I grew up in an everyday secular life in the United States. I always knew I wanted to go into business, just was not sure what sort of business to start. So I did the most logical thing and got my accounting degree so I could learn the language of business. I started with Ernst and Young as an auditor, then transitioned to the Mergers and acquisitions team while getting my CPA and MBA. I worked there for six years and while there, I realized after I put on weight how good I felt now that I was regularly exercising and eating right. 

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Now with a lot of energy and feeling great, someone asked me to help them get in shape, and that led to my whole team wanting to get healthy during the busy season, which is impossible. The team followed my instructions, and everyone lost weight and started feeling better. I read a quote from a news publication about my team and the team member who initially asked for help was quoted about our health challenge. She said something like “I feel so great, I have more energy and I feel so much better about myself as well.” Then I realized, wow, this is something special and I wanted to help people with this. I got my personal trainers certification, lifestyle and weight management certification, TRX certification and jumped right in while I was working a full-time job. After helping a lot of people, I noticed that people were starting to go back to their old habits. It annoyed me, and I was thinking what was the point of all the hard work just to go backwards?

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After reading Man’s Search for Meaning and doing a lot of internal work, I realized this, without meaning or purpose in one's life, no change will last. The person doesn’t fully understand what makes them unique or special. They don’t realize they are in this world because they have a unique mission. So fast forward, after Ernst & Young, I helped a company go public, and my goal was that once they filed the paperwork successfully, I would start my own business. Then, I drove to Arizona, where my brother lived, and worked on entrepreneurial ventures, and while selling a program I taught on entrepreneurship, I was sold on Judaism. I couldn’t believe the breadth and depth of our religion. And while I learned everything I could outside of Judaism, I realized not only everything I learned here, but way more. I had much work to do, but once I started learning, nothing could stop me. It was definitely uncomfortable for me, and one of my favorite sayings is you first have to become uncomfortable to then become comfortable.

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So I did a summer Yeshiva program and kept learning. While I had support, I wish I had much more with people going through the same journey. Extremely motivated, looking to always get better, and a community of like-minded people. It was definitely not easy, and there were a lot of challenges along the way, but the more I learned and grew, the more confident I became. I thought becoming observant was going to hamper my business dreams and not only did it not hamper them, Judaism made them much more rewarding. I started my baal teshuva journey when I was 31 and now with over 10 years of experience, getting married, having kids, running successful businesses, starting over, growing a beard and much more, I can say I’m living and growing daily.

 

I’m a student of goal accomplishing, creating positive habits and becoming as efficient as possible. I’ve created programs for creativity, focusing, money and budgeting, time management, goal accomplishing, purpose statement, visualization, creating game plans, health plans (exercise and diet), and much more. I know I’m here to share my journey and what I learned along the way and that is precisely why I’m creating Only Up. A community of Go-Getters, looking to change the world through each person’s unique purpose. 

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