I'm not 'minted' but will soon have near 2k disposable per month.
The journey here was luck, then hard work and aptitude.
I went to University to pursue a career in IT, but soon grew tired with the subjects taught on my course. So after completing year 1 I moved to a different course at a different University. A few months in, I was again unhappy with the course material. I felt I could learn far more myself with books and hands on work, so I quit.
My intention was to learn more about web development and try and get in at the bottom. So I took a job at Currys while I tried to learn in my spare time. Taking the job at Currys was perhaps one of my luckiest decisions ever. After a year, one of the guys there left to become an IT recruitment consultant. Several months into his role, knowing that I was an "IT guy" wanted to put me forward for a job he had. A company weren't able to find enough skilled consultants, so they wanted candidates with aptitude to train. From 50 applicants, I was one of the 5 offered the job as a trainee consultant.
It was a niche role. I would be trained to install and configure enterprise monitoring software (IBM). I knuckled down and learnt the in house training easily and started to excel. I was the first in pass my exams and get on site for customers. The other 4, by the way, had degrees and I didn't.
The next 4 years I worked hard, working on many pretty rubbish projects in the middle east, but I was doing well and recognised within the company as being good at my job. After sometime however I wasn't happy with the travelling aspect so spoke to management. They found a new position for me working as a remote consultant handling "support" - same stuff as on site.
A few years in this role and I noticed that work was dwindling and at the same time, I was approach by another company to work for them. Seems that one of my old managers had a good word to say for me in his new company. I did well in the interview, and was offered the job, however I was countered offered and stayed in my role with promise of new training.
The work started to dry up within my role after sometime, and I noticed some of the consultants were leaving. It's worth noting at this point that along the way our company was bought by a larger company that specialised in many different software. They were focusing on cloud software, and the area I worked in ESM was dwindling. I took this opportunity to cross train (which I was promised in my counter offer) into the new cloud software which was a saving grace, as the ESM side of the company completely collapsed.
I was now working in a traditional style support role (level 3) on the cloud software. It was more my thing with elements of the web dev I had once long ago had a passion for. So with some aptitude and hard work I was able to become very technical and valuable within my role. My manager left and I was offered the job, and I turned it down, I didn't want to be a manager, I preferred a technical role which is where I do well.
Fast forward a few years, I'm now essentially a senior technical consultant, working remotely on a variety of projects, from home 3-4 days a week. From being hired as a trainee to today it has been 10 years with this company (although we have been bought a few times). My drive to be the best at my role has made me very valuable to my company, and working hard on all my work means customers sing my praises (this is important). I'm now earning £72k pa working from home under a manager who is a dream.
I guess what my story is trying to show is that it's not a straight forward, clearly defined path. There are however themes for success, that without those I wouldn't be where I am today.