Meet Amberly Grant: an ambitious entrepreneur and Community College of Denver student circa 2013. She recently became a new mother and is currently a Senior Project Manager for a technology company. Grant owns real estate in the Denver Metro area and has her own finance company, which focuses on financial education.  

After discovering a story about Grant and her financially savvy ways of making over $6,000 a month in passive income, it only felt appropriate to check in and see how she’s doing years after graduating as a CityHawk.

Amberly was born in California, and at four years old, her family moved to Ottawa, Canada. A couple of days after turning 19, she was given a car by a friend of her dad and decided to leave Canada. Amberly moved back to the United States for a while, spending time in Los Angeles, California, Tucson, Arizona, and New York City. From there, she left on an exploration around the world, living in places like Australia, Thailand, France, and Germany before ultimately settling down in Denver, Colorado.

Grant is the oldest of two girls. Her father is an artist, and her mother had a daycare and would teach inmates at the local jails how to read and write in the evenings. She lived a seemingly simple life growing up. “My family didn’t have much money at all. My parents are separated, and they both did what they loved.”

Amberly enrolled at CCD in 2013 at the age of 24, completing her associate’s degree in Business Management. She then went on to CU Boulder, entering Leeds Business School, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management Strategy and Entrepreneurship.

She made it through her entire college career with funding from scholarships alone, which, if you’re reading this, you know how expensive college can be. “I applied to 20 different scholarships at CU Boulder. I wasn’t qualified for half of them, but that didn’t stop me. I learned at CCD that some of the scholarships go unfunded because people don’t apply or not enough people apply for it. So I just learned to apply. I didn’t think I could afford university at all, like it just seemed so daunting…”

“I said that [being an entrepreneur] since I was actually a very small child,” Amberly admitted. The entrepreneurship part has paid off, with her net worth close to $1 million. However, she said something that made a lot of sense about entrepreneurship: “It’s something that you are and something that you do, not necessarily something you learn as much. And so it’s kind of just in me.”

On the topic of those who impacted her during her time at CCD, now retired CCD business professor, Bill Carter, was someone that helped her learn the basics that aren’t so… basic. “He was an incredible business teacher who had vast experience in the field. He taught every single element of business, no matter how big or how small, like how to write a proper email and signature. I think introducing younger people, alternative people, to these tasks is so valuable. For [students] who go to community college versus university, this is a really great place for them and [where they’re at in] their own life.”

There were a few other professors that she remembered rather well and how they helped shape her attitude towards learning and perhaps teaching in the future. “I loved all the professors,” she went on to say. “All had real-world experience, really great at experience, and really great at explaining difficult concepts so that we could all understand. It’s actually inspired me to go back and teach.”

When asked whether she would want to teach at a four-year university or a community college, Amberly said it’s more about teaching and giving back. “I would rather teach at a community college like CCD where the students are more diverse. There’s almost a bigger impact.”

In the meantime, between working a 9 to 5, having a family, and being a landlord, Amberly’s “financial education” company holds weekly Zoom calls, which she calls FinTalks, to discuss various financial topics, personal experiences, and pointers on how to grow your wealth, even if you don’t have much to work with… right now that is. Her community is filled with people of all ages, from 20 years old to 65 years old. You can find more information about Amberly and her company on her website amberlygrant.com.

The CityHawk community is proud to see alumni finding success and passion in their careers that started here at Community College of Denver. We wish you luck in your future endeavors, Amberly!