I Wanted to Make a Difference by Building in a Different Way.

My parents were incredible. Hardworking and resilient immigrants. They built a successful restaurant in Lake Charles, Louisiana from nothing. I have enormous respect for what they accomplished.

But somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't want to replicate their path. I wanted to be different. I wanted to make a difference by building a business in a different way. 

They built a traditional business and I watched them struggle with HR issues. I wanted to build a business that served the people in it.

They ran everything through sheer grit and willpower. I wanted to build something with systems that could outlast any one person.

They kept their finances close to the vest, the way most entrepreneurs do. I wanted radical transparency. Open books. Shared understanding of every dollar.

This isn't a criticism of how they did things. They did what they knew. They did what worked for their generation, their circumstances, their world.

But every generation gets to choose. And I chose differently.

That choice showed up in everything we did.  In becoming a certified B Corp. In spending years teaching my team personal financial literacy before we ever opened the company's books. In choosing an Employee Ownership Trust over private equity. In founding the Ripples of Impact nonprofit.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs feel this tension. You love and respect the people who inspired you, but you also see things you want to do differently. And that's not betrayal. That's evolution.

If you're building something right now and you feel that pull to do it your own way, even if it doesn't match what your mentors or your parents or your industry says you should do, trust that instinct.

Being different isn't about rejecting where you came from. It's about honoring it by building something even better for the people who come next.