Who or what is your inspiration in business?

As an immigrant who built from zero in a new country, I watched small business owners — including those in my community — lose patients and clients simply because no one answered the phone. I knew the problem was solvable with AI. Being a woman in engineering taught me to build what doesn’t exist yet. Lyra is that solution — and proving that a 21-year-old immigrant woman can build infrastructure that replaces a $40K salary is the mission.

How do you stay motivated?

Motivation fades. I return to the problem instead. Somewhere right now a clinic owner is missing calls while with a patient. Revenue is walking out the door. That problem doesn’t care how I feel today. I’m not building Lyra because it’s exciting. I’m building it because leaving a solvable problem unsolved is the only outcome I can’t live with. That’s not motivation. That’s a standard.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I already incorporated my business and would use the $25,000 towards product development. That is, developing an end to end fully functional AI receptionist that can work after hours.