Sacramento, California, United States
I think a lot about generational wealth. My work leading TenYour helps Middle-Class professionals pursue it by building a Safety Net that provides financial stability despite rampant job instability in the age of A.I. Over the years, my work has led me to become one of the only Black tech founder-CEOs in history to raise more than $5 million in startup funding, initially without Silicon Valley VCs, then I started building a mission-driven fintech and partnered with some of the most respected and best emerging managers VCs who share our values. I have built communities that have spanned the globe (Localeur), industries ranging from travel to fashion (SXSW), and helped brands (FedEx) and nonprofits (March of Dimes) better communicate and relate to their customers, employees and users through community building and storytelling. When I was a senior in high school, I won the National March of Dimes Scholarship while serving as the District President of Future Business Leaders of America so my understanding that business and purpose go hand-in-hand to create impact goes back decades. As a communications practitioner and executive counselor, I have had the privilege of servicing companies and organizations such as FedEx, Volkswagen, the PAC-12 Conference, Northrop Grumman, TNTP, The Guild, Memphis City Schools, Motorola and Southwest Airlines. I have also had the privilege of serving on the boards for several major Texas-based nonprofit organizations and advising the Mayor of Austin, ESPN X Games, South by Southwest Festival, and the Beijing Olympics on various issues over the years. As a speaker, I truly enjoy delighting audiences all over the country with compelling tales of going from a childhood of food stamps to gracing the TED stage, speaking with brands like lululemon, Nike and Amazon and rubbing elbows with the CEO of Apple.
We provide peace of mind and financial stability to professionals during a time of unprecedented job instability and layoffs. Job instability is the #1 threat to a Middle Class Americans ability to create generational wealth. Lack of savings, increased credit card debt, early 401K withdrawals. With TenYour, these professionals - and their employers - can mitigate the negative financial challenges of layoffs. Being strapped for cash no longer means being strapped for compassion. Being out of a job no longer means being off track for wealth creation. Visit TenYour.com today. We’re proudly backed by Precursor Ventures, Cake Ventures, Swizzle Ventures, FullCircle Fund, City Light Capital, Sacramento Angels, Battery Road Digital, Growth Factory, Red Sails Investments and Play Money. One of 5 selected for the 2025 Northwestern Mutual Accelerator, one of four selected for the People+Tech Partners Growth Program in 2026 and we are humbled to be one of 12 selected by Praxis for their 2026 Business Cohort.
Most recently ran the California International Marathon in 2:58 and paced a friend to a top 30 finish @ Gorge 100K (Aug 2025). Dating back to my middle school years, I've been a competitive distance runner. I've done too many 5Ks and 10Ks to count, but also done several half marathons (1:24 PR), marathons including Boston (2:56, 2025), Eugene (3:00, 2024), Big Sur (2018; 3:35) and Baltimore (2008, 3:14) and - most recently - become an ultramarathoner by placing 3rd at the Austin Falls Ultra 50K (2023, 5:08), top 10 at the Salmon Falls 50K (2024, 5:08) and PRing at Marin Ultra Challenge 50K two weeks later (5:02). My greatest running achievement is keeping this thing going for nearly 30 years, but my greatest racing achievement is doing the nation's oldest ultramarathon - JFK 50.2 mile race in 2023 & 2024 - in under 8 hours and placing in the top 100 in my first try at the distance.
In this role, I provide expertise - typically directly to / for CEOs and founders - in startup formation, fundraising from friends and family to early-stage VCs, corporate communications, media relations, PR, events and experiential marketing, social media, internal communications, storytelling, thought leadership development, crisis communications and public affairs. Previous speaking audiences/clients have included: lululemon, Nike, Amazon, Facebook, TechStars, Capital Factory, Retailmenot, McCombs School of Business (moderator and in-class guest lecturer), South by Southwest (moderator for multiple panels), Tech808 Conference, Bolt Conference, St. Andrews Episcopal School, Pursuit Creative Conference, American Society of Association Executives, Wharton Business School, National Black Law Students Association, Delta Sigma Phi Leadership Summit, National Forum for Black Public Administrators Central Texas Chapter, African-American Boys & Girls Harvest Foundation, St. Edward's University, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Austin Music Memorial 2011 ceremony, the University of Texas at Austin and Teach for America classrooms around the country. Writing and offering comments for stories by various outlets including Inc. Magazine, Financial Times, San Francisco Gate, Huffington Post, PopSugar, Texas Observer, Austin American-Statesman, Austin Monthly, New York Times (online), and others. Consulting on all things community building, fundraising, marketing, PR, and social media. Past clients have included Memphis City Schools, FedEx, Doritos, BP, Deep Eddy Vodka, The Guild, Peoplism, TNTP, Convey, Supply Drop, Petal, Aerion, and Lustre Pearl.
Localeur's mission was to help people experience local wherever they go; we've helped more than 7 million travelers do just that. Subscribe at Localeur.com to discover and share the best local places to eat, drink and play in more than 200 cities around the world from New York and LA to Sydney and London to Mexico City and Cape Town. We generate revenue through partnerships with brands like Nike, Match.com, Lyft, RVShare, Timberland and JetBlue Airways to provide recommendations for dozens of destinations around the country along with an affiliate partnership with Tablet Hotels to provide access to their global network of the best boutique hotels and various local advertising with brands like Uber, HotelTonight, Tito's Vodka and Bonobos over the years. Unlike travel guides or review sites, Localeur focuses on authentic recommendations from locals. We have raised $6M from angel investors including Heather Brunner, CEO of WP Engine, Blake Chandlee, VP of Global Partnerships for Facebook, Brett Hurt (founder of Bazaarvoice), Tyson Tuttle (CEO of Silicon Labs), Clayton Christopher (founder of Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka), Joe Ross (co-founder of CS Identity), and Steve Pamon, Head of Sports & Entertainment Marketing, JPMorganChase. We have, quite frankly, the most diverse and a robust network of angel investors for an early-stage consumer startup in Austin in recent history which includes members of Central Texas Angel Network, Alamo Angels, Houston Angel Network, Cowtown Angels, Rio Grande Valley Angels, VPG Asia. Named the best new startup in Austin for 2013 by Austin Monthly, an A-Lister by SXSW Interactive and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and a top travel app by TIME, Travel & Leisure, The Guardian, Forbes, The Today Show and countless others.
Contributing writer for Inc. online.