What was the biggest surprise you found in running your own business?
The growth. I didn’t think we’d get 1,300+ students in the first year, but we did. It was humbling. I was glad to see that my idea paid off.
How do you define success?
Success is the ability to not only support yourself, but to positively impact the lives of others. I don’t mean just giving to charity. I mean fundamentally changing lives in ways that will last for generations. It’s changing how people act, their lifestyles, their opportunities. While all forms of giving are important, I want to create permanent, large-scale change. That’s my idea of success.
If you could start over, what would you do differently?
Knowing what I know now, I wish I would’ve moved faster and started sooner. We just launched our funding program, which gives our students access to capital to trade. If we’d started that sooner, more students could’ve had that support.
