You’ve heard of the classic “rags to riches” tale, maybe read a Horatio Alger story or two, but what about a “camo to riches” saga?

The journey of United States Army and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and Puerto Rican native Emanuel Hernandez — how he achieved success — certainly falls under the latter.

The seed was planted years ago, during his service, while comforting a buddy who had just suffered some crushing girl news.

Via Forbes:

While living in the Army barracks, Hernandez watched as a battle buddy became devastated over the loss of his girlfriend, who broke up with him while he was serving in the military. To support his friend, Hernandez Googled, “How to get my ex back.”

“I remember my friend’s face while reading the results page as if it were yesterday,” says Hernandez. “He had a big smile on his face, happy that we found a solution to his dilemma.”

To help his friend out, Hernandez purchased the “field guide to dating” for $39.97. But what happened next forever changed his life. When the purchase was made, Hernandez and his buddies expected a physical book to show up in the mail a few days later. Instead, the book was immediately delivered in a digital format to his friend’s email address.

“I was very new to computers at the time so I did not know what an eBook was,” Hernandez says. “It was then that the lightbulb went off when I realized the author had no overhead expenses, had no inventory, and no publishing house fees. The author could make a living by cutting out all the middle men.”

From that point on, his bearings were locked in. He was going to do whatever it took to earn a salary from the fertile, yet trampled soil of the World Wide Web.

After almost a year, he had nothing to show for his research. His various strategies simply weren’t panning out.

And then, one day, eight months after he had dug in, pay dirt. He made $236.

From there his earnings skyrocketed into a stratosphere that had in its skies six and seven figure paychecks.

Currently, he’s the CEO and founder of a digital media brand called “Click Cash Marketing, Inc.” They score leads for Fortune 500 companies as well as ambitious online entrepreneurs like himself.

“True wealth is being able to control how you spend your time,” the vet told Fortune. “Whether that’s with family, traveling the world, or volunteering for causes that matter to you, the choice should be yours and no one else’s to make. When you work for yourself, you have freedom to manage your time rather than getting permission from a supervisor. Running your own business empowers you with the freedom to truly live your best life.”