The day I was born, I was taken away from my biological mother and placed into foster care. I was there for a year before the luckiest day of my life — I was adopted by the person who became my true mother.
She was a single mother who built a successful business from scratch and raised three adopted kids, including me. She taught us strong family values, and some of my favorite memories involved listening to Dr. Laura Schlesinger with her on the drive to and from school. Dr. Laura would bring people on her show to talk about family issues, and we would often discuss them at the dinner table.
Before Day One, I started my career in an unusual way. I was in a physics PhD program. Then I spent time at a hedge fund. Then I spent a decade in tech, data science, and AI. Yet throughout this time, I never felt fulfilled.
Then my daughter Lumen was born. This put me, literally, in touch with the values and principles I'd been raised with. I didn't grow up with a father or a father figure, and that void created a deeply held desire to be a great dad one day. I would lie awake at night dreaming of the kind of father I wish I had, and how I could become someone like that. Lumen is now allowing me to live this dream. Her arrival also gave me firsthand experience of the hard challenges parents face once their child is born, and I started taking seriously devoting myself to helping other parents.
Then the following year, my mother unexpectedly passed away. The grieving process for me was surreal, having lost my only parent and the most important influence in my life. Right before she passed away, she was asked what she wanted to be known for, and she said “a great mother.” This blinding clarity showed me that even for a successful businesswoman who influenced so many lives, in the end what mattered most to her was her family — the impact she had on my sister, brother, and, yes, me. It was reminder that the very person I am today is a result of the wonderful home environment she built.
Day One was created to pay forward my mother's understanding of how our home environment is the most important factor in shaping who we become.