November 4, 2019

Passions outside of work:

“I’m running the marathon for Mercy Home, so I spend a lot of time running. I also play a lot of tennis and I also enjoy scuba diving. Most recently I went diving in Thailand, but my favorite spot to dive so far has been Grand Cayman – it’s some of the best water I’ve ever seen.”

Most influential person growing up:

“It’s my grandfather on my mom’s side. Most of my memories of him are through my mom – my entire life I’ve been constantly reminded how much I remind my mom of her dad. And a lot of that goes down to work ethic and personality. I admire him for everything that he achieved, and just the constant reminder of it through my mom has always had a significant impact on how I do things, even to this day. He was a business owner – trust, integrity – you name it, those are all values that he held. And to have my mom say that I remind her of him is a big honor.

Finding Mercy Home:

“It was actually through a Google search. It was in 2010 and I was working at a trading firm, and I was just feeling very down about my job and not feeling like there was a big contribution to society – so I started looking for ways to get involved. And I didn’t want to be just a board member where they have 5,000 members; I didn’t want something that would just be a $50 contribution every year. I was looking for something that required commitment, and when I first was introduced to Mercy Home, they said that, at the time, you had to be involved with Mercy Home for two years before you could apply for the board. So, I thought that was pretty neat, and I ended up tutoring for probably three or four years – but just having that commitment of weekly interaction with the kids and making an impact with my time was really important to me.”

Favorite part about Mercy Home’s mission:

“Every kid deserves a chance to go on and be successful, and that shouldn’t be predicated on the environment that they were raised in. And Mercy Home spends a lot of time on the cognitive behavior and development of these kids, and I think that’s where the success in their future years comes from.”

Proudest accomplishment:

“That would be my CFA designation – chartered financial analyst. And it’s a series of three exams, but to pass all three exams – the pass rate is like 20% — it took me five years to do, but it is one of the things that I have put the most amount of time into. And there were failures along the way, which I think made the accomplishment that much more enjoyable. That’s definitely something that I worked the hardest on in my entire life.”