This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Ditching the Degree series, where women who have built six-figure careers without a bachelor’s degree reveal the secrets of their success. Got a story to tell? Let us know! Email us at AskMakeIt@cnbc.com.

Bridgette Tena has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. She says she couldn’t be happier. 

The 51-year-old is a roofer in Santa Fe, New Mexico, part of the less than 10% of women working in construction in the U.S.

Roofers face the second highest rate of fatal work injuries among all occupations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Roofing is also one of the fastest-growing jobs in the U.S., with nearly 15,000 jobs expected to be added each year over the next decade. 

“Working in this field is hard, don’t get me wrong, but it’s beyond rewarding,” Tena tells CNBC Make It. “It’s the coolest job ever. I love what I do.”

Tena started building and repairing roofs as a side hustle four years ago to supplement her real estate broker income and learn more about the construction side of the housing market. 

She launched her own roofing business, B. Barela Construction, in February 2021. 

Last year, B. Barela Construction brought in about $180,000 in revenue, and the business is on track to surpass $200,000 in revenue for 2024, according to financial documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. 

Her combined income from running B. Barela Construction and working in real estate is more than $70,000 (she declined to share her exact salary). 

Ahead of her fourth year in business, Tena says she hopes to scale the business into a full-time career. 

Here’s how Tena found a job she loves and built a business bringing in six figures— without a bachelor’s degree: 

Tena jokes that she was “destined” to work in construction as her uncle and grandfather were both general contractors. “It’s something that was always tugging at my heart, but it took me years to finally chase that dream and follow that career path,” she says. 

She attended Santa Fe Community College on and off between 1995 and 2002, waffling between entering business, law or real estate, but never finishing her bachelor’s degree. 

After leaving college, Tena worked as a receptionist in a local realtor’s office in Santa Fe and obtained both her realtor and real estate broker licenses. 

Realtors are licensed to help people buy, sell, and rent real estate and must work for a sponsoring broker or brokerage firm, while brokers have additional training and can work independently or hire other real estate agents to work for them.

Tena worked as a broker for more than a decade but didn’t find the career fulfilling on its own; she soon realized that she “belonged outside, not in an office.” 

But the reason she didn’t start working in construction sooner, she reveals, is because “it’s such a man’s world.” 

“I never saw someone who looked like me working in the field, and as a woman, it was scary and intimidating to get into that kind of work on your own,” Tena adds. 

Tena started apprenticing with a general contractor on construction projects in 2016.

She was inspired to take the leap and obtain her general contractor (construction) license with the state of New Mexico during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 when demand for real estate slowed and she suddenly had more free time. It only took her a few weeks to finish the certification.

In New Mexico, prospective general contractors must pass a trade-specific exam and show they’ve completed at least two years of work experience with a licensed contractor in the state to obtain the certification.

Tena spent most of the lockdown drafting a business and marketing plan, practicing installation and repair techniques on a shed in her backyard and researching names for her roofing business.

She officially launched B. Barela Construction in February 2021, less than a year after obtaining her license. The name pays homage to Tena’s grandfather, Lino Barela, who inspired her to pursue a career in roofing and construction.

Since then, Tena has pursued several specialized licenses to expand her business’ offerings. In 2023, she attended a free two-week GAF Roofing Academy training program in Denver, Colorado which was held exclusively for women.

Through the program, Tena received a roofing certificate that covers shingle installation and roof coating, among other skills. 

The requirements to become a roofer vary state by state in the U.S., but most states will require roofers to have a local license and complete an apprenticeship or on-the-job training. 

The start-up costs to becoming a roofer including training, licensing and equipment can range anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 or more, Tena says, adding that she spent about $20,000 of her personal savings to launch her roofing business. 

That initial investment, however, can pay off, as more experienced roofing contractors earn upwards of $100,000 in the U.S., per ZipRecruiter’s estimates. 

Tena adds that running your own roofing business has an even greater earning potential, as you can set your prices and take on more customers. She says there’s high demand now for roofers due to backlogs brought on during the pandemic and supply chain issues.

It didn’t take Tena long to drum up business, she says, as she’s a Santa Fe local and has a wide network of builders, construction foremen, and other potential customers from working in real estate for so many years. 

Tena says that on a typical weekday, she works from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m., but is also on call during the evenings and weekends for emergency repairs, whether it’s a leaky ceiling or crumbling drywall. 

“We’re always rushing around with our ladders,”  Tena says. For Tena, a typical day on the job involves climbing up a slender ladder and working on top of commercial buildings and homes that are 8, sometimes 30 feet high.

Once she’s up there, she and her team might remove old roofs, install new shingles or repair holes. Because she’s up so high, and working with hazardous materials including saws and nail guns, Tena wears a hard hat, thick leather gloves, a safety harness and other protective equipment to minimize injury.

She works with four full-time employees and close to a dozen contractors, many of whom are women — her mother and daughter have often joined her to help on bigger jobs. 

“There was one customer when we showed up with an all-women crew, who looked at us and said, ‘Where are the roofers?’ and I told him, ‘We are’ and he was like, ‘No, the men,’” Tena recalls. “That was brutal, but I told the girls we have to let stuff roll off our back, that creating an inclusive environment for women in construction starts with us.” 

Roofing might not be a popular career choice among young professionals but it’s an “underrated” field that can provide a lot of stability and fulfillment, Tena says. 

“People are always going to need a roof over their heads, so roofers are always going to be in demand,” she adds. “You’re not just working; you’re protecting what’s most important to people — their homes. It’s hard to find that kind of fulfillment in many jobs.”

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Darien Craig and Brandon Echols have known each other since they were 6 years old in small-town Hayden, Alabama. They attended the same high school and even dropped out of college in tandem, they said on Friday’s episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

During that episode, the pair hit another milestone together: agreeing to an investment offer for their jointly owned business. Craig and Echols co-own Y’all Sweet Tea, which Craig founded in 2021 — after getting fired from his previous job, he wrote on his company’s website.

“The week I got fired, I had $7 to my name,” wrote Craig. “With the last paycheck I received, I used the $300 from that check to purchase the first jars, sugar, and tea that would eventually catapult this idea.”

Y’all sells its tea direct-to-consumer and in roughly 600 grocery store locations, mostly across the southeastern United States, Echols said on “Shark Tank.” It brought in $4 million in revenue, including nearly $800,000 in profit, last year, he added.

Those numbers included a detail that the show’s investor judges found particularly interesting: Y’all added flavored teas to its lineup last year, and sold 10,000 units of its first flavor, “Georgia Peach,” in just 35 minutes, Craig said. The first eight of those minutes were responsible for $100,000 in sales, he noted.

“When you’re dropping that amount in that short period on your own site, that’s rare,” Kevin O’Leary said. Barbara Corcoran chimed in: “Do you know how few entrepreneurs can make that claim?”

“That is beautiful. That is like beauty,” Mark Cuban added.

Craig and Echols asked the investors for $500,000, in exchange for a 5% equity stake in their company. Guest investor Rashaun Williams, a venture capitalist and minority-stake owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, quickly offered them $500,000 for 10%.

“I’ll let you figure out if you want to go to Walmart, if you want to stay direct-to-consumer, or what balance of both,” said Williams. “You don’t need me to tell you how to run this business … I think you guys are a rocket ship.”

Cuban and Corcoran bowed out. Y’all was a better fit for Williams’ investment style, Cuban said: Craig and Echols noted that they hoped to eventually find an exit for their company, and a professional VC investor could help them grow enough to get acquired or go public.

But O’Leary wanted in. He proposed a joint offer with Williams — $500,000 for 20% of Y’all, which the two investors would split down the middle.

Not to be outdone, Lori Greiner added another joint offer with Williams to the table: $500,000 for 15% of Y’all. O’Leary promptly lowered his offer to match.

Craig asked if any of the investors would chip in another $250,000. They declined, with Williams saying Y’all could always raise more money in the future. After quickly deliberating, Craig and Echols accepted Greiner and Williams’ joint offer — prioritizing the combination of Williams’ VC knowledge and Greiner’s retail experience over the stronger financial terms of Williams’ solo proposal.

The quartet officially inked the deal at Greiner and Williams’ proposed terms after the show’s taping, Craig confirmed to CNBC Make It.

“Rashaun is an awesome businessman and Lori has so much experience in retail,” Echols said on the show. “It couldn’t have been a better deal.”

This story has been updated to include Craig’s post-taping confirmation of the investment deal.

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank.”

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

Achieving nearly any financial goal, from saving for retirement to buying a car, comes down to spending less than you earn.

In recent years, that’s become especially difficult for consumers as prices for essentials like rent and groceries have grown faster than wages can keep up. As a result, the share of Americans saying they live paycheck to paycheck has been growing fairly steadily for the past two years, a recent Bank of America survey found. 

Nearly half of Americans at least somewhat agree with the statement, “I am living paycheck to paycheck,” as of the third quarter of 2024. The share shrank slightly between the second and third quarters of this year, but in 2022, less than 40% of Americans felt this way, Bank of America reports.

Importantly, how each respondent defines living paycheck to paycheck may vary. So, for the purposes of the study, Bank of America set a threshold — households spending at least 90% of their income on necessities could be considered living paycheck to paycheck.

By that measure, around 30% of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, according to Bank of America’s internal data. Further, 26% of households spend 95% or more of their income on necessities, the bank reports.

It’s worth noting that not all transactions were captured in the data, which only tracked post-deduction incomes and funds kept in Bank of America accounts. However, it still highlights discord among Americans in the ways they see themselves and their financial situations.

The disparity between the share of people who say they live paycheck to paycheck and those who do by Bank of America’s estimates can be attributed in part to differing definitions of what “paycheck to paycheck” means. 

“I suspect people have a slightly broader perception themselves,” says David Tinsley, senior economist at Bank of America Institute and author of the report.

Someone who works a decent-paying, full-time job may go out to dinner a couple of times a month, for example, bringing their total monthly spending closer to their income. Technically it’s not a necessity, but it isn’t an egregious splurge either. If it becomes unaffordable, that person may feel like they’re living paycheck to paycheck, Tinsley says. 

The same goes for saving for emergencies or retirement, which may be viewed as a necessity to some, but a luxury to others.

“Perceptions can sometimes deviate from reality, but I think also people’s aspirations go a bit further than just being able to survive,” Tinsley says.

As you might expect, the share of households living paycheck to paycheck is highest among the lowest earners. About 35% of households earning less than $50,000 a year have necessary spending in excess of 95% of their incomes, compared with a little over 20% of households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 a year, Bank of America finds.

But earning a low income doesn’t inherently cause those households to live paycheck to paycheck. Higher expenses seem to be a bigger reason households are strapped for cash each month, the report finds.

About 20% of households earning more than $150,000 a year spend over 95% of their income on necessities, according to Bank of America’s analysis. Part of this may be due to the fact that higher-earning families are more likely to have larger homes and more expensive cars, leading to higher monthly costs, Tinsley says. 

In fact, the data shows that, on average, households living paycheck to paycheck spend about 90% more on necessities than those living comfortably, but their incomes are only 20% smaller.

This can be due to a myriad of reasons, such as family size or geography. But while lower-income households with too-high essential costs may not have access to more affordable options, higher-earning households likely have more room to cut expenses and recalibrate their spending, Tinsley says.

“For people at the low end [of income] distribution, almost certainly they’re not going to be able to cut back on their groceries, and they probably can’t move to a more affordable area,” he says.

However, “there’s probably an element at the top end [of the income spectrum] where there may be a little bit more flexibility in terms of those [spending] choices that people are making.”

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On Tuesday, Walmart announced its fiscal third quarter results as the retail giant promotes its ongoing Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping events next week.

The company reported revenue of $169.59 billion for the period, which beat analysts’ expectation of $167.72 billion, according to LSEG consensus estimates. Additionally, Walmart reported earnings per share of 58 cents, adjusted, compared with the 53 cents analysts’ predicted.

Notably, the company appears to be optimistic heading into the holiday spending season and says Walmart customers have been purchasing more general merchandise outside of groceries.

“In the U.S., in-store volumes grew, pickup from store grew faster, and delivery from store grew even faster than that,” Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO, said in a Nov. 19 press release. “Our teams are executing and delighting our customers and members with the value and convenience they expect from Walmart.”

Walmart now forecasts that net sales will grow between 4.8% and 5.1% for the full year, compared with the previously forecasted growth of 3.75% to 4.75%.

The retailer’s share price has increased by nearly 60% since the beginning of the year as of market close on Nov. 18.

By sales volume, Walmart is the largest retailer in the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. In 2023, it raked in just over $635 billion in worldwide retail sales.

Walmart first allowed the public to purchase common stock in October 1970 for $16.50 per share and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange two years later on August 25, 1972.

Since then, Walmart’s share price has soared substantially. The company’s stocks were priced at $84.08 per share as of market close on Nov. 18.

CNBC calculated how much a $1,000 investment in Walmart made one, five or 10 years ago, as well as when the company went public 54 years ago, would be worth today. The calculations are based on Walmart’s Nov. 18 closing price and don’t account for possible changes in price following the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report.

If you invested one year ago

• Percentage change: 64%
• Total as of Nov. 18: $1,639

If you invested five years ago

• Percentage change: 119%
• Total as of Nov. 18: $2,191

If you invested 10 years ago

• Percentage change: 227%
• Total as of Nov. 18: $3,266

If you invested when Walmart went public in October 1970

• Percentage change: 1,788,465%
• Total as of Nov. 18: $17,885,648

No matter how well company’s stock performs in the short term, it’s not indicative how it may behave in the future. From market volatility to natural disasters to changes in investor sentiment, any number of events can cause a company’s stock price to unexpectedly drop or rise.

Instead of chasing whichever stock is hottest at the moment, many financial experts recommend a more hands-off strategy, such as parking your investment dollars in low-cost index funds.

The benefit of this investment strategy can be two-fold:

1. Investing in index funds can help diversify your portfolio by spreading your investment across a vast array of companies, rather than just one. Investing in an S&P 500 index fund, for example, gives your portfolio exposure to the top 500 or so publicly traded U.S. companies, including Walmart, Amazon and Apple.
2. Index funds tend to cost less than actively managed funds since they simply aim to mimic a market index like the S&P 500.

As of Nov. 18, the S&P 500 grew by about 31% compared with 12 months ago, according to CNBC’s calculations. However, the index has soared by nearly 89% since 2019, and ballooned by about 187% since 2014.

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Pre-register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through Nov. 26, 2024.

After 30 years in business, Amazon is a $2 trillion behemoth and one of the world’s largest retailers.

But back in 2001, its very survival was in doubt after the dot-com bubble burst and Amazon’s stock dipped by 90 percent. Some critics believed Amazon was doomed to never recover, but founder Jeff Bezos turned things around — with some helpful advice from Jim Sinegal, founder of rival retailer Costco.

That year, Bezos met Sinegal for coffee at a Starbucks inside a Barnes & Noble near Amazon’s offices in Bellevue, Washington, according to the 2013 book “The Everything Store,” by journalist Brad Stone. Bezos wanted to talk about using Costco as a wholesale supplier for some products, but the meeting’s key takeaway ended up involving pricing strategies.

Sinegal explained how Costco could sell so many products for “dirt cheap” by eliminating unnecessary costs and maintaining strong relationships with suppliers to secure the best deals on bulk goods, Stone wrote. Those low prices were key to getting customers to pay for Costco’s annual membership, comprising most of the company’s gross profits.

“The membership fee is a one-time pain, but it’s reinforced every time customers walk in and see forty-seven-inch televisions that are two hundred dollars less than anyplace else,” Sinegal told Bezos, according to Stone. “It reinforces the value of the concept. Customers know they will find really cheap stuff at Costco.”

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Costco’s approach was that “value trumps everything,” and it would always work hard to ensure it delivered enough value to keep customers happy, Sinegal emphasized. Speaking to Stone for the book, Sinegal noted that he believed “Jeff looked at [that approach] and thought that was something that would apply to his business as well.”

Bezos has never publicly credited the meeting with Sinegal for inspiring any of Amazon’s pricing strategies, but Stone wrote that Bezos called a meeting at Amazon just a few days after sitting down with Sinegal. The topic: Amazon’s “incoherent” pricing strategy and the need to deliver on the company’s promise to always have lower prices than its competitors, according to Stone, who interviewed Amazon executives who were present.

That summer, Amazon slashed prices for some of its flagship products — books, music and videos — discounting them by up to 30%, in some cases. “There are two kinds of companies: Those that work to raise prices and those that work to lower them,” Bezos said at the time, according to The New York Times. Amazon, Bezos added, would always aim to be the second type of company.

Sales bounced back by the end of 2001, when Amazon posted its first ever profitable quarter. Bezos credited the rebound to lower prices and promised to eliminate unnecessary costs in order to make more discounts possible, the Times reported — a similar strategy to Costco’s.

“We had a great Q4. We’re incredibly proud of it. And what really drove it was lower prices for customers…” Bezos told Fox News in January 2002. “We’ve always had low prices, but pushing that a little further really had a big impact on our results.”

A few years later, in 2005, Amazon rolled out its own membership program, Amazon Prime, offering discounted prices and free shipping on orders for members who pay an upfront fee. In a 2016 letter to Amazon’s shareholders, Bezos described the idea behind Prime using language reminiscent of Sinegal and Costco: “We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member.”

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

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