Marsha Serlin

  b. 1949 | American entrepreneur

At The Bottom

— 1978

Her family faced a mountain of unpaid bills and credit card debt.

Marsha Serlin was a 29-year-old mother of two from Northbrook, Illinois.  She had recently divorced, and her family faced a mountain of unpaid bills and credit card debt.  She fell behind on her car payments and discovered one day that her car had been repossessed; even worse, she was unable to keep up mortgage payments on her house, and the bank began the foreclosure process.  Her only source of independent income was a part-time job taking care of houseplants for businesses and a handful of wealthy clients.  While she had enjoyed the work, it provided nothing close to a sufficient income to support her and her children.  Her forays into the job market were fruitless.  She tried selling insurance, but the income was still insufficient to keep her family afloat.  When it seemed her situation couldn’t get any worse, it did — the IRS got in touch with her and informed her that she and her e-husband owed $250,000 in back taxes.