Honestly, it isn’t one lightning-bolt moment. It’s a mighty group of people who remind me every day why I’m here: nonprofit leaders, Fool community members, and my own teammates.

It’s the moment when a nonprofit leader we’ve backed, someone who is an expert on the issue and close to the community they serve, tells us the IF Fund partnership changed their trajectory, not just their bank account.

It’s also the quieter, cumulative moments: watching the Freedometer team continue to pour their hearts and minds into a tool that has already started moving people toward financial freedom, reading a subscriber’s story, or simply being reminded that we’re building on something David started years ago.

It’s the belief that doing well and doing good can go hand in hand, stretching all the way back to Foolanthropy and Fool School. Those people, stories, and moments are what remind me why I’m here.

My first job was as a hostess and waitress at IHOP while I was in high school.

My parents taught me one habit that has stayed with me for life: always keep an emergency “bucket.” That simple idea got me into the rhythm of saving early, even before I understood much else about money.

Beyond that, my real education came later through life, school, and especially The Motley Fool. That’s where the saving habit my parents gave me evolved into something bigger: learning how to put that saved money to work through investing.

It’s less about one person teaching me everything and more about building on a foundation, one lesson at a time.