My family immigrated from Ecuador to the Great Smoky Mountains when I was four, and my parents cleaned vacation cabins for a living. My earliest memories are of working alongside them on summer, weekend, and holiday days, surrounded by the business owners and hard-working employees who kept our town running. Watching my parents and those businesses up close instilled a strong work ethic, a deep sense of personal responsibility, and a fascination with how companies are built and grown that has never left me. I started early. At 9, I resold Beyblades, HeroClix, and football cards I sourced on eBay to my fellow club members at the Boys and Girls Club. At 12, I bought a broken iPhone for $20, repaired it, and flipped it for $250; that grew into an electronics refurbishing and phone activation business that my dad still runs today. At 15, my mobility was impaired, and I was in and out of the hospital for nearly two years before I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is now in remission. My upbringing and health challenges taught me resilience and a zest for life that I'll always lean on.