Years ago, Justin Gilmore made the fateful decision to turn his life around from a future filled with struggle and resentment. Now, he’s reaping the rewards with a successful business, happy family life, and good personal health. None of it would have been possible without his strong resolve to make a success of his life and his courage to persevere despite the many stumbling blocks that were in his way. He’s the owner of ATMMachines.com, a company that provides cutting-edge ATM devices and online transaction processing to customers nationwide.

As a kid, Gilmore didn’t focus on his schoolwork as much as he should have and also developed a bad attitude, landing him in hot water. At 15, Justin was expelled from school, and he had to suddenly figure out a way to start fending for himself. This wasn’t exactly new territory for him, as he and his brother and sister had to start taking care of themselves at a young age since their mother worked two jobs to keep a roof over their heads.

After getting expelled in the first semester of the ninth grade, he had to face the disappointment of his mother and family. “My mother, who was a saint, was so disappointed that she had given up on me. She pretty much wrote me off, as far as having a successful future. This is what motivated me to become an entrepreneur in the first place. It made me realize where my life was going, and after that, I was determined to be successful,” he explains.

However, getting a business launched at 16 with no startup funds, and no skills or experience seemed like an impossibility. So Justin decided to start educating himself through business courses and self-help books in an effort to give himself every chance to succeed. He also got a real estate license when he turned 18, even though he ended up never having to use it.

At 17, Justin also started some side jobs in order to get an income. One was selling newspapers via eBay, and the other was “hucking pizzas,” as Gilmore describes it. That involved buying pizzas for cheap under the table from a local pizzeria in Atlanta and then driving around the city, pretending to be a pizza delivery boy with a canceled order. While that gig helped him earn a fairly steady income, it also taught him many valuable skills that he still uses as an entrepreneur today.

It’s been 14 years since Justin opened his business, and his life has changed dramatically in the meantime. He was able to achieve something that no one believed he could while also realizing his dream of being able to take care of his mother and his son.

He now promotes a strong message centered around never giving up and has expanded his company’s offerings to include online training to other potential entrepreneurs, as well. Gilmore feels that the ATM business is often overlooked when people are searching for a way to start making passive income, yet it’s also one of the best ways to do so. That’s why he’s been teaching others how the industry works.

Head over to Justin Gilmore’s Instagram page, @atmmachines_com, to learn more about his company, as well as their new online training program.