Entrepreneur of the Year
THE MAN BEHIND THE MISSION
01 / MY STORY
I built businesses.
Then I found
my calling.
“Hard work comes before the dream.” My father left those words on a note. I spent years learning what they really meant.
At ten, I was a kid with a scar on my face, running from bullies. My grandmother Vera saw something I couldn’t see yet. She told me, “You’re different. They don’t understand you but one day you’re going to grow up and do great things.”
She was right. I was different. I became a millionaire at 24, lost my footing in the financial crisis, and rebuilt. Elite Daily grew from an apartment with two interns to 200 employees, 80 million monthly readers, and a $50 million exit.
But after the sale, I felt materially rich and internally broke. The hardest work was changing the story I carried about myself. That became the foundation for Leaders Create Leaders.
Today, I’m a father to Skyla Vera. Yup, she’s named after my grandmother. I’m a man of God, and I’m building a life bigger than me. Our scars don’t define us. They refine us. When we stand in our story, that’s when we shine.
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