I went into the army, and, after a tough period of bootcamp, I trained as a signal core specialist. I was posted as an instructor and charged with training the army’s reserve force, which, in Israel, comprises most of the army’s soldiers.

By the time I was 20 years old, 20 soldiers served under me, and I was their direct commander (as a non-commissioned officer). That was a great experience and taught me quite a bit.

In the three years of mandatory military service, I was selected FIVE times as Exceptional Soldier for different groups—the brigade, the corps, and even the whole army.

Later, I studied Industrial and Managerial Engineering at Tel Aviv University, where I was on the Dean’s List as a top student. Later, I completed my Computer Science degree Summa Cum Laude.

I’m not telling you these things to impress you but rather to let you know that I’ve been striving for excellence for quite a long time. I want to do everything to the best of my ability. 

When I came to the US and built my life from scratch, struggling as an immigrant and refusing to accept any favors from the government (healthcare, housing, unemployment or anything else), I never thought that within a few years, I’d have articles written by me on CNN and in Huffington Post and that I’d work with legends like Kevin Harrington from “Shark Tank” and the great NBA champion, “Magic” Johnson.

I’ve achieved my career goal—to work with people I want to work with.