I was born in Latvia, a small country with a complicated past — and my own childhood reflected that. At age 4, I was placed in an orphanage where I stayed until I was nearly 12. Life inside those walls wasn’t what most people imagine when they hear the word "childhood." It was survival — pure and simple.

 

By the age of 8, I was smoking cigarettes. By 9, drinking. Fighting was normal. Emotional support was non-existent. Trauma, abuse, and loneliness became part of my daily reality. Nights were the hardest — staring out the window, wondering if there was any way out of the hell I was living in.

 

And then… I left everything behind.

 

I came to America, alone and confused, with no understanding of the language, culture, or how to just be human in this strange new world. I had to relearn everything — how to communicate, how to trust, how to survive without fighting every moment. I didn’t have a family waiting for me. I had to build one. I didn’t have guidance. I had to find my own way.

 

What I did have was a spark — the same spark that kept me alive all those years when it would’ve been easier to give up. That spark turned into grit. That grit turned into purpose. And that purpose became the foundation of the business I run today.

 

Today, I’m a business owner not because I was born into opportunity — but because I refused to stay stuck in my past. I turned my pain into fuel. I used my trauma as a map, not a prison. And I want others to know that where you start is never where you have to end up.

 

I built something out of nothing.

And I’m just getting started.