Who would’ve thought that a CEO’s life will be influenced by garbage?

About 30 years ago, Nathan and Betty Mae Figgers rescued a two-day-old baby that was thrown into a dumpster. They didn’t want him to go through the foster system even if they were fostering themselves. Instead, they adopted the baby.

Fast forward to eight years later, Nathan found himself in a conversation that he dreaded. The child asked him about his birth.

“He said, ‘Listen I’m going to shoot it to you straight, Fred. Your biological mother, she threw you away, and me and Betty Mae, we didn’t want to send you through foster care and we adopted you, and you’re my son.'” said Freddie Figgers.

If there’s one ethos that Figgers stands by, it’s never letting your circumstance define you.

Figgers told BBC about his life and it was the perfect diamond-in-the-rough story. Since his father’s revelation, Figgers can’t help but feel like trash. His father Nathan always propped him up but childhood is tough.

Children would call him “dumpster baby” or “trash can boy”. At one point, he was actually thrown into a trash bin.

Through all of this, Nathan has always supported his son. He made sure that Figgers was loved, cared for, and deserving of success.

Then one day, Nathan and Freddie were “dumpster diving” around the neighborhood. It was then that he saw a computer. His fascination with computers only grew from there and through Good Will, he bought his first PC for $24.

With his experience in tinkering, he brought the machine back to life.

By 12 years old, he was repairing broken computers at school through an after-school program. Seeing his skills, the director of the program, who was also the city’s mayor invited him and his family. The city hall became his first client in computer repairs.

When their city needed a system to check the water pressure gauges, Figgers volunteered to do the code because a company quoted more than half a million dollars for the same system.

But his first profitable invention came after a traumatizing experience with his father’s bout with Alzheimer’s. He created a tracker using a circuit board, a speaker, and a primitive integration system. He hooked it up to his laptop so he can find his dad anywhere.

He sold the tracker for $2.2 million.

His father, unfortunately, passed away before he cleared the funds. It was then that he realized that money is but a tool, and from there on, he wanted to use it to make people’s live better.

“Knowing my father, he wasn’t a rich man at all, but he [made an impact on] so many people’s lives and I want to just do right by everyone I meet and help everyone I can.” He said to BBC.

And to make the lives of the people in his town better, he founded Figgers Communication.

He knew that major carriers won’t invest in infrastructure in such a small town but Figgers knew how important this was for the community. He became the youngest owner of a telecoms carrier in the country and the only black-owned one.

He then settled down and married Natlie Figgers. Figgers is also busy running different philanthropies that help underserved communities.

When asked about what advice he’d give his little girl, Figgers said “never give up, no matter how cold the world may look.”

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Source: YouTube – Figgers Wireless, BBC, Facebook – Freddie Figgers