I Made Over $4 Million on Upwork While Battling Kidney Disease. Here's How I'm Helping Patients Like Me Achieve Health and Financial Freedom. At a low point during his health struggles, Sam Bazzi resolved to give back in a big way.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- A lifelong freelancer, Bazzi used Upwork to earn an income while undergoing treatment for a kidney condition.
- Bazzi shares his strategies for success — and how he's helping patients regain control of their health and finances.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation Sam Bazzi, a long-time freelancer who's made more than $4 million on Upwork . After a battle with kidney disease, Bazzi started the nonprofit If Sam Can Do It, an organization dedicated to educating people about kidney disease and teaching kidney patients the skills necessary to find part-time work. The story has been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of If Sam Can Do It
I've been freelancing my whole life. I started off back in the day on Craigslist. In the mid-to-late 1990s, I would go on Craigslist and message every single person who put up any post related to internet marketing or creating a website and so forth. Some other platforms began to pop up, like RentACoder, but they're no longer around. Eventually, I started my own agency, and that went well, but even as I built that, I continued to freelance.
One day in 2016, I was at my sister's house eating turnips (which don't interact well with a kidney condition), and I just kept eating them, maybe about 50 of them, which I'd never do typically. Then the next morning, I used the bathroom and saw red, and I was like, Oh man, I'm screwed. So I called the doctor, but they didn't have any appointments until next week. But I said I'd be there in 15 minutes, showed up and they fit me in for bloodwork. Two days later, they called me back in, sat me down and said the protein in my urine was very high: nine grams when it's supposed to be zero.
So they started running all of these tests, and once I got a kidney biopsy, I was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease called membranous nephropathy, where there's a protein circulating in your blood, and your kidneys are unable to process it, which damages the filters on your kidneys. My kidney function actually got down to as low as about 30% when it should be at 100% for healthy adults in their 30s or 40s. They gave me a list of about 20 medications I was supposed to take, including autoimmune suppressants, but I also began to do my own research.
I ended up going vegan and gluten-free and lost about 150 pounds. Then, after months of seeing a 2% to 3% decline in my kidney function, I had a mass surgically removed from my leg, and about a month later, my kidney function went from about 35% to 70%. I made so many changes in a three-month period that I can't be sure exactly what contributed, but I was finally getting better.
During the months I battled kidney disease, I continued to freelance. In 2009, I joined Elance, which merged with oDesk and rebranded as Upwork in 2015. I had tons of doctor appointments, but I'd wake up early and freelance from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., then attend my appointments and work another three or four hours after that, take another break and do several more hours of work. Freelancing gave me a lot of flexibility to learn more about my condition while earning an income.
Throughout, I continued to rely on the freelancing strategies that brought me success in the past. First, you have to manage your time really well. Next, communication is everything; it's always better to over-communicate than to leave clients wanting more. Say you're working with four or five clients on Upwork. Everybody's expectations are a little bit different, but at the very minimum, you should be in touch several times a week, even if it's just a, Hey, how's it going? Since we're not meeting all the time in person, they like to have feedback, and your clients also become an extension of your family when you start to work with them long-term. I know it sounds so cliche to say, but it's true.
I also only take on projects I know I can handle. Of course, we all sometimes jump into something that might not be our exact skill set, but it's close enough. I think that's okay if you know that you can do the job and put in the extra hours. But avoid jobs if you're not 100% comfortable with completing them. Finally, I always set expectations with clients. I never take on a job until I get on a Zoom call with the client. I like to talk to the person and get a little bit of a feel: Is this person edgy? Is this person pushy? It's a chance to understand their expectations and give them a realistic take on what's possible.
One day during my treatment, I was feeling really crappy and sad for myself. I was sitting in bed and looking at the ceiling, and I'm not the most religious guy in the world; I'm more in the middle, but I was like, Man, just give me this one shot. I'll find a way to do better. I'll find a way to give back. Within that month, things started to turn around. I was motivated to start my nonprofit If Sam Can Do It (it was called Moon Shot Cures before a trademark issue) with the twofold goal of educating people about kidney disease and giving people on dialysis an opportunity to improve their skills, learn how to be a freelancer and get part-time jobs.
Related: How to Become a Freelance Writer, Plus Tips for Success
I'm currently working with about 50 people. I don't charge them; they're kind of my little test pilot for how I'm going to set this up. I'm building the courses and so forth. The nonprofit has already raised about $150,000 from friends and family. I'm planning on doing a big launch in February 2026.
The ultimate dream with kidney disease is to prevent and reverse it. Many people with moderate to severe kidney disease suffer because of health and lifestyle choices. A lot of times, it's Type 2 Diabetes, which is reversible. But no one's really pushing the envelope in terms of solutions. Of course, there are a ton of special interests there; you've got the dialysis companies, which a lot of people are gaining from. At the end of the day, if 10% fewer people are on dialysis, that would severely hurt the profit of most of these dialysis centers.
Related: Here's The Greatest Barrier to Quality Health Care (and It's Not Pre-Existing Conditions)
People on dialysis are always tired because when you go sit at a dialysis session, if you're doing the in-center, you're going three days a week, six to seven hours a day. And it just depletes most people. So, I want to empower people on dialysis to increase their skills and find flexible work.
Also, connecting dialysis patients with work isn't just about the money. It's about giving them the chance to communicate with others and have people to talk to, which can help them feel fulfilled and like they're getting ahead in life.
