A high school dropout who felt “stuck” in her menial job – spending six days a week making minimum wage as a retail worker – has shared how drop shipping changed her life.
And the 25-year-old isn’t shy about teaching the tricks of the trade to others.
Zali Gillings is a high school dropout who started her professional life working in a butcher shop, completing an apprenticeship before becoming a retail worker.
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“Hating” her job, she would often sit in her car and cry before her shift.
Fed up with her life taking a direction she didn’t enjoy, Zali signed up with 6 Figure Drop Shipper for a six-week ecommerce course.
The business teaches dropshipping: a technique by which a seller accepts a customer’s order, without keeping stock on hand, and makes their profit by buying the product at a lower price from another vender – with the process most often automated.
And the rest is history.
“I did work experience at the butcher shop, washing the dishes and doing stuff like that for a week,” said Zali.
“When the work experience was over, I ended up being offered an apprenticeship by the boss and figured it was as good a job as any.
“At the time, I had no aspirations on what kind of career I wanted.
“Seven years later, I tried my hand at retail – and I instantly hated it.
“I would park my car and sit in the car park, ready to cry, knowing that I would have to go into the store and then keep doing the same thing, day in and day out.
“It felt like I was stuck in an endless loop.
“That’s why I joined the ecommerce course almost three years ago.”
Zali’s new career actually began by chance.
As she was scrolling through social media, she saw a post by an acquaintance that she went to high school with, called Reza Qorbanie.
Reza was sharing stories about his drop shipping students, many of whom were younger and making more money than Zali could ever dream of in her retail job.
She reached out to her old schoolmate and enrolled in the Australian company’s six-week programme.
It was self-paced and had pre-recorded modules, allowing her to complete it while still working full-time.
The founder was so impressed by Zali’s confidence and personality, that he invited her to join their team and train others to become entrepreneurs through ecommerce.
She said: “My partner of nearly 10 years (now fiancé) was very sceptical about me joining.
“He was worried that it all looked too good to be true, but supported me and told me to go for it.
“My mum was my inspiration to go for a different career.
“She has always told me to say yes to every opportunity; she’s the reason I’m so confident and chase after what I want.
“You never know what lies ahead, so just say yes.”
Since entering the world of e-commerce, Zali can do her job from anywhere in the world.
The Aussie native, who hails from Adelaide, said: “I teach people how to start drop shipping stores and be able to leave their jobs and achieve financial freedom.
“It feels incredible to be able to do this.
“They will be able to start their businesses and leave boring 9 to 5 jobs that they don’t enjoy, like I did.
“I can really just live a laptop lifestyle and go anywhere in the world.
“I was just in Italy with the team and recently visited Bali – one of my favourite places – and have been on a cruise earlier this year, too.
“Mindset is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned from mentoring others.
“You learn such a broad range of transferable skills through the course.
“I had no qualifications in marketing, website building, content creation, any type of accounting or anything that we do now.
“Now I know Facebook and Instagram ads. I know content creation.
“I know how to build a website and I know about suppliers and sourcing.
“You would have to do multiple degrees to learn all those things and with this you’re learning all hands on.”
The programme that Zali coaches has around 7,100+ students of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
While the course is “for anyone”, she is particularly proud to be able to assist “everyday working-class people” and “families who want a better life for their kids” or people who “work 60-70 hours a week and just want a way out of the misery”.
She added: “This is so fulfilling for me.
“I get to help change lives every day and work from anywhere.
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
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