MY JOURNEY: FROM THE GROUND UP I was a firm believer in Abraham Linconln's philosophy of an apprentice today and an owner tomorrow. I learned from the ground up! From working as a direct care staff member, to managing operations at a 16-bed brain injury rehab facility bleeding $10K/month, I turned it profitable in six months and delivered a 24% EBITDA within 18 months. From there, I was deployed across five U.S. states and Ontario, Canada to fix systems, write policies, conduct audits, and prepare clinics for compliance.

I built my first business in Springfield, Missouri-a t-shirt screen printing company-where I cut $4K/month in costs, wrote and produced our own commercials, and drove revenue by targeting college markets. In education, I led as a middle school AP, then as an elementary school principal, and eventually managed $12 million in federal grants at the district level. Leadership, policy, systems. That's been the consistent theme.

Today, I serve as CEO of a short-term rental management company and operate in the M&A space, helping founders structure for acquisition or acquire businesses themselves