With all the wide-eyed optimism and confidence of youth, at 19 I started my entrepreneurial journey as an independent hairstylist, scratching together a degree in accounting and finance, ultimately building 3 full-service hair salons, spas and retail stores, hiring hundreds of employees and serving thousands of clients. I suffered through the excruciating pain of building teams and losing teams, long negotiations with banks, vendors, landlords and investors. I have spent sleepless nights figuring out which “Peter” had enough money to pay “Paul” and felt suffocated under the weight of debt, all in the pursuit of “success”.

I have felt doubt about my choices and have had many lives depend on them, wondering if I really had what it took…and what if I didn’t?