small sofa and a bed, and the sofa opens at night and becomes my bed.
For three years, my parents and I traveled from our home to the city every day.
We went out at 6 a.m. every morning, and my father and mother rode out on an electric car to the factory in Putuo District. I walked 30 minutes to the metro station and took the metro for more than 1 hour to the hotel.
In the back kitchen, I was responsible for arranging dishes, but I was actually doing handymen. After the chef finished cooking, he helped hand over the plate to the dishes.
Knowing that I was a relative's "relation", and seeing that I was young, my masters often bullied me.
Several times when the chef cooked the dishes and when I handed them the plates, they would deliberately rub the hot pot handle against the back of my hand. At the end of the day, there were a lot of blisters on my hands.
I didn't dare to tell my relatives and parents the truth, I only said that I was accidentally burned, and I only dared to hide alone in the corridor where no one was aggrieved and cry.
(Me and my colleagues at educational institutions)
The complexity of the workplace and the warmth of human feelings make me have to learn to survive. I learned from my brother how to have a good relationship with my master.
Buy a few bottles of coffee every day during the lunch break to "honor" the masters. At that time, the monthly salary was 1,800 yuan, a bottle of coffee was 18 yuan, and I bought several bottles a day, and I was reluctant to buy drinks myself.
The chefs' attitude towards me became friendly, except for one of the chefs in the hot dish group who still made things difficult for me, always verbally abusive and sarcastic.
Half a year later, the kitchen examination was grouped. In order to stay away from this master, I chose the dim sum group, and after being admitted, I concentrated on learning the craft of dim sum.
But gradually, I found that my colleagues often intrigue and tear each other down in order to be promoted, and I don't like to work in such an environment. In January 2013, five days before the Chinese New Year, I resigned.
I didn't want my parents to know, so I stayed at my aunt's house for the time being and helped out in her barbershop. I didn't have a penny in savings, so I borrowed 500 yuan from my aunt in order to find a job.
(I'm the "Kiki Brother" that kids love)
It is too difficult to find a job in Shanghai, for a person like me with low education and no skills. After half a month of wandering, I found a job distributing flyers.
At that time, I was very shy and shy, and when I handed flyers to passers-by, I was always difficult to speak.
Once, in the central square of the Sun and Moon Light, I saw a couple walking up to them laughing, so I greeted them, smiled at them, nodded at them, and handed a flyer to the boy.
He pouted in disgust, and the leaflet was thrown into the air, swirling in the wind and falling into my face, and the humiliation stung me deeply.
Sent out flyers for 7 days, often met unfriendliness, often rejected. I decided that I wanted to find a job where I could learn a skill and support myself.
I started to submit resumes, but more than 70 of them were in vain. I took the initiative to "sweep the streets", and one day, I found an educational institution and saw a job posting on the glass door.
When I stood in front of the principal in charge of the interview, she asked in surprise: "You have a high level of Chinese, can you be qualified for this job?" I mustered up the courage to say: "It is because I am high in Chinese, I need this job very much, I really want to learn, even if I only give me 1,000 yuan a month, I want to learn." ”
(Me and the principal, she made me start to become confident in my timidity)
I interviewed for a position as a sales assistant. The main job is to call customers and assist the principal to do some daily affairs, with a monthly salary of 2,300 yuan. I aspire to this job and would like to cut my monthly salary in half.
Unexpectedly, I received a call from the agency that night - I was hired.
It was January 2013, and it was snowing, and I ran out of my aunt's barber shop, waving my hands excitedly at the door, looking up to the sky and shouting, "Ah......hhhh
Not relying on my family, not relying on my relatives, I got a job on my own.
Thank God for allowing me to meet the kind principal. She was the first noble person in my life, and she was the one who gave me an important first growth in my life.
As an ordinary sales assistant, I didn't have the opportunity to participate in the teaching, but the principal gave me such an opportunity.
Before a lesson activity, parents should be called to play a small game. The organizer asked me to talk about the rules of the game. Looking at the dozens of parents in the audience, either executives or masters and doctors, I didn't have the courage to go on stage, so I shirked and let other colleagues go up.
The headmaster, who was watching from the sidelines, said, "Don't help him, let him go by himself." So, I took the plunge and told the rules of the game in a trembling voice. Everyone in the audience listened attentively and cooperated with the game.
(The stray dog picked up in the community, we have been together for 6 years)
I secretly let go of the palm of my sweaty hand. It turns out that everyone does not deliberately look at your age and education, and communication with each other is equal. I took this step and conquered my cowardice.
After this time, I got more and more opportunities to showcase. My public speaking skills and organizational skills developed during that period, and they have benefited me ever since.
I am no longer the person who is in the crowd on the subway, and I am the "Brother Qiqi" who is recognized and liked by parents and children.
The teaching supervisor found out about my teaching ability and asked me if I would be interested in becoming a teacher. I said I wasn't qualified. But she said, "You can do it." You are very good at taking care of people, and children like you very much. You also have good public expression skills, and these are the conditions for becoming a teacher. ”
She took the initiative to apply to the principal to let me change jobs. In September 2013, I went from a sales assistant to a teacher, and I got a salary of more than 6,000 per month.
Later, I went to Nanjing to participate in training and was admitted to East China Normal University for a bachelor's degree in preschool education. Two years later, I was transferred to the Nanjing headquarters.
(I was the first time I delivered 8 dogs to my mother)
In 2 years, I have served more than 300 families. Until now, many parents have kept in touch with me. The principal, who left the organization to start a business, has also been paying attention to my growth.
If the principal had turned me away, I might still be wandering around society. I am grateful to her and glad that I have lived up to her trust.
Life at home is slowly getting better. In 2017, we moved from 8 square meters to a 15 square meter house and also had a stray dog.
After staying for about a year, a pet store near the community hung a signboard for a low-cost transfer of 50,000 yuan. Although I have never been involved in the pet industry, I feel that taking care of pets is like taking care of children, I can take care of my children and I can take good care of my pets.
It is a loss-making pet shop. The monthly revenue is only three or four thousand yuan, and the monthly salary paid to pet groomers alone is more than 4,000 yuan.
The first thing I did when I took over the shop was to fire the pet groomer because he wasn't careful enough to cut the dog's nails until the flesh was cut.
I went to study at the pet academy myself.
(With more than 20 works, he joined the advertising department of a mobile phone company)
I gave a big makeover to my smelly, dirty, old-fashioned shop. Throw away the old-fashioned shelves, tear off the purple wallpaper, replace them with small and convenient shelves, paint the big white walls, hang warm decorative paintings, replace them with white lace curtains, and prepare better care shampoos for pets......
In order to do a good job of one-on-one service, I sent a handwritten letter and a pet treat as a small gift to each member. I hired a pet groomer with a high salary, he helped bathe the pets upstairs, and I chatted with clients downstairs.
I also spent more than 10,000 yuan to learn pet baking and teach customers to make pet biscuits and pet cakes. For the referrals, I send a free bath plus care and a snack pack.
Meticulous and attentive service, quickly accumulated a good reputation. The store has grown from 30 to 60 members. Another pet store on the same block was "forced" to close by my shop. The store's monthly revenue has increased from 10,000 to 50,000 month by month.
In this way, I went from a stunned young man with zero foundation to a pet shop owner who "led" the community army of dogs and cats.
And my customers and I have also become comrades-in-arms who protect the "cats" and "Wang Xingren".
(I put my thoughts about the cat's "Qi bangs" into the painting)
Once, a client called me in the middle of the night, her dog vomited more than 30 times in a row, and I accompanied her to the pet hospital in the city center, where she registered, went to the doctor, checked, and hung up the water, and tossed until the early hours of the morning.
However, the most "thrilling" thing was that I helped the client deliver 8 dogs.
Many people may not know that it only takes two months for a dog mother to go from pregnancy to childbirth. It is best for the dog to do two B-ultrasounds before giving birth to confirm that it is pregnant with several babies.
That night, a customer hurried into the store with her mother dog, and I saw that the dog kept plowing the floor, humming and chirping, guessing that it was about to give birth.
When we came to the pet hospital with our dog, it happened that the doctor was not there, and there was only a young man who had just come for the internship and he would not deliver babies.
When I returned to the client's home, I prepared the cotton balls, alcohol, and sterilized scalpel and delivered the baby myself.
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the mother dog begins to give birth.
The production scene is a bit "xue-fishy", and the customer is nervously wah-wah. I separated the placenta from the umbilical cord, tied the umbilical cord with a rope, cut the umbilical cord with a scalpel, and treated the mucus from the dog's body with disinfectant wipes.
When I gave birth to the third dog, the mother dog had no strength, so I fed him some canned food to replenish his energy.
(European and American style illustrations that I created in the early days)
At around 2 a.m., the mother dog gave birth to her last puppy. There are 8 puppies in total.
This is the first time I have delivered a pet. With this "delivery grace", I became good friends with this client. After I transferred the pet store, we often had dinner together and exchanged interesting stories about pet raising.
In May 2019, I cried and sold the pet store.
During the Spring Festival that year, the customers fostered more than 20 dogs in the store. I started walking my dog at 7 a.m. and rested at noon and dinner until 11 p.m. Maybe I was too tired, but on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, I fell down the stairs on the second floor of the pet store.
The doctor told me that I had fluid in my knee joint, a second-degree meniscus injury, and if I had been standing for a long time to bathe the dog, it would become a third-degree injury, and I would have to have surgery.
In May, I sold the pet store for 120,000. The sad words of the customers parting with me made me cry bitterly.
Sad is sad, I have to find another job. By chance, I saw the profession of an illustrator on the Internet, so I contacted an offline organization in Shanghai, paid 15,800 yuan for 3 months of intensive training, and plunged into the new field of illustration.
(I'm explaining the composition of the illustration to the students)
My girlfriend said she didn't understand or approve of my decision.
She and I met on the Internet 6 years ago, because Wang Xingren knew each other. The six-year relationship ended in my uncertain future plans.
I came to Shanghai from Nanjing alone, and I went back to the state of work before. Wake up at 6 a.m. and attend classes at 9 a.m. every day. The 3-hour journey from Baoshan District to Yangpu District was spent on the subway.
If you want to master the skill of drawing, you need talent, and you also need to spend time practicing. When the idea of retreating came to me, I met another noble person—my instructor. He helped me to develop a cognitive view of painting.
Not long after learning to paint, my cat "Qi Bangs", which I had raised for 3 years, died suddenly of a heart attack. I was so sad that I put my thoughts about it into the painting and painted many pictures for it.
The teacher commented that although the technique is immature, the emotions are accurately expressed in the painting, which is the most important concept of painting.
I kept drawing. Even on holidays and when I go out with friends, I always bring my sketchbook with me. In the morning they were still sleeping and I had already started drawing, and in the evening they were playing cards and games, and I was drawing by the side.
Not long after, on the recommendation of a friend, I created a commercial painting of a well-known makeup brand with her, and the two of us each received more than 3,000 yuan. It was the first income I earned from illustration.
(The neighborhood where I now rent, the studio is just across the street)
I transferred half of the money to my mother. She was worried that she would starve me to death by doing illustration, but now I can happily tell her that I can support myself through illustration.
I worked hard to paint, submitted my resume with more than 20 works, and 3 companies threw olive branches to me, so I chose a clothing company.
In more than a year of working in a clothing company, the monthly salary in the first half of the year was more than 6,000, and in the second half of the year, it rose to more than 7,000. My income has increased, and my drawing skills have improved by leaps and bounds.
I have accumulated more than 200 works, received invitations to open classes, and also received commercial paintings from big brands such as Yi, Mao, and Laiya.
I gained unprecedented self-confidence, came up with the idea of going to a broader platform to experience, and started the mode of overseas resume investment.
But at this time, I am no longer a stunned young man who doesn't know anything, I am an illustrator with mature works.
In March 2021, with a thick portfolio and a weighty commercial endorsement, I successfully interviewed a VO company at the head of the mobile phone, joined the advertising department, and got a monthly salary of more than 8,000.
Later, as my painting style became more and more mature, I got five figures for a single commercial draft. After coming into contact with self-media, I had the idea of starting a business. In November 2021, I resigned from a VO company and registered my own studio.
(I'm with my three little ones)
In the first few months of starting a business, there were fewer customers and fewer business orders. I was anxious, overeating, my hair turned gray, and my weight plummeted to 78 kilograms. The worst month was only 100 yuan.
Then I settled down and locked myself in my studio for a whole month, writing and polishing my drawing tutorials.
Gradually, from 3 students to 700 students, 1200 students...... I've helped more and more whites realize their dreams of illustration.
There is a rich second-generation girl, who was originally the heir of a printing factory, but she doesn't like to be arranged in life, and I learned to paint, fulfilled my childhood dream of painting, and had her own painting income.
Another girl who came back from studying in South Korea resigned because she didn't like the work status of a state-owned enterprise, and she boldly submitted her resume after only studying with me for 3 months, and now she is already an illustrator.
In 2023, I finally have my first deposit in my life - 350,000.
The money has helped the family to further improve their lives. Looking back on the busyness and tossing over the years, I actually blame myself for not being able to accompany my parents well.
In October 2023, my mother was hospitalized in a car accident, breaking six ribs and bruising her chest and lungs. Afraid that it would affect my class, my parents kept it a secret, and my aunt secretly called me to tell me.
I waited for my mother to finish surgery and slept in the cramped hallways of the hospital for a week to take care of her. Now it's time for post-recovery.
Although my father's illness is well controlled, he still has to take medicine every day, and his health is not as good as before, and he is currently working as a security guard in the community.
(Small goals strive to create wealth and live a comfortable life)
Nowadays, in addition to drawing, attending classes, and receiving manuscripts, I am also adjusting my body better.
I stayed up late for a long time and fell into a migraine, and I have improved a lot by taking Chinese medicine. After weekly iron and swimming, my weight has dropped from 78 kg to 73 kg.
In my studio, just me and a small assistant, and 3 cats. With the addition of the "three little ones" in the family, a total of 6 cats and 1 dog live with me.
Children from ordinary families do not seek to be rich and rich, but strive to create wealth with labor and wisdom, so that their parents can live a comfortable and leisure life as soon as possible, and no longer run for their livelihood, this is my small goal.
The principal who helped me lamented my changes on social platforms a few days ago: "That 19-year-old guy is now starting his own business, becoming a fan blogger, and supporting himself." "Hundreds of parents have praised me and marveled at the magic of time.
In fact, I know that it is not time that lifts me up and makes me get rid of cowardice, but courage and self-confidence.
I'm ordinary, and my life sample may not be worth referring to, and I'm not very successful, but I want to say to those young people who are as shy and cowardly as I used to be:
Be brave and don't be shy about trying. The only thing that really makes you good is yourself. No one can stop you from getting better, except yourself. I can, and so can you!
(Welcome to pay attention to the account of the protagonist of this article: Steamed Bun Illustration)
[Dictation: steamed buns]
[Editor: October Persia said]
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(*This article is based on the oral statements of the parties, and the authenticity is the responsibility of the oral narrator.) Friendly reminder from this account: Please identify the relevant risks by yourself, and do not blindly follow the trend to make impulsive decisions. ）