My Story
My passion for leadership started in fourth grade. I went to a volleyball camp with a friend and not only fell in love with the sport, but I met a coach who completely changed my life.
At the end of the week, he approached my mom and said he wanted to train me as he believed I could become a great player. I was nine years old and couldn’t understand what he possibly saw in me. I wasn’t the best on the court, but I knew one thing: I wanted to play for someone who believed in me and was invested in my future.
That moment began a 13-year journey that led to a Division I scholarship at the University of Virginia. But it wasn’t the championships or trophies that shaped me most. It was that coach. Over 34 years, he won 21 state titles, seven undefeated seasons, and maintained a 92.7% winning percentage. But what set him apart wasn’t the record, it was his ability to lead.
He created a vision that inspired us to push for greatness and earned our trust by knowing us as people, not just players. He took a team of high achievers and turned us into a cohesive, selfless, unstoppable unit.
Truly influential leaders create a feeling.
They’re compelling. People listen when they speak, lean on them in moments that matter, and pull them into challenges because they know that leader will make them better.
That was my first glimpse of true leadership, the kind that inspires commitment, not just performance. He became the model for the leader I aspired to be.
Fast forward nineteen years, and I was leading my first team. I imagined leading with the same impact my coach once had on me, but quickly realized leadership wasn’t that simple. You don’t become influential just because you have “Manager” in your title.
By all external measures, I was successful, but I wasn’t a leader I would have wanted to work for. Coming from a strong sales background, I led through KPIs and intensity. My intentions were good and my effort relentless, but something was missing.
Like many first-time leaders, I defaulted to micromanagement—jumping in when my people struggled. It wasn’t who I wanted to be.
That was the start of my real leadership journey, the shift from managing results to developing people. I studied great leaders, attended development programs, and applied everything I learned. However, the biggest transformation came when I realized leadership isn’t just about skill. Yes, skills matter, but they’re only half the equation.
Leadership is about who we are. It’s being grounded in our identity, intentional in how we show up, and measured in how we lead. Once I defined who I wanted to be as a leader and set the standards I would hold myself to, everything changed.
I focused on what mattered most—my people. I learned how to flex my style to bring out the best in each person, deliver value in every interaction, and coach my team to higher levels of performance. As a result, the team was more engaged, more accountable, and deeply committed to our mission. We hit goals that once felt out of reach, and when we faced setbacks, we rallied to come back stronger.
I learned that leadership has nothing to do with titles. It’s about becoming the kind of leader others want to follow.
While management skills are essential, you’ll always leave potential on the table if you’re driven only by goals and metrics. When you shift from managing outcomes to inspiring them—and invest in your people, believe in them, and bring out their best, you unlock extraordinary results and build teams that want to win together.
