01
The safest path is the most dangerous one.
I had the path laid out. Queen's Commerce. M&A investment banking at PJT Partners in New York. The next step was supposed to be private equity or B-school. Everyone around me
followed the playbook. I left because I realized the playbook was someone else's dream, not mine. The "safe" route felt like the biggest risk I could take because it meant spending my best years building someone else's vision. The real risk isn't leaving the path. It's staying on one that was never yours. The best time to chase your dreams was yesterday, and the next best time is right now.
02
Disconnect to perform.
The best ideas I've ever had didn't come from a 16-hour day at my laptop. They came on the basketball court, in the gym, time with friends, on a walk where I wasn't thinking about work at all. Stepping away isn't a break from building; it's part of building. Your brain needs space to connect the dots. Protect the time away so you show up sharper when it counts. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
03
Representation isn’t optional.
Where you come from and who you see around you shape what you believe is possible. I didn’t see enough people who looked like me in the spaces I wanted to be in, especially in finance. That’s a big part of why I founded the Smith Black Business Association at Queen’s, and later Blackleaf Capital, to bridge the gap for Black students across Canada interested in finance. Not just to create access, but to make those paths feel normal, visible, and attainable for the next generation coming up. Sometimes, seeing is believing.
