I was born in Patagonia and I am very proud of my Argentine heritage (we won the World Cup!) As a child, I loved nature so much I would camp in our backyard on the weekends. When I was in high school, my father was transferred to Norway for work. There I was exposed to the mountains in a profound way – I got to ski after school and hike in the fjords on the weekends. I was hooked on nature deeply and the experience would shape my love for adventure for the rest of my life.I built a successful study abroad company that I boot strapped out of a garage. For the first few years, I slept on a mattress on the floor, paying $200 a month on rent. In 15 years, over 10,000+ US university students studied abroad through our company. I managed 45+ employees, with 5 offices in 5 countries. I was in my 20s, CEO of a successful company, receiving validation from the entire world and our company was voted the number #1 program in the industry twice #humblebrag … I felt like I was on top of the world. 

But I was working 70 hours a week and though I didn’t know it at the time, my fuel source was the fear from my childhood traumas – physical and emotional abuse I thought I could outrun. Even though I studied Buddhism, meditated daily, was a health nut, and taught yoga, I was always running, always sprinting through life. And I learned the hard way that running from your traumas is a very powerful fuel source, but it is not sustainable – the fuel runs out and in the end you pay the piper. 

Instead of doing drugs, extreme exercise was my drug of choice. 200+ mile hikes in the Sierra Nevadas, climbing El Capitan, playing soccer for endless hours and maybe afterwards smoking weed and watching porn until I was numb and could no longer feel anything. What did this do? It only exacerbated my anxiety and added even more stress to my life. It didn’t work. Not only did I not have the capacity to put my traumas into words, but I did not even know that they were deeply rooted in my subconscious and they ran my life.

I hit “rock bottom” when a few days away from a multiple million dollar  sale of my 15 year business – the deal fell apart because of Covid. I ended up losing the entire company without getting a penny and a few months later a 14 year relationship with one of the most amazing women that ever walked the earth came to an end.