My own mother left me on the doorstep of a stranger’s apartment

From survivor to dream builder

At 13, I was already working.  Walking dogs, distributing leaflets.  I hid money under the floorboards. Discovered by my adoptive mother, I was given a lecture:  “You’ll pay for this roof.”  At 15, I was working as much as I was studying. At 17, I was running away from “home” for university, with a backpack and a baby picture of myself.

The struggle continued:  nights spent in a 24-hour convenience store , mockery for my clothes. But a marketing project gave me an opportunity: creating a strategy for an  organic food brand . My presentation impressed investors. A stake in a startup, and my life changed.