I was born in Houston, Texas, and still call Houston home today. My path into blockchain began as an early adopter of Bitcoin during the Silk Road era and later experimenting with smart contracts when Ethereum first appeared. Those experiences opened my eyes to the potential of decentralized technology long before it was widely understood.

Professionally, I built a career in healthcare, a field that taught me the values of service, trust, and resilience. I also spent a short time in teaching before returning to healthcare, but throughout these roles I couldn’t ignore a growing obsession with blockchain and what it could become.

With the help of friends, countless late nights, and a determination that couldn’t be denied, I began teaching myself how to code. I wasn’t trained formally, but I immersed myself in the tools, languages, and communities that made blockchain tick. That hands-on journey shaped me not only as a developer but as a builder who sees technology as a way to solve problems that matter.

Between healthcare jobs, I asked a simple but powerful question: What if blockchain could be more than speculation? What if it could be used for good? Out of that vision came Olive Branch Network — a project born in Houston with the goal of proving that blockchain can be both sustainable and charitable, turning every transaction into an opportunity for positive impact.