Tony Safranek

I have made roughly around $70K in my entire apex journey. This includes salary, tournament winnings and twitch income. However, this was over the span of 4 years. That's an average of around ~$1500/month, which would put me at the poverty line in America, if it was my only job. I have seen it happen over & over again where people drop everything, their education, their job & their lives to the "grind" of becoming next up, in either the twitch world, competitive world or both. The very harsh reality is that it is only achievable for a small handful of people, that achieved it through exceptional skill & a little bit of luck. When time has gone by & you do not realistically have much to show for it, it can be difficult to play catch up in the real world. I try to stay connected with former pro's & alot of them are struggling with finding not only jobs, but long lasting careers that can give them any sort of financial stability. You do not want to be stuck in the loop of door dashing, fast food, retail, etc. For those that are trying to achieve greatness in this space, be realistic with yourself & don't drop everything. Continue to do what you do part-time (school, work, etc) for your future. Again, only a small handful of people will thrive for many years to come, but the vast majority will not. I have considered leaving my job multiple times when I was at the peak of my career, but to this day I am glad I stuck with my gut & maintained my career for my future. Though I will never know what heights I could've reached if I gave this my full commitment, I am proud of my effort. There comes a time where you have to be realistic with your dreams and capabilties and strategize within reason.