For me, re-entering the Vanderbilt community to find students and staff engaged in the study and practice of building businesses and impact organizations is exciting. When I left Vandy 20+ years ago, I never imagined that the university would offer a learning center for entrepreneurship. It’s very cool and I would like to be a part of it.

As mentor, I aim to help founders think critically about the problems they encounter: to question their assumptions, think creatively, and break problems down into manageable tasks. My subject-matter know-how is working with technology, operations, and security to create reasonable, economical solutions to business challenges.

My proudest moment is leaving a position at a company that grew from a startup to a mature business. I am proud that I was able to leave that position with the feeling that I helped create a positive work culture, systems and processes that could survive without me, and a stable business employing over 50 people.

As an advisor, I have been surprised by the range of backgrounds that people who start businesses have. It is heartening to see young people just out of college all the way through people after retirement take on the challenge of building an organization around an idea about which they are passionate.

Well, no. Knowing what I know now and doing it over again, I would take more career and business risks at a younger age. In 1999 I was living in San Francisco, being there at that time again I would do everything in my power to get a job at Google to watch the company’s growth from the inside.

I believe there are two important qualities for success; critical thinking and curiosity. The ability to challenge assumptions, use logic and reason, and empathy help us understand each other and how the world works. A strong interest in the how’s and why’s motivates us to keep looking for answers and understanding.

For a long time I wanted to be an astronaut. I spent a week at Space Camp when I was about 11.