LC: Ms. Szolodko was my AP US History and AP European History teacher, sophomore year and junior year, respectively. She inspired me to broaden my history knowledge and to always question established dogma.

LC: I played soccer at the Upper School. I also dabbled in French Club, Geography Club, track and field and cross-country.

LC: The fact that being organized and studious was not a means to an end, but something that would help me throughout high school, college and beyond.

LC: “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley

LC: Brown University

LC: Commerce, Organization, and Entrepreneurship: Business Economics Track

LC: Bilingual translator at a pop music radio station in Caracas, Venezuela.

LC: I have always wanted to help. I have been looking how to apply myself to the betterment of others my whole life. There are two main reasons for this desire. First, I come from both a very privileged background and a very unequal country, Venezuela. I have always felt duty-bound to help those less privileged. Second, my paternal family suffers from mental health issues and a strain of alcoholism runs through my maternal family.

Given this background, I was eager to make a difference. I worked diligently in various companies, growing and learning. I got a professional MBA from the University of Miami and kept bolstering my managerial bona fides. Then, my cousin had a manic episode in Miami. I am bipolar, so his family contacted me for help. I took him to Jackson Behavioral. He was now safe. The new problem: what to do after discharge from the hospital. His family and I scoured the internet and referral networks to figure out where my cousin could receive help. The options were either a residential setting or outpatient. I knew from experience that the former was super expensive, and the latter did not work most of the time. I knew there had to be a better option.

That is when it occurred to me to create a center specializing in helping patients being discharged from the hospital. A center with therapists, social workers, family therapists, coaches, psychiatrists and more. So, I quit my job at a multinational media company and set out to realize my vision. In the exit interview with the CEO, he introduced me to Alfredo Hernandez, my current business partner. After a few meetings, I bought half his practice. Then, with a business plan in hand, we raised funds and opened a new center in South Miami. Alfredo and I set out to become the premier Community Mental Health Center in Miami-Dade County serving both mental health and substance abuse.

LC: Noticing patients a month or two after starting therapy with Improving Lives and seeing a completely different person. A patient that came in sullen and detached, is now happy, confident, and approachable.

LC: The fact that we are helping others, be it in a large or in a small way. Everything counts.

LC: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss

LC: God’s Not Dead, by Rice Broocks