I love what I do, but it took a few career rewrites to get where I am. When I graduated from Cornell University in the early 1990s, I moved to Moscow, Russia and was hired as The New York Times Moscow bureau photographer. I spent the next few years criss-crossing Russia’s 11 time zones with some of the world’s best journalists. It was an incredible education.

I also loved the adrenaline. In October 1993 I pushed it too far. Covering a coup attempt I became trapped in a vicious gunfight and was shot through the chest. When I inhaled, air bubbled in through the hole in my side. I was the lucky one; 42 people died that night.

As I recovered, I realized I needed to recalibrate my career. I had been pushing my face into the ice bucket of far-flung adventure. It became clear that instead of chasing the day’s news, I wanted to build my own story–and document the story of those building the future around me. Opportunity was emerging throughout the Russian economy, so I co-founded three businesses in Russia and sold two of them to Kodak, our biggest investor. Based first in Russia, and then in  the US, Germany, Spain, and Kenya, I also wrote articles (nothing from combat zones!) for The New York Times and other publications about the entrepreneurs and scientists creating profound and long-term value.

It wasn’t until I moved back to the US full-time and graduated from Stanford Business School that I combined my passions of storytelling and entrepreneurship. I became head of communications at a few startups and then transitioned to independent consultant for strategic narrative development. I began teaching at USC. I told all of my students that there is no better early-career education than journalism, but long-term, nothing beats entrepreneurship for scalable, high-value impact.

I understand stories because I’ve created hundreds of them. I understand the opportunities and challenges that face young companies because I’ve co-founded four startups.

Are you working on something amazing? I can’t wait to meet you.