I was born in Los Angeles, California, into a military family. While my father served in Vietnam, we lived in Kansas and later at various bases around the U.S. A benefit of growing up on military bases was the extremely multicultural communities, as service members had taken wives from all over the world. Many of the base housing neighborhood kids were of mixed ethnicities and cultures. I left home at age 17 to join the military, a decision that eventually led me to the Far East. My time there was transformative, exposing me to new cultures, languages, and ways of life. It was a challenging yet rewarding experience that shaped my worldview and instilled in me a sense of resilience and adaptability. When I turned 50, I made a life-changing decision to attend college. It was a journey of self-discovery and perseverance, earning a Liberal Arts Associates degree at age 53, a Bachelor of Business degree at age 57, and, in 2018, an MBA at age 60 (after which I began writing books). And at 63, I added a new skill to my repertoire-I became a certified scuba diver.Read more about this authorRead less about this author