How Mark Rivera Went From a 520 Credit Score to a Six-Figure Agency in 26 Months

The envelope was cream-colored, standard business size, and it sat on the kitchen counter like a paperweight holding down Mark Rivera’s entire future. It was the discharge notice for his Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

"I remember staring at it for twenty minutes," Mark says, leaning back in his chair during our Zoom call. "People tell you it’s supposed to feel like relief. The debts are gone. The creditors stop calling. But in that moment, I didn't feel relief. I felt erased."

That Tuesday afternoon in October 2023 was the quietest moment of Mark’s life. But it was also the turning point. It was the moment he stopped trying to save his past and started building his future.

Mark’s story isn’t one of reckless spending. It’s a story of ambition meeting bad timing. In 2021, Mark leveraged his savings to open a boutique logistics firm. He bet on the post-pandemic shipping boom. He bet wrong.

"I tried to float the business on personal credit cards," Mark explains. "I was robbing Peter to pay Paul, but eventually, Paul stopped taking my calls."

"You convince yourself that if you just work harder, the math will change. But math doesn't care how hard you work. It only cares about the numbers."

By late 2023, the business had folded. The rock bottom wasn't the court hearing; it was two weeks later when Mark applied for a secured credit card and was rejected. "The system viewed me as radioactive," he admits.