My roots run deep in building small-business.

I grew up in a family surrounded by owners and operators. I witnessed the waves of excitement and overwhelm, the pleasures of flexibility and the stresses of not enough time.

My mother has run a specialty clothing and gift boutique since I was young. Her mother, my Meme, worked changing out the records of her father’s jukebox rental business as a teen, and eventually ran her own tenement houses.

My father’s side has more of the same - ferry company operators, landlords, bakery owners - examples of hard-working Americans running small businesses, determined to support their families, and communities - no matter the cost.

I, on the other hand, earned my stripes in the cushy “Big C” corporate world.

In the late 2000s, I joined the hustle & bustle of the ever-changing world of media, marketing and advertising. (This is pre-Netflix.) I started my career in NYC at a traditional television network (TBS, TNT), which drew me into a (then) new streaming television service (Hulu). I was ecstatic. I made commercials and content for the advertising partners of the hit TV shows that filmed out in Hollywood whose customers watched on tiny screens designed in Silicon Valley. I helped share stories, offered entertainment and added value to attract sales. I met show runners and actors, CMOs and advertising giants. It was challenging and fast-paced and then some, but I got to work alongside wildly creative people to make the next “best thing,” and I learned a lot.