Hello! If you're here, that means you're interested in learning a little more about me and my background. Thank you for your interest. Like this website, my life story is a never ending work-in-progress and I'm always searching for ways to make myself more useful.

So, how did I end up in San Francisco?

I’m originally from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Champaign-Urbana is home to the University of Illinois, one of the best Engineering colleges in the U.S., and where my parents worked for the first 19 years of my life. Champaign is where I spent the majority of my early days. Compared to San Francisco, Champaign is pretty suburban. Fortunately, University of Illinois was a great source for culture and intellectual stimulation. The juxtaposition of endless cornfields with old academic buildings made for a simple but also classically American town to grow up in. I still have many fond memories and friends from Illinois. In high school, I attended Champaign Centennial High School, and graduated in 2008.

For college, I decided I should broaden my horizons beyond Illinois. I applied to and was accepted at Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH where I played Division III soccer for all four years. Fun fact: Wittenberg is also my parents’ Alma Mater and where they first met. Never heard of Wittenberg? It's okay, not many people have. Wittenberg, is one of many liberal arts colleges sprinkled throughout Ohio (among Oberlin and Kenyon etc.). My college days walking around the beautiful campus will hold a special place in my mind and heart for the rest of my life.

Moving To The West Coast

In the midst of my sophomore year of college, my parents (Professors at the University of Illinois) were recruited for their respective fields to the University of Washington, in Seattle. And after just one visit, Seattle became my new “home”. For my junior and senior years, I would fly back to Washington instead of Illinois. Ultimately, it was this exposure to the West Coast that ignited my interest in early-stage businesses and entrepreneurship. Seattle is famously home to companies such as: Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Amazon, to name a few. The summer between my junior and senior years, I was lucky to make some friends working on a startup, who would later end up moving to San Francisco (foreshadowing here). On May 12, 2012 I finally graduated from Wittenberg University, receiving Magna Cum Laude status, and earning both Departmental (Business) and University Honors.

San Francisco

On June 6th, 2012 (which happens to be the anniversary of "D-Day") I boarded a one-way flight from Seattle, WA to San Francisco. On that day, I remember feeling like I was making my own invasion of sorts; I arrived without a job lined up or apartment (I had a friend with a couch). I flew to San Francisco to pursue my dream of working with brilliant entrepreneurs. One week after moving, I leased a small room in Berkeley, in a house with fourteen roommates. The following Monday was my first day of official "work" as an intern for a startup-focused recruiting and staffing company. During that initial week, we toured a building that was under construction at the time, at 1355 Market St. (home to Twitter, Yammer, and One Kings Lane). The co-working space, unnamed at the time was Runway.

I fell in love with that space and asked if there was any way I could help once the construction was complete. When it was finally ready to open, I became the first employee at Runway, the most beautiful startup incubator, collaboration and innovation space in San Francisco.

After two-and-a-half years working at Runway, I was ready to begin the next chapter in my career. In February, 2015 I put in notice and decided to venture out for myself. While at Runway, I was able to meet and work with some of the world's best bloggers. It was actually some of those encounters that inspired me to keep writing in this blog. At some point, I thought to myself that it just might be possible to do something similar.

What I’m up to today

To see what I’m doing these days, the best place would be my LinkedIn page. My life-story continues to be an active work-in-progress but I'll leave you with this thought: I believe that with enough conviction, clarity in your vision, and grit, you can make your dreams a reality.

If you’re still with me, thank you for reading this far, I hope you'll subscribe to see where else my journey goes.