I came to analysis from an unusual direction. At 19 I flew to Bariloche, Argentina to train for an Austrian Level 2 ski instructor qualification, then spent four months teaching and living in Niseko, Japan. It was the best year of my life, and three weeks after I got home to start university, Australia went into full Covid lockdown. The whiplash taught me something I've leaned on ever since: I'm at my best when I'm stepping into something unfamiliar and giving it structure. I find that genuinely satisfying.
Growing up across Houston, Chicago, and eight years in and around New York City before moving to Australia at 13 taught me early that places operate differently, and that paying attention to that difference is an advantage. That's also why I love languages. I think the fastest way to understand a place is to try to speak its language, even badly, and actually talk to people. It changes how you see your own place in the world and what you think you're capable of. English and Spanish are native, German is professional.
Moving from Sydney to Melbourne for my master's was deliberate. I wanted out of my comfort zone, so I put the full weight of adult life on myself at once: bills, budgeting, a household, the job search. It was hard and I learned things I didn't know I needed to. It made me more honest, clearer, and steadier. Skiing and surfing feel like the same sport to me now: read the environment, commit to the line, adjust in real time. That instinct, and the curiosity that comes from moving a lot, keeps pulling me toward the intersection of business, language, and culture, and eventually toward strategy consulting at a global level.
