I grew up watching my parents work tirelessly to build a better life for our family. They didn’t have corporate playbooks or mentors to guide them. They just worked harder than anyone else in the room.
That work ethic shaped me. But when I entered the corporate world, I quickly realized hard work alone wasn’t enough.
The path to leadership is deliberately opaque.
I was lucky. At 25, I landed my first break as a temporary contractor at Nike. Walking onto that campus, past posters of Jordan, Kobe and Serena, I was overwhelmed and determined to prove I belonged there.
I had one phenomenal boss who believed in me. She didn’t just give me assignments; she led by example with the right amount of empathy and high standard. She showed me how to show up in staff meetings, how to build relationships across departments, and how to present my work in a way that mattered to leadership.
It showed me the power of mentorship — that stayed with me.
That experience shaped everything I do now. I built a career at Nike, led global teams, and became a Chief Commercial Officer, leading strategy and transformation across multiple brands in a private equity environment. But I never forgot what it felt like to be 25, ambitious, and looking around for someone to tell me the truth about how this all works.
That’s why I built Work Lunch.
