A Dream on a Paper Napkin
Born in Czechoslovakia, I used to paint as a child. Traveling with my father across Europe, I got accustomed to bringing my pen and paper and paintbrushes, recreating a world I had envisioned. As an adult I found myself writing people’s conversations on cocktail napkins in NYC where I grew up.
My dream of becoming a writer came to fruition during the Iraq War of 2011, and the thought of traveling to the Middle East as a journalist.
To most family and friends, going into a conflict zone was the most silliest of all ideas.
Into the War Zone
With no formal education, and against my parents wishes I arrived to to Beirut, Lebanon at the tail end of The Iraq War and at the beginning of another catastrophic event: Arab Spring, protests and revolutions in the Arab world. My career as a professional news writer unfolded at a local daily newspaper where I captured the stories of political and social unrest. Little did I know that matters would only get worse.
Going undercover in Syria and Iraq opened a new world to me, one in which complexities of culture, religion, and economies shaped new human rights discourse.
Coming Home
In the midst of it all, my brother called to invite me to his college graduation. It was time to come home and apply for positions with news networks. With no luck or clear direction, my mother had steered me in the direction of pursuing a master’s degree.
New Direction
While it had been 10 years since I had taken a math class, I told myself that pursuing a degree at a technical school would be the best way to focus on public policy. I took my chances with applying for yet another scholarship with the Posse Foundation which had granted me full-tuition to college. After three exams and two rejections, I received a partial tuition coverage for Carnegie Mellon University, home to Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
It was at this school that ignited my passion for emerging technologies and entrepreneurship. I helped launch the Metrolab Network, a startup that deployed robotics and IoT solutions from research labs to cities for beta testing. We grew to over 30 public and private partnerships in less than 10 months; receiving recognition from President Obama and funding from the White House.
Next, I started my consulting agency, Through the Changing Glass, LLC to position startups for capital raise in Silicon Valley; pitching to 50+ VC’s and Angels from Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital to DFJ and Sand Hill Angels.
The Road Ahead
I love being a woman in tech, specifically a thought leader in the financial technology sector that is driven by some of the world’s top creatives, contrarians and collaborators. As a founding team member of PitchInvestorsLive.com, the successful sale of our cryptocurrency ‘PITCH’ listing us on one of the top ten exchanges proved to me that the demand for virtual “crypto” currencies was growing.
For women to capitalize on the many opportunities in this space, I launched a media and consulting agency in London to highlight the work of early stage companies worldwide. We interviewed over 100 thought leaders and influencers from the studios of top exchanges in the world including, NASDAQ, London, and Gibraltar. It was awesome to get to speak at over two dozen events and conferences including, the World Economic Forum, London Fintech Week, Women in Blockchain, and many others.
Each morning I think to myself, “Why not? Here is my shot.”
The Power of Words
Words are magical; they persuade. A world is built. And the characters come alive”.
As a copywriter, ghostwriter, and novelist, the hardest challenge is to distill complicated ideas into simple language. I’ve worked with engineers and creative professionals who want to get their point across, and invariably their ideas are best explained through a narrative story. Crafting a story is art.
Its craftsmanship and the same principles of storytelling apply. The simple process comes down to this: begin with a concept, put it on paper, work with the structure, tweak the writing until it’s right, then revise over and over again until the tone and style feel right. A structure to a story is like a recipe for the cake. It’s logical yet intuitive.
It’s nothing new. Just Storytelling 101.
Whether you are editing a technical document or writing a novel, I am here to help.