I’m a 29 year old entrepreneur obsessed with crypto, traveling, baby animals and Whataburger. (Texas Girl!) I wasn’t always a crypto-head, in fact two years ago my savings account was closer to my shoe size, and I had a dismal understanding of economics. Luckily I found crypto, or rather crypto found me!
My dear friend, and then new co-worker Andres J. Gonzalez (Andy) introduced me to crypto and blockchain in 2014. He was known around the office as the “bitcoin guy”. I can still hear the groans of the entire staff whenever the word “bitcoin” was mentioned. Andy and I would chat about the concepts and history of bitcoin when we were on breaks in the coffee lounge. In fact, he gave me my first satoshi of bitcoin in exchange for using my coffee creamer. Naturally I did what most people do the first time someone tries to explain bitcoin, I ignored it.
In early 2015 I began considering entrepreneurship. One of my first testimonial clients was the San Antonio Crypto Network, a crypto education group founded by Andy and his housemate and business partner Alex Eaton. In late 2015 I took the plunge into consulting. Starting a business is expensive ya’ll, downsizing was necessary. Alex happened to have a room for rent available, so I moved in mid 2016. Walking into Alex’s house has a Disneyland meets Microsoft vibe. I was living with a life-size Doctor Who TARDIS™, virtual reality system in place of a dining room table, and a giant dog named Banana. Needless to say it was a huge change and a bit unconventional. Definitely one of the coolest experiences of my life!
As a new roommate, and someone who worked from home I was submersed it this new crypto-world. There was never a dull moment with Alex shouting bitcoin’s newest all time high daily and listening in on the live interviews of their crypto podcast: B Libre Podcast. This house, my new home, quickly became the Bitcoin House; an incubator of crypto nuts.
After a botched attempt at relocating to New York City at the start of 2017, I was welcomed back to the Bitcoin House. I’m so grateful to have friends who helped pick me up when I was down. I threw myself into Alex’s new project and with the help of many people came the Bitcoin Beginner Box in May of 2017, a cryptocurrency starter kit for newbies and tool for local bitcoin educators. Assisting in the BBB launch at the Collision Conference is one of my proudest moments to date.
My crypto journey lead me to joining Ubitquity, LLC. a blockchain real-estate recording SaaS platform, with Marina Reznik, The Crypto Realtor and Nathan Wosnack, CEO. I was captured by their passion in Episode 20. Crypto Topography (Ft.Ubitquity/Bitland of the B Libre! Podcast. Together we launched the next phase of Ubitquity at the National Association of REALTORS® The Sky’s the Limit Conference & Expo, where Nathan Wosnack, CEO was featured in the Blockchain in the Future of Real Estate NAR panel.
As my interest in crypto has grown, I’ve joined many Facebook groups and communities, my personal favorites are are Crypto Coin Trader by Joe Blackburn, Cryptoholics by Maple Sohrab Sohrabi and Milos Materazzi as well as The Crypt0’s News Group by Omar Bham. I look to Bitcoin Ben, and Wannipha Buakaew (Crypto Jen) for great resources and live crypto-news updates. These groups and individuals have been safe havens for my curiosity and growing cryptocurrency knowledge. I am always looking for new groups and communities, please pass on any you feel I should know about!
I have been lucky enough to be mentored and taught by the some of the best people in the crypto space. The individuals mentioned all deserve to be recognized for meeting my questions and concerns with compassion and unbiased honestly. Too often I see comments shaming newbies for their lack of knowledge, and I worry about the impression we are leaving on newbies. I find if I can display patients and compassion when teaching crypto I am often rewarded with tolerance, and sometimes even acceptance. I hope my story sheds some light on the possibilities of user adoption when approached with the right attitude.
To the newbies, I understand how you feel! The technical language is intimidating. I promise it’s not as scary as it looks! I’ve organized a YouTube Playlist (Bitcoin 101) for anyone interested in more information about crypto. This will allow you to go at your own pace, and do your own research (DYOR).
Mass adoption won’t happen overnight, but maybe if we meet questions and concerns with the right approach we might get there a little faster. I’m looking forward to sharing more of my story, and learning from the community! My passion is crypto and blockchain education, and my mission is to break down the barrier between the crypto community and the remaining 99% of the world. I can’t wait for you guys to see what I have rolled up my sleeve!
Happy 2018! May it be your best crypto year yet!
Love,
