My Story

I was exactly the kind of student I work with now.

I was always bright. Teachers told me so, test scores confirmed it. But brightness without direction is just potential collecting dust. I was a perfectionist who couldn’t start things for fear of doing them imperfectly. I had bouts of depression I didn’t understand and no tools to manage them. I entered college with the raw talent to perform but very little emotional resilience and zero practical study habits. Halfway through my sophomore year, I dropped out.

What followed was an education of a different kind. I bussed tables, stacked lumber, cleaned up construction sites, and pushed wheelchairs at airports. I learned how to show up on time, do work I didn’t feel like doing, and feed myself on what I earned. Eventually, it dawned on me that I was never going to build the life I wanted without a degree — but this time, I’d be ready.

I enrolled at the University of Oregon and became a completely different student. I studied with genuine discipline, put my heart into every paper, and visited my professors during office hours. I graduated summa cum laude, won multiple prizes for writing, and served on the editorial board of the school newspaper — all while working four nights a week as a desk clerk at the local Best Western.

After graduating, I spent 14 years in education — first as a private tutor, then as a senior executive at Compass Education Group and other leading test prep firms. I built teams of advisors, trained instructors, and worked with hundreds of families across Los Angeles. But the students I couldn’t stop thinking about were the ones whose problems went deeper than test scores. The bright, capable kids who were stuck, anxious, or just going through the motions. I built Flourish for them.

I know what it feels like to have every advantage except the ability to use it. That’s why this work matters to me, and why it works.