<prompt> Human: Im just a regular middle class 31 yr old. I just wanted to share my journey to inspire others who are in debt right now like I was 5 years ago. Your situation can change drastically in 5 years, we are masters of adaptation, and its in our human nature to persevere. I wanted to outline how I went from 70k in debt to over 150k in net worth. Income: I graduated from grad school MBA at the height of the recession with 70k student loans in 2010. Where most people with an MBA would expect a six-figure salary, my first job started me at 65kyr. Saving money is easy when you can live with a modest lifestyle. What I believed the secret to success in this day and age is how to grow your income. Year over year, my income kept rising, as I was negotiating a higher salary. Once I feel Ive exhausted what the company can afford, I switched companies. Here are my salary breakdown year over year65k 72k 80k 140k 150k Branding: I took a lot of time and made a lot of effort to market myself. Asked myself, would an employer pay 80k for a car that looks like Porsche or one that looks like a Hyundai. How it actually runs is another thing but getting the car off the dealership lot allowed me to increase my income year over year. I created a spectacular LinkedIn profile and made over 500 connections, updated and reviewed my resume meticulously. It was an obsession to give off a vibe that Im somehow this superstar that everyone wanted. It was only a matter of time before I got the breakthrough I wanted and almost doubled my salary from 2013-2014.Following PF: Best decision in my life. Thats why you guys are here now. With the drastic changes in income, I turned to rPF for evertyhing. I kept my savings rate to over 50. I have about 80k tied in my 401k and IRAs and I have a 40k emergency fund. The rest of my net worth are in 529s, stock brokerage acct, and my house I recently purchased. Enjoy Life: If I wanted to maximize my savings, I would be posting this on rFrugal. I just wanted everyone to know, I got married to the love of my life, who gave birth to my son last year. Also, I bought a house and bought myself my first nice car. Just because I was in a lot of debt, should not stop me from achieving my dreams.I hope this story will inspire others that there is light at the end of the tunnel.Assistant: Congrats! What field are you in? Thats 99 of the secret to your success.Human: Thanks! I work for a consulting company in the healthcare space. Would my secret be any more validinvalid if I say a common field for example, like IT? I think my advice applies to a lot of industries, and I feel its ever more important in IT because there are a lot of people who dont know how to sell themselves in that field.  <response>: Career doesnt make anything more valid or invalid at all. There are career fields that offer more or less financial opportunities, which make digging out of debt more or less difficult. Its a huge achievement regardless! It was primarily curiosity on my part! 