My father was my first role model. Growing up, I proudly watched on as he owned and operated multiple successful businesses. In my young eyes, he exemplified, through his consistency, resilience, and determination, what it meant to succeed. With very few Black men taking calculated risks to do what he was doing in his day, he became my blueprint.

Strategically, he set up his businesses in locations that were easily accessible to the pockets of Black communities in the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods. He used his presence to provide access to affordable services to those who needed them most. Bearing witness to such demonstrable acts undoubtedly sowed the very same philanthropic seeds within me.

After regrettably misjudging a business partnership, my father lost everything he’d worked so hard for. To save me from what she believed to be an environment unbefitting for her young son, my mother and I left my childhood home. From there, we would end up in the less-than-desirable neighborhoods in DC and Maryland. As dire as it was, it kickstarted my instincts to hustle hard for the life I envisioned for myself. There’s a different level of grind that’s ignited in you when you have nothing – from experiencing the pang of hunger because you’ve had to decide whether the paycheck will cover food or rent, to living in a dilapidated, roach-filled building with no front door – you’re just trying to survive and sustain yourself on the bare minimum. While my mother ensured that there was always a little something for us to eat, the life we’d left behind was a far cry from what we endured almost immediately after my father’s business went bust. I opted then to take business into my own hands.