This story is part of CNBC Make It’s The Moment series, where highly successful people reveal the critical moment that changed the trajectory of their lives and careers, discussing what drove them to make the leap into the unknown.

Jay Chaudhry never thought he’d run a business, amass a fortune or help popularize an entire industry. Not growing up in rural India, not upon moving to the U.S. in 1980 to study engineering and marketing, not even after landing jobs at tech giants IBM and Unisys.

“I have no background of entrepreneurship in my family of small-scale farmers. So if you asked me, ‘Did I ever think about becoming an entrepreneur in my childhood [or] early years of my career?’ Not really,” Chaudhry, the billionaire founder and CEO of cloud security company Zscaler, tells CNBC Make It.

It took Silicon Valley’s dot-com boom — the wild success stories of tech startups like Netscape — to get Chaudhry thinking in 1996, “Why shouldn’t I start a company?” He made the rash decision to quit his job as an executive at Atlanta-based tech company IQ Software, and his wife Jyoti quit her job as a systems analyst at telecommunications giant BellSouth.

Together, they plunged their life savings — roughly $500,000 — into SecureIT, a cybersecurity software startup they co-founded in 1997. At the time, “maybe less than 5% of Fortune 500 companies had firewalls,” Chaudhry says. “Within 18 months, we had deployed firewalls in about 50% of [the] Fortune 500.”

His timing was perfect: In 1998, Chaudhry sold SecureIT to VeriSign in an all-stock deal worth nearly $70 million. Over the ensuing decade, the husband-and-wife duo founded two more cybersecurity companies and an e-commerce business, each of which got acquired.

By 2007, they were already wealthy entrepreneurs, and Chaudhry — who gets “bored” without something to work on — decided it was time to launch “one big company and put 200% focus on that,” he says.

That company was Zscaler, which aimed to help companies transition away from outdated firewalls and into the cloud era. The couple invested $50 million of their own money, says Chaudhry. Today, it brings in $1.6 billion in annual revenue and has a market value of roughly $30 billion.

Chaudhry’s own net worth is estimated at $11.5 billion by Forbes.

Here, Chaudhry talks about putting his family’s savings on the line to follow his gut, how his upbringing influenced his relationship with money and the advice he’d give someone who wants to quit their job to start a business.

CNBC Make It: What prompted you to stake your entire life’s savings on a startup idea — in an industry that didn’t really exist yet?

Chaudhry: This thing happened because I love to read and I love technology.

In 1996, Netscape had just launched and gone public, and I was fascinated by it. I said, “If [Netscape co-founder] Marc Andreessen could start a company — he was a young guy [right] out of college — why shouldn’t I start a company?”

My wife and I talked a few times, and the more we thought about it, the more conviction we got around it: [Netscape’s web browser] is the way to access information, and it should become popular. But if every company is connected to the internet, that means there will be security risks.

That was my simple thinking. There was no IDC or Gartner study about the market size. It was largely based on what the gut told us.

A gut feeling is one thing. Betting every dollar to your name is another.

It started out with us saying, “Let’s go get venture capital funding.” I had no experience raising funds, and I realized soon that it wasn’t that easy. This was [1996], Atlanta was not a VC mecca and we kept hearing, “Hey, you don’t have any experience.”

We were disappointed, but our conviction was building, which led to me saying, “Why don’t we put our life-savings on the line?”

I didn’t know anything. So, I really didn’t know how big the risk was. I couldn’t quantify it.

How did you make peace with that risk?

After talking back and forth, we asked each other, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” The company could shut down, we’d lose all of our savings.

The next question was, “Can we find jobs?” There was lots of confidence that we could.

I never had money in my early childhood, so there was never a notion that I must buy A and B and C. Our lifestyle was pretty simple. Our house in Alpharetta, Georgia, was $200,000 — a nice, typical middle-class house at that time — and we didn’t have any fancy cars or fancy payments.

Our only child at that time was going to a public school. There wasn’t a lot of overhead. We said, “Let’s take a chance.”

When a bet pays off, does that success make you more confident to take on bigger risks? Were any of your other ventures as risky as that first one?

The [financial] risk of SecureIT was, like, 1,000 times more than the risk of Zscaler. The amount I invested in Zscaler was a small fraction of my net worth.

But Zscaler was much harder. I put more money in it than all the others combined. I took bigger bets. I hired people more quickly to solve some very hard problems. I wanted to do something big, something lasting.

We were trying to solve a problem that was futuristic. Will it be successful or not? Will the market take off or not? That was all unknown.

So if you asked me the chances of success of Zscaler, there was a much higher risk. Because, with SecureIT, it was fairly obvious that as you connect to the internet, you need firewalls.

What’s your best advice for someone who’s thinking about quitting their job to start their own business?

First, build conviction by learning more about what you want to do. Don’t just do some of the cursory work.

Second, start by putting in your own money. That actually is part of testing your conviction. If you really have conviction, you’ll take a chance on yourself. That also means you’ve done some serious homework, you’re ready, you’re committed.

You can also make decisions the way you want to make decisions. If Zscaler was largely owned by VCs, they probably could have shut it down. It took us a few years to really start getting traction in the market, and VCs can write you off and move on. They say, “It’s one of my 20 investments.”

When you put in your own money, this is the only business you have.

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One key trait separates the best CEOs from all others, according to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

While some leaders can get complacent in their lofty roles, a great CEO prioritizes learning, inquisitive conversations and taking genuine interest in other people’s points of view, Dimon, 68, told LinkedIn’s “This is Working” video series last week.

“I think leaders have to get out [from behind their desks],” Dimon said. “They have to get out all the time. They have to be curious, ask a million questions. They’re learning from competitors, they’re learning from clients.”

One of Dimon’s top priorities for himself is meeting with clients and competitors — so he can ask questions and get firsthand accounts about where his company is excelling or doing poorly, he said.

“I always tell a client, ‘When you complain to us, you’re doing us a favor. If we’re torturing you, we’re probably torturing another 10,000 [or] 100,000 people,’” Dimon said. “I think CEOs, any business leader, who can’t get out [or is] too busy, they’re making a huge mistake.”

Dimon isn’t the only CEO who values inquiring minds in the workplace: The trait separates highly successful employees and leaders from their peers, according to Amazon boss Andy Jassy. 

“You have to be ravenous and hungry to find ways to learn,” Jassy said last week in a video published by Amazon, about the company’s list of 16 leadership principles. The biggest difference between people with successful careers and those who remain “stagnant” is a constant, humble drive for knowledge and self-improvement, he added.

“For some people, at a certain point, they find it too threatening or too difficult to keep learning,” said Jassy. “The second you think there’s little left for you to learn is the second that you are unwinding as an individual and as a learning professional.”

Curiosity and desire to learn can take you further in your career than your technical skills, LinkedIn vice president and workforce expert Aneesh Raman told CNBC Make It in March. The two traits are especially beneficial for young professionals, helping them stand out in the hiring market and reframe setbacks as learning opportunities, he said.

″[A growth mindset] is the new degree, the way that you’ve been looking for a Harvard degree,” said Raman.

To strengthen your inquisitiveness, try dedicating 20 to 30 minutes each day to learning something new, TedX speaker and organizational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote in the Harvard Business Review last year. You could research a subject you’ve always been interested in, set up a coffee chat to learn more about a colleague or read a challenging book about an unfamiliar subject. 

Ask yourself questions like, “What area do I want to be an expert in?” and “What topics could I spend all day thinking about?” Chamorro-Premuzic wrote.

Continuing to learn and explore, in both familiar and new areas of interest, helps people avoid “complacency” and build the “heart and grit” they need to advance their careers, said Dimon.

“If you don’t have an accurate assessment of the real world out there, what’s changing, what the ideas are, you will eventually fail,” he said.

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You have to earn more than $1 million annually to be among the top 1% of earners in the richest U.S. states and Washington, D.C., a new GOBankingRates study reveals.

In D.C., you’re in the top 1% if you make $1,250,029 or more — the highest threshold in the U.S. That’s followed by five states where you also need to come in over the $1 million mark to be a top earner: Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Washington and New Jersey.

The 1% thresholds are based on individual tax return data processed by the Internal Revenue Service in 2022, which has been adjusted by GOBankingRates to reflect 2024 dollar values. Here’s a look at where the 1% earn the most, based on that metric:

1. Washington, D.C.: $1,250,029
2. Connecticut: $1,192,947
3. Massachusetts: $1,152,992
4. California: $1,072,248
5. Washington: $1,024,599
6. New Jersey: $1,010,101
7. New York: $999,747
8. Colorado: $896,273
9. Florida: $882,302
10. Wyoming $872,896

One reason that Washington, D.C. has a higher threshold compared with states like California and New York is that it has a smaller population with a larger concentration of high-income earners. Many of the highest paid D.C. professionals are in the government sector, which includes senior officials, lobbyists and lawyers.

Connecticut also has a smaller population compared with most states. The state’s largest industry is financial services, and it is home to wealthy hedge funds and investment firms that tend to pay high salaries.

Massachusetts ranks third, largely due to an array of lucrative industries with high-paying specialized jobs, including financial services, education, technology and health care.

In contrast, West Virginia has the lowest income threshold for the top 1% of earners, starting at $435,302. Nationwide, the 1% income threshold is a median of $707,296.

Below are the thresholds for each state, in alphabetical order:

• Alabama: $577,017
• Alaska: $642,707
• Arizona: $713,264
• Arkansas: $550,469
• California: $1,072,248
• Colorado: $896,273
• Connecticut: $1,192,947
• Delaware: $640,330
• Florida: $882,302
• Georgia: $725,284
• Hawaii: $631,383
• Idaho: $728,859
• Illinois: $811,004
• Indiana: $572,403
• Iowa: $591,921
• Kansas: $674,225
• Kentucky: $532,013
• Louisiana: $608,143
• Maine: $609,173
• Maryland: $767,688
• Massachusetts: $1,152,992
• Michigan: $625,158
• Minnesota: $755,880
• Mississippi: $456,309
• Missouri: $610,837
• Montana: $741,182
• Nebraska: $651,641
• Nevada: $804,627
• New Hampshire: $839,742
• New Jersey: $1,010,101
• New Mexico: $493,013
• New York: $999,747
• North Carolina: $688,506
• North Dakota: $708,284
• Ohio: $601,685
• Oklahoma: $559,981
• Oregon: $707,296
• Pennsylvania: $720,778
• Rhode Island: $673,902
• South Carolina: $632,805
• South Dakota: $752,849
• Tennessee: $702,934
• Texas: $789,003
• Utah: $811,929
• Vermont: $645,255
• Virginia: $787,471
• Washington: $1,024,599
• Washington, D.C.: $1,250,029
• West Virginia: $435,302
• Wisconsin: $631,993
• Wyoming: $872,896

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If you want to buy a new car, there isn’t much you can do about rising prices or elevated financing rates.

But you likely have some control over your credit score, which can account for more than $10,000 in savings off the total cost of a vehicle.

That’s because the annual interest rate that you pay on a loan can vary based on your credit score by a difference of 10% or more.

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An excellent FICO credit score of 720 to 850 will likely get you the lowest annual percentage rate, since it indicates to lenders that you’re a trustworthy borrower. On the flip side, credit scores closer to 500 will get you double-digit APRs — or even no loan offer at all, especially if it’s 600 or less.

Here’s a look at the average APR borrowers are offered across various credit score ranges, according to credit scoring firm FICO.

• 720-850: 7.5%
• 690-719: 8.65%
• 660-689: 10.42%
• 620-659: 12.57%
• 590-619: 16.94%
• 500-589: 17.8%

Say you want to buy a vehicle for $48,644, the average price of a new car, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates. If you pay a 15% down payment and take out a 60-month loan, here’s what your monthly payments would be, based on FICO’s calculations for each APR.

• 720-850: $829
• 690-719: $851
• 660-689: $887
• 620-659: $933
• 590-619: $1,027
• 500-589: $1,045

Based on these monthly rates, the total amount of interest you’ll pay on the loan will vary between $8,366 and $21,370, depending on your credit score.

While it might take several months, you can improve your credit score with good credit habits. 

The most important habit is to simply make your payments on time, which accounts for 35% of your credit score. In fact, individuals with a credit score of 800 or higher pay their bills on time, every time, according to a 2023 LendingTree study.

Using only a small proportion of your existing credit is another one. Otherwise known as your credit utilization ratio, it accounts for 30% of your credit score. Having a good mix of loan types — auto, mortgage, credit cards  — helps too, as does keeping those accounts open for a long time.

With those improvements, you could save thousands on a car loan based on your credit score alone.

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At 104 years old, Virginia Oliver plans to set sail and continue doing the job she’s loved for over 90 years: catching lobsters.

Oliver, known in Maine as the “Lobster Lady,” renewed her commercial lobster license just in time for lobster-catching season, according to TODAY.com.

“I’ve been lobstering on and off for 91 years,” Oliver said in the mini documentary “Conversations with The Lobster Lady.” The short film was shot in 2019 by Wayne Gray and Dale Schierholt.

Since then, Oliver’s continued lobstering. “I like to do it,” she said.

During good weather days in peak season, which spans from June to October, Oliver goes out on her boat “Virginia,” named after herself, to catch lobsters with her 81-year-old son, Maxwell. The pair make the trip three times a week.

“I don’t want to go five [days],” Oliver said. “That’s a regular job and I don’t need that.”

But Oliver does stick to a daily routine of waking up earlier than most people. “That’s my daily thing, a quarter to 5 [a.m.] in the morning I get up,” she said in the film. “But if we’re going out to haul, I usually get up at a quarter to 3 [a.m.]”

Oliver preps the bait bags for the lobster traps, and after her son hauls the lobsters, she measures them to make sure they’re large enough. If they don’t meet the size requirements, she tosses them back into the water.

She even gets dolled up before her trips to the boat. “I always wear earrings to haul,” Oliver said while laughing in the film. “I always wear my lipstick and things, just like I was going to go up the street somewhere.”

When Oliver was just eight years old, she went lobstering for the first time with her father who owned a store and was a lobster dealer. Her job was to weigh the lobsters and pump the gas for the boat at the time.

She continued lobstering with her late husband, even though most women didn’t do the job.

“When I started out with lobstering, no women ever went. Now there’s quite a few women,” Oliver said. “That was just the way I lived. I don’t worry about somebody else and what they’re going to do. I do what I want to do, but I’m really independent.”

When asked what her secret is for living to 100, Oliver said, “You’ve gotta keep living, you gotta keep working. It’s not easy.”

A lot of Oliver’s lifestyle choices also set her up for greatness; she stays active, sticks to a schedule, has never smoked and doesn’t enjoy alcohol, according to TODAY.com.

Oliver also spends a lot of time near water and grew up living on several islands off the coast of Maine, including Andrews Island, the Neck of Andrews Island, Dix Island Harbor and more.

Nearly all of the world’s blue zones, areas with the longest-living communities, are near water. Living near water “seems to make us happier,” longevity expert Dan Buettner told CNBC Make It in June.

And when it comes to doing what she loves, Oliver never plans to stop lobstering.

“I’m not going to retire,” she told TODAY.com. “I’m going to do this till I die.”

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