Who or what is your inspiration in business?

I'm from a family of entrepreneurs and business owners starting with my grandfather in Iowa who owned a business 41 years before passing it on to my uncles. Owning a business allows me to dream and actualize what I imagine, to exist in the time-space continuum in ways that liberate, elevate, and keep me constantly seeking the vast beyond.

How do you stay motivated?

In 2025, I returned from a year-long Listening & Learning tour of 11 countries in Asia where I immersed myself in student needs, aspirations. I positioned myself and my company -- Global-Ed Immersion LLC (GEI) -- as a global force for international collaborations to facilitate creative flows, globally, and to mitigate the economic and socio-economic and psychological frustrations of domestic contractions. Frequent travel, building and sustaining relationships keeps me motivated.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I'd build a cohort of 25 NYC secondary students (five each from 5 NYC boroughs) for GEI's American Studies 360 pilot program to cultivate curiosity about the US and the world beyond US shores, develop global citizens, and skills requisite for student success in the classroom and beyond. Specifically: an enriched Afterschool and weekend program with rigorous academic and experiential learning, local and domestic travel, special guests. Exposure to the world via immersion in NYC and the US.