I'll be the first to admit, I know I look like A LOT of people who apply to business school. Straight, white, male. In finance. My differentiation is I had a winding path to get where I am today.

Post high school, I took 2 gap years prior to college to serve an LDS mission in Japan. I am still fluent in Japanese.

When I began undergrad, I was a political science major. A short internship at a law firm (in Tokyo) helped me realize that wasn't exactly right for me. I became curious about the stock market and investing and switched my major to economics.

While in school I worked various (3) jobs and didn't have time to put the effort in to getting a fancy banking internship, although I knew that is what I wanted to do. After graduating, I landed at Citibank in the commercial banking devision on the energy desk in Houston. I worked hard, received a lot of responsibility as an Analyst, and after 18 months was able to leverage that experience into a private equity role.

I came from relatively humble beginnings - I grew up in a town with less than 1500 people - Fall City, Washington - where most people stayed and no one knew what investment banking or private equity was. I have been blessed (and lucky) to get to where I am today, so I try to give back where I can. I volunteer with two organizations, Operation HOPE, and SERJobs in Houston, both dedicated to financial literacy and providing opportunities for underprivelaged communities.

I want to get an MBA to springboard into a megafund - the Carlyles and KKRs of the world. Eventually, I want to start my own fund, and having an MBA accelerates that plan.