My name is Jacob Crawford. My first experience with door-to-door was solar in 2021. Before I ever did door-to-door, I was working landscaping in high school—a lot of manual labor, 10–12 hour days, and 60-hour weeks. I wasn’t broke, but I also wasn’t happy with where I was financially. I had drive to earn more because I knew you can’t really progress in life without resources—and money creates options.

Before door-to-door, my finances felt unstable. I was working an hourly job, and even when I worked harder than everyone else, it didn’t really change the outcome. That was one of the most frustrating parts: you can outwork your peers by a mile and still get paid the same. I wanted my work ethic and value to actually dictate my paycheck.

Even personally, I wasn’t as confident as I looked. On the outside I could seem fine, but internally I didn’t feel confident, and I wasn’t fully aligned with who I wanted to be. I felt stuck—and as a man thinking about providing for my future, that feeling was heavy.

Why I chose door-to-door (even though it was scary)

I specifically wanted a commission-based job with uncapped earnings. I remember telling myself I was never going to stay in hourly or salary work long-term because I knew if I could get comfortable with commission, I could dramatically increase my income.

I actually found the opportunity by seeking it out. I went to a business event, met door-to-door guys who seemed successful and were around my age, and I took an interview just to see what it was like. I even went on a blitz—and it sucked. It was hard. The job is genuinely scary at first: you’re in unfamiliar neighborhoods, you don’t know what’s going to happen, people yell at you, swear at you, and kick you off. But I still wanted it because I wanted something that would push me. I didn’t want comfort—I wanted a hard job that would force growth.

Experience (the mechanism)

Door-to-door is simple to explain and hard to do. You show up to morning meetings six days a week, then you knock until it’s dark, day after day. What kept me going was being surrounded by other people doing the same thing. You can’t do it alone—the community matters. Over time, being in that environment helped me stack wins and build real confidence.

Two major things I gained were discipline and sacrifice. Sacrifice became a real skill for me—learning how to give up short-term comfort for something bigger later. If it’s easy, it’s not a sacrifice. Door-to-door forced me to practice that, and it carried over into the rest of my life.

I also learned how to channel my energy better and communicate more clearly. I’m naturally energetic and can be both introverted and extroverted, but door-to-door helped me focus that into something productive—communicating, negotiating, providing value, and closing deals.

Concrete results

My first summer in 2021, after working about two and a half months, I earned roughly $11,000. I was gone for two years after that serving a church mission in Colorado Springs.

When I came back, I knew I wanted to do door-to-door again, so I met with multiple companies (solar and pest) and chose the option that made the most sense for me. This most recent year, I prepared more, trained more, and bought into the system more. As a result, I’m projected to earn around $140,000.

Financially, that has changed my life. Because of door-to-door, I’ve been able to:

1. Buy my dream truck (about $40,000)

2. Invest $30,000+

3. Give roughly $8,000 this year to charity/tithing

4. Build toward a net worth of about $90,000 before back-ends, and about $130,000–$140,000 after back-ends hit

How it changed me + who I’d recommend it to

The biggest change is that I’m happier, more confident, and more present. Back in 2021, I was in a much darker place at times—physically unhealthy, mentally low, and not loving life. Now I’ve changed my body, improved my relationships, built community, started creating wealth, and I feel like I’m becoming my real self.

I would recommend this to the person who knows they’re meant for more and is tired of being capped by hourly work. Door-to-door isn’t easy—there are days it’s excruciating—but if you’re willing to train, buy in, and sacrifice, you can change your financial trajectory and your identity. If you want an easy life, don’t do door-to-door. But if you want growth, skills, community, and uncapped upside, it’s worth trying.