Formative High School Years ♟️
While most people peak later in life, I (joke that I) peaked in high school. High School were formative years that led to my professional careers and personal passion.
In High School, I joined our local chess team. In the winter, when there was a break between soccer & tennis seasons, I wanted to stay after school to do an activity. My friend, Chad, recruited me to come out to Chess Club. Little did I know, that day would change my life.
Chess taught me three core things:
How to Learn - I went from barely knowing how to play to beating the top players in the state within a year. How to Lead - I recruited players from sports’ teams and helped coach them to being the top players. Once recruited, I focus on making sure they had the resources to succeed. The Benefits of Social Media/Marketing - Chess is normally a dull & uncool game, however, I realized how important it was to build a strong brand to be successful. We won the Illinois High School State Championship, placed top five in the nation multiple times, and soon had the #1 player in the country (now well-known, Eric Rosen).