Business Fit Magazine March 2019 Issue 2 | Page 8

Interview And your parents were happy for you to do that? Vanilla Ice They didn’t know, but I never had to ask for an allowance, because I earned my own while all my friends got their parents to give them $5 a week, which was a lot in the 80s. For me it was a way to make my own money from my hobby. I would battle with other break dancers and rappers, we would have competitions. How did you construction? get into All of a sudden in 1990 with the success of Ice, Ice Baby and To the Extreme, everything blew up when I sold over 160 million records. So I bought a bunch of homes as an investment. Then I started to learn about real estate. That was the start, the beginning and I’ve been doing this for 25 years now. I don’t only do Expecting the Unexpected The American rapper, actor and television host Vanilla Ice was born in October 1967 as Robert Matthew Van Winkle. As a teenager, he practiced breakdancing, which led to his friends calling him Vanilla, as he was the only member of the group who wasn’t black. The Ice part of his name came later, from one of this breakdance moves, “The Ice”. Now a successful businessman, as well as his celebrity status, Vanilla Ice went through some dark times, including periods of heavy drug use and it was during this time, he acquired most of his tattoos. In 1994 he attempted suicide with a heroin overdose, after being revived, he came to the conclusion it was time to change his lifestyle, as a symbol of this decision he got a tattoo of a leaf on his stomach. 8 In addition to his businesses, music and TV persona, Ice was a professional motocross racer and later became the world's No. 6-ranked sit-down jet ski racer. How did you develop a passion for so many businesses? I guess it started from my competitive drive from when I raced motocross as a kid. I figured out on my own how to hustle and make some money. I would go to the mall and start break dancing, putting a tip jar out in front and people would throw money in it. I was 14 and I had learned a way to make some money from something I loved. 9