Detroit man goes from homeless to millionaire
Meet Mario Kelly, who went from homeless to millionaire businessman
One Detroit man embodies the saying if you believe it, you can be it.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A man from Detroit went from being homeless, sleeping in his car outside fancy houses in Detroit, to buying one of those houses and becoming a self-made millionaire.
The backstory:
Mario Kelly embodies the saying, "If you believe it, you can be it." He is starting the newest chapter of his life, tapping into the business of Artificial Intelligence.
He is responsible for the voice of "Emily," and as real as she sounds, it is really A.I., and the latest creation of the very real Mario Kelly.
"I have something called 'Believe in A.I.' You can have a conversation, it answers the phone for you, it makes appointments," he said.
Dig deeper:
Kelly is a self-described man of action, pouncing on every opportunity that comes his way. It is a trait that started back in childhood.
"I wanted a Nintendo game or to go to the arcade on Woodward. My mom said, 'You have to get a job if you want to go to the arcade.'"
After working at a Ford plant and then Jacobson's, Kelly eventually found himself unemployed.
"At the same time, I was living in my van, I was homeless and divorced," he said. "I’m from the east side but manifested that I wanted to live in Rosedale Park. So I would go there every night and find another home to lay in front of."
He said through manifestation and a belief in himself, inspiration took hold. "I put the word 'Believe 313' on a rubber band and I would go downtown and sell rubber bands," he said. And one day, opportunity came knocking at one door in particular.
"Police were putting abatement stickers on a house one day and I rolled past and I said, 'What’s going on?' And they said, 'We’ve been giving him tickets for two years,'" he said.
Kelly contacted the owner of that house and offered $6,500.
"He took that money and I worked on the house room-by-room," he said.
Doors started to open, and Kelly didn’t hesitate to walk through. In one instance, it happened while touring a Shinola factory.
"We walked into a room and it was filthy and they were like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, our cleaning company is terrible.' I said, 'I have a cleaning company.'"
Kelly didn’t exactly have a cleaning company, yet. But he did have $27 worth of cleaning supplies.
"They told me, 'Give us a proposal,'" he said. "I went home and tried to figure out what it would cost to clean a room that size."
He got the job, and 313 Cleaning was born. Then came the next opportunity.
"In 2021, no one wanted to go to work, so I said, 'Let me start Believe 313 Staffing,'" he said.
Kelly gave the homeless and those with a criminal past a chance to forge a new path, staking his company and reputation. Word spread of his success, which again led to new chances.
"I started hiring a lot of returning citizens and they would tell me, 'Man, we talk about your story all the time,' so I said I need to share my story," Kelly said.
So he did.
"I'm the cleaning guy," he said. "My whole journey started with cleaning, so let's show them where it started at, where the $27 started at."
Along the way, there have been a few misses—a youth program that didn’t quite make it and a clothing business that couldn’t get going.
"It’s not about failing, it's about when you get up," Kelly said.
And not looking back, but rather believing in the next opportunity.
"Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Thank you so much, Emily."
What's next:
While Mario Kelly does have a success story for sure, his story is not unique. He says anyone can copy his formula simply by believing in themselves and acting when opportunity presents itself.