When I turned 19-years old, I left my family and moved to Merida, Mexico and lived among the Yucatecan people for two years. I saw my first glimpse of real poverty and learned to appreciate the opportunities I had growing up. As a pastor, I learned to work with and lead those with different backgrounds and mindsets. As I immersed myself in their culture and identified each individual’s strengths, we were able to affect great changes and improve lives. Although difficult, this was one of the best experiences I ever had.

After college I worked for a non-profit organization that specializes in teaching how to start a business. I managed instructors from Ecuador, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Haiti in addition to developing our business curriculum. I loved working closely with each instructor because although each one came from a different culture and background, each shared my passion for teaching self-reliance.

Currently, I work for a defense contractor where we build products that are intended to keep our troops safe. I take pride in working for such a company. I also volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America and a local church youth group. I am not a very good scout, i.e. I still don't start a fire very well, but it has been wonderful to work with the younger generation and inspire them to dream big and to chase their dreams.

My long-term goal is to start my own non-profit organization, specializing in self-reliance and micro-loans.