MORE ABOUT ME
​I fell in love with school and I fell in love with learning. Id never read a book in my adult life until that first semester when I turned 22.
I read The Alchemist and from that point on, I was in love with not only the book but what the book represented--the importance of following dreams.
Before I met my dad and after High School, I started singing in a metal band, In The Wake. My dream growing up had always been to be a touring professional musician--a rockstar. The band I started with my friends went on to play some big shows including Warped Tour in 2008 and we also had our music distributed through iTunes. There was something really incredible about seeing people sing the lyrics you wrote in your friend's basement. It was also pretty cool having people recognize me out in the regular world as the singer of the band.
It wasn't long after I'd met my dad that I came to realize that dreams can evolve and change.
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The band was set to go to New York City to record our first full-length album with an up-and-coming record label that produced music for popular TV shows on MTV like, The Hills and others.
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This was the next step in making our dreams turn to reality but some of the other band members got cold feet and began reasoning with recording the album in Pittsburgh rather than New York so as to keep the cost down--this was the beginning of the end.
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I knew then, even at that young age, the importance of connecting with the right people to take what you're doing to the next level. I realized that I was alone in this belief and we played our last show in Pittsburgh a few weeks after I had started my first college semester.
It wasn't an easy decision for me and my identity was entirely wrapped up in being the lead singer of my band. I knew I had this new found love for learning and education but was that what I was really supposed to begin pursuing?
We had the good fortune to play with a band at our last show that happened to be one of our biggest influences. Scary Kids Scaring Kids were incidentally on their farewell tour and we opened the show for them. They had a pretty impressive career being signed with Epic Records and touring the world--doing exactly what we all dreamed about doing. So, of course when I was talking with their keyboard player I asked why they were calling it quits. His answer shocked me.
He decided that he wanted to go back to school and pursue a different career.
It was absolute affirmation that I was also walking in the right direction. I was worried about giving up my band that almost made it to pursue education and here was this guy giving up his band that did make it to pursue education.
Throughout my undergraduate career, I saw new dreams being born within me. Dreams to write books, speak, and help people understand the dreams within their own hearts. ​
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I've had the beautiful opportunity within the last decade of my life to see my words influence and inspire change in people. I've seen the power of my story show others that their own story gives them strength. I've seen people take crazy action on their dreams and live their lives fully in a way that hadn't thought was possible.
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I write, speak, and coach to remind people that you're not as far away as you think you are... Success is just up ahead!
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