My first job was helping my mom with her retail store and event décor business. It was hard work; money was always tight and we took on all kinds of side gigs to pay the bills. Our most dreaded (and comical for my siblings and I to look back on now) was getting up in the middle of the night to bag and deliver newspapers. All before a long day of school, after-school sports, and extracurriculars.

From an early age I began building empathy for others, especially those working hard to provide for their families. I learned the value and importance of persistence, optimism, and creative problem solving—otherwise known as the hustle.

I also worked part-time at the local rec center, music and retail stores at the mall, and tutoring for the SATs. Through these roles I picked up the fundamentals of sales, operations, and customer service.

Pitching in with the family business gave me a window into the world of entrepreneurship. At that time the highs never quite felt like they made up for the lows. I excelled in academics in pursuit of what I viewed as a more stable means of making a living—a white-collar job at a large and established company.

I graduated high school at the top of my class with an abundance of scholarships. While I successfully hacked the traditional education system to earn perfect grades, I didn’t quite master how to learn and regretfully retain little of the curriculum today.

I started building things in my late teens. Following my own curiosities, I became a self-taught graphic designer and web developer. I learned to code by trial and error—search, tweak, test, deploy. The skill of learning new things by jumping in and getting my hands dirty stays with me today.

Throughout college I took on a variety of freelance web design projects. I was over the moon to be handsomely compensated for work I found to be fun and easy. But I never took it seriously enough to pursue it further. As my undergraduate studies came to a close, I accepted the most attractive full-time offer that came my way—an analytical role with an investment bank.

Moving to New York was incredibly exciting. It’s still my favorite city in the world and where I met the love of my life and now husband.

I found my first job out of college to be mostly dull and uninspiring. I was always good with numbers but found limited opportunity for creative application of that interest. I transferred to the company’s London office for another role. Again, I found the experience living abroad to be fantastic, but the day-to-day work unsatisfying.

I returned stateside a year later to pursue my MBA. My alma mater offered me a generous scholarship and I graciously accepted. During first semester I came across an opportunity in the paper goods space and started building my first company. In spite of my earlier reservations around entrepreneurship, I found the challenges that came with running a business exhilarating. This was my first real venture, one involving physical products and a complex international supply chain.

I (accidentally) got many things right and grew the company as a side project over the next several years. The most interesting new skills I picked up were in brand building and marketing via content and partnerships.

My next roles post grad school were in technology, strategy, and operations consulting. In these short engagements I quickly learned the ins and outs of many industries ranging from health and beauty to food products and distribution.

I co-founded a few other companies that eventually crashed and burned. Though seemingly obvious now, I learned it’s more important to build a product that users love and to grow a business organically than to celebrate vanity press coverage and chase venture capital dollars.

As my bank account drained and my self-confidence as a maker-of-things dipped to an all-time low, I began pursuing other side gigs. Thankfully, no newspaper delivery this time. I took on consulting projects in user experience design for a real estate start-up and growth marketing for a non-profit focused on elevating women working in big data.

My foray back into a more traditional full-time role came by way of a leadership opportunity in the government. The federal agency I worked with aimed to modernize and expand access to its services, and my team was stood up to spearhead this effort. In this role, I served an audience I felt a special kinship with: small business owners. I led a world-class team of talented product managers, designers, developers, and content strategists—many of whom became and remain friends.

I learned how to lead with vision and compassion. And to invest in the growth and development of each individual such that they felt inspired to be and bring their very best every day.

Upon the conclusion of my two-year appointment with the government, I went back to banking—this time more focused on digital products and physical experiences. I spent a few years standing up new financial products and the organizations first luxury airport lounges.

And because learning never stops and entrepreneurial ambitions never die, I have once again bounced back into start-up world and am now building a food company, First Seed Foods.

If I ever become an overnight success it will be because I’ve spent my entire career continuously challenging myself, making and learning from a ton of mistakes, and never ceasing to hustle.

I currently live in the suburbs of Washington, DC with my husband and two amazing kids. Drop me a line and introduce yourself.