Hey there 👋

I’ve always been very interested in business. I don’t think there is an episode of Shark Tank that I haven’t seen. Like most entrepreneurs, I was one of those kids who started early. My first “business” was a vegetable stand in the front yard at five years old. I think I was the only one who enjoyed hearing my dad talk about work at the dinner table, and I loved “helping” him on the weekends. My favorite field trip as a kid was when my class visited my mom at work at the grocery store to learn how it all worked. 

 

As a fresh college graduate, I was lucky to work for one of my dad’s businesses when I dropped out of law school after the first few weeks, figuring out marketing and sales as I went. One reason I am such a fan of small businesses is that while sometimes they are fortunate enough to produce “generational wealth” in the regular sense of the word, they also can generate the generational wealth of skills and experience one might not get otherwise. The knowledge and confidence I gained from those years at my dad’s business were invaluable. 

 

In 2009, the Great Recession forced us to close (as we were automotive-related), and my plan of running the family business for my whole life was toast. I took a 100% commission sales job in luxury home improvements. I also made some money on the side doing websites and social media for local entrepreneurs I met in networking groups. 

 

From 2009-19, I hustled in sales and marketing roles, helping businesses as a channel sales manager, learning how to lead teams, and benefiting from great mentors. Along the way, I kept side hustling for business owners I met who needed a hand with their marketing. To broaden my business knowledge, I earned my MBA at UMASS. 

 

Early into 2019, I had grown tired of the extensive travel my job required and felt there wasn’t anywhere else to go at the company. Adding to that, the founder was stepping away. An opportunity to really test what I had learned closer to home with another founder in a related industry came up, and I took it. 

 

Here’s where the bike in the logo comes in. 

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Before I departed, the company hosted a farewell party for me, and the founder gave me the mug you see below as a gift. She told me that when she saw it she thought of me because “having you as a part of my team always made me feel like someone was riding the bike with me - pedaling just as hard as I was.”

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