My Story
Early Life
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Up until the age of ten, I lived in an apartment in the Canarsie neighborhood, and then we moved to a house in Marine Park — both communities that were tight-knit and working-class. My parents, Frank and Donna, were hardworking and devoted. They did their very best to provide a safe, loving, and happy life for me and my younger brother, Frank III — although, admittedly, they weren’t exactly original in the naming department.
My early years were full of warmth and structure, but then everything changed. Just shy of my fifteenth birthday, my mother died suddenly at the age of 38. Her death shattered the world I had known and sent me into what I later came to call “my lost years.”
Despite the pain, I still managed to achieve academically — graduating from high school with honors and earning a B.A. in Political Science, cum laude. But beneath the surface, I felt lost, unsure of what I was living for. I didn’t have any real goals beyond escaping into alcohol and drugs. I was drawn to books like The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises — stories about people drifting, numbing, living recklessly, much like I was.
All of this partying led to a breaking point, and in January 1994, I got clean and sober. Though I experienced a few drunken relapses along the way, I have not picked up drugs since that day in 1994. As of March 30, 2001, I have been continuously sober — a milestone that marks 24 years of recovery, healing, and transformation.
Career
At one point in my life, I was working as a computer technician — a role that eventually led to my first leadership position. I was put in charge of managing the computer systems at about half a dozen locations in Midtown Manhattan. That job was a breakthrough moment for me. It was the first time I got a taste of being in charge, making decisions, and seeing the ripple effect of my leadership. I was proud of what I accomplished — and I believe that experience planted the seeds of entrepreneurship in me.
Even then, I sensed there was more for me in this life. I’ve always believed in striving for better because of a deep knowing that growth is possible. I first began dabbling in self-help around 1988, when that term was still gaining ground. But it wasn’t until 2020 that I dove fully into the world of personal development and never looked back.
I fell in love with the material because it helped me get better — mentally, emotionally, spiritually. For much of my life, I felt like everyone else had been handed some secret manual on how to live… and I somehow missed the memo. Personal development became my manual. It gave me tools, awareness, and the confidence to not only transform my own life — but to guide others through their own transformation as a life coach.
Giving Back
My path to becoming a life coach wasn’t a straight line — it was a calling born out of lived experience, deep healing, and a desire to help others find their way back to themselves. After spending years in recovery, rebuilding my life from the inside out, I felt an undeniable pull to turn my pain into purpose.
Being someone who is constantly seeking inner-peace, greater awareness and self-growth, I now feel deeply called to support others on that same journey. I help them raise their awareness, one breakthrough at a time, and build lives grounded in self-trust, courage, and direction.
For me, giving back isn’t a side note — it’s the point. It’s about using my story to light the path for someone else, just as others once lit the way for me.
Personal Life
At the heart of my personal life is a deep desire to learn and grow. Books have always been companions on that journey — from childhood visits to the Grand Army Plaza Library in Brooklyn with my father, to today’s quiet afternoons immersed in reading. Libraries still feel sacred to me — places of refuge, possibility, and inspiration.
One of the most transformative chapters of my life began in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, where I was introduced to a God of my understanding — a loving power greater than myself. That spiritual awakening became the foundation of how I live today: with trust, surrender, and a belief that I am supported in becoming the best version of myself.
I now prioritize daily habits that nourish me, body and soul. I walk on my treadmill each day, and I follow a plant-based diet that aligns with both my values and my well-being. These choices reflect how much I’ve grown to honor and care for myself — not just physically, but spiritually, mentally and emotionally too.