I went through JA programming in middle school – tasked with starting a business, which I took very seriously at the time. My first foray (beyond lemonade stands) into entrepreneurship, my JA experience was instrumental in demystifying what it meant to start and run a company.

Fast forward twenty years, and today I run a business with over 50 employees, named one of the fastest growing in the USA, and just won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. It’s amazing what a small nudge in the right direction can lead to.