It’s not where you start, but where you finish that matters, and nobody knows that better than Ari Squires, CEO of Profit Attraction Academy. The energetic business mogul, brand manager, author, and international speaker, has worked with many multi-million-dollar companies and influencers. However, her path to success began in a jail cell.
As a teen growing up in Sacramento, Calif., Squires was attracted to fast money, street life, and what she perceived as power. After all, despite her father being killed when she was only two years old, he was a well-known and respected street hustler. Carrying on his legacy seemed enticing to Squires, even though, by the time she was old enough to learn about him, her mother had moved them to a better neighborhood.
“I was a straight-A student at the top of my class who lived in the suburbs,” she said. “My mom was a child psychologist and a community woman, but I was attracted to the streets because I saw how people took risks and created their own realities. I always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I was immature and reckless.”
Despite her mother’s attempts to steer her in the right direction, Squires often found herself in trouble, landing in and out of jail for a number of years. However, her last trip behind bars is what finally opened her eyes.
“The last time I was in jail, I noticed a lot of women were like, why are you here?” Squires said. “The entire time, I was empowering them and encouraging them to see their potential and change their lives. Everyone wanted to be around me. I finally sat back and said — “maybe I should take my own advice.” My mom was done saving me, so I was homeless, sleeping on friends’ couches and in cars. But I finally figured it out. I wanted to inspire people to release their chains and live their dream life.”
Not too long after her revelation, Squires met the man who would later become her husband, and they decided to leave Sacramento. Despite her poor decisions, the good grades she earned in high school helped her to get accepted to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she pursued TV/Film production and graduated in 2003.
From there, her life took an extraordinary turn. She created her own documentaries, No More Chains and No More Chains 2, which featured well-known actors Darrin Dewitt Henson and Isaiah Washington. She also wrote her first book, Release The Chains: A Woman’s Roadmap for Finding Strength to Reclaim her Destiny, and launched several successful businesses. That sparked a powerful movement, which has since inspired people all around the world.
Squires has delivered more than 1,000 presentations to corporations, conferences, colleges, and universities, including RE/MAX, the Boys & Girls Club, the Essence Festival, Largo Financial Services, Howard University, Old Dominion University, and many more here in the United States and South Africa. She has collaborated with individuals, such as her mentor Stedman Graham and Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington, and mentored countless young women and girls through her non-profit, Lend-A-Hand, Uplift-A-Child Foundation, Inc.
At Profit Attraction Academy, Squires and her team partner with business owners to grow six and seven-figure brands using her customized strategies that include her “silent money method.” That method allowed her to leverage a book that sold only 200 copies into over a million dollars in profits.
“I create strategic offline and online marketing plans for my clients to follow step-by–step, which allows them to improve their brand equity and separate themselves from the competition,” Squires said. “We show them how to build value which allows them to charge premium prices.”
So far, her company has served 250 businesses, with 63 growing to six-figure earnings and four of them generating over a million dollars in revenue. Her clients are people who do not want to spend substantial money on ads, waste precious time engaging people in Facebook groups, or go through the agonizing process of developing freebies and funnels. Squires says that isn’t for everybody. Her clients find value in taking their gifts offline to attain five and six-figure paydays while maintaining an attractive online presence.
Today, Squires is planning to share more information with her audience through the release of her latest book, Become A High-Value Brand, scheduled for release this Spring. The book will offer readers a guide to building a high-value brand in 12 months that will enable them to leverage their brand equity to become highly regarded, highly referred, and highly paid. Additionally, she will be busy on the national and international speaking circuit fulfilling her goal to motivate and inspire millions.
“I want to help as many people as possible to release the chains that are holding them back from the life they desire,” Squires said. “Most people know that things are possible, but there’s a story that we’ve been telling ourselves. Sometimes, we have to tell ourselves new stories.”
Published First on GritDaily. Read Here.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata; Pexels; Thank you!
