The path
How I got here
One of my greatest joys is making a system or a process more efficient, whether that is in a business, at home, or helping my friends and family. That kind of mind is what led me to want to become a neurosurgeon, and it is why I earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry, pre-med, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
I fell into an internship at Hyatt, in workforce management and staffing. That is where I learned this same skill could fit in the business world too. Becoming a surgeon was still on my mind. I also started to want a home of my own, a puppy, and maybe, someday, someone to have a family with. I took a break from school, and from the pressure of another eight years, to find out if surgery was really what I wanted.
I decided to stay in the business world. I bought my first house. I got a puppy. Shortly after that, I met the person who would become my spouse.
Work then led me to a new company in Omaha. PayPal is where I got to hone my ideas for making our department more efficient day to day. I learned from some really great leaders across the company, and I developed my skills as a people leader. I worked on many projects with the project management teams, and those projects led to some amazing tools for our department. PayPal was a wonderful company to work for, and the people were what made it so amazing.
In the spring of 2015, large layoffs at PayPal, and the de-globalization of our department, took a lot of people, including me. It was eye-opening. In corporate America, things can end no matter how hard you work or how high the ranking system says you are. Nonetheless, it was an answered prayer. That December and January I had prayed, “If I’m meant to leave here, you know you’re going to have to make it super obvious to me.” And so it was.
That summer I started working with my dad in transportation, and I have not looked back.
In those years we had our first child, then our second, and then triplets. We moved to a small village outside of Omaha that we adored.
A few years ago, after the unexpected and sudden passing of my sister-in-law, we felt the call to build a home and move to Central City. We wanted to be closer to my in-laws. We were also launching into homeschooling all of our children, in line with our beliefs and values, and with room to tailor their education.
Somewhere in the mix of general contracting our house, and living in an RV for nine months, I began to see what AI could do in daily life. Since then it has grown fast, in my personal life and in the business. My workdays are nothing like they were eight months ago.
There was a stretch when the weeks got very long. Building a custom AI system, instead of adding more staff, is what carried us. I cannot count the times that system has saved the day. We have been able to grow and add trucks while spending fewer hours at the desk. The relief started about two months into that build, and honestly I had needed it four years earlier. I only wish I had started when I first felt the nudge. I had talked myself out of it. I told myself not to spend the time, because it was the new flash fun thing, and my hours were already split between work, my family, and everything else on my plate.
After a lot of encouragement from the people who know me best, I started BOAZ so I could have fun doing and building what I love for others. Especially for other business owners, who know what actually comes with owning a business. People can see the income, or the lifestyle, that sometimes comes with being an owner. Few of them truly understand the burdens, and the time. The small ins and outs really do add up.
After many years of watching my father run his companies, and being part of that work since 2015, what I want more than anything is to help other small and medium business owners who can benefit from AI. To still run their businesses at the level they already operate, with a personal AI system that complements that work and makes it run smoothly enough to get their time back. Their focus back. Their connection to God and family back. And to align their priorities, while still supporting their family and their goals, with more peace of mind.