The Path from Performer to Founder

At 23, I left the Royal Academy of Music to build a company. This is that story.

Learning to Perform

I started playing violin when I was six. My parents drove me to lessons every week in Seattle, and I spent hours practicing scales in our living room. By high school at Ballard, I knew music wasn't just a hobby—it was what I wanted to do with my life.

Getting into the Royal Academy of Music in London felt like validation. This was one of the world's top conservatories, where I'd train alongside future soloists and orchestral musicians. The technical training was incredible, but what I really learned was what it takes to create something at a high level: obsessive attention to detail, the discipline to practice when you don't feel like it, and the mental game of performing under pressure.

Music taught me about craft. But somewhere along the way, I realized I was more interested in solving problems than perfecting performances.

The Realization

Living in London, I went to concerts constantly—chamber music, jazz, contemporary classical. But every time I tried to find shows, I hit the same frustrations: fragmented venue websites, terrible discovery, ticketing systems that felt like they were built in 2005.

More importantly, I watched world-class musicians play to half-empty halls. Not because the performances weren't incredible, but because audiences didn't know they were happening. The arts had a discovery problem, and it was costing venues, artists, and audiences.

I started sketching out what a better platform could look like. Something mobile-first. Something with algorithmic discovery. Something that treated arts ticketing like the technology problem it actually is.

That became CultureTicks.

Leaving the Academy

Leaving the Royal Academy wasn't easy. It meant walking away from years of training, from the path I'd been on since I was six, and from the identity of being a musician. But it also meant betting on myself to build something that could actually solve the problem I'd watched for years.

I moved back to Seattle and went all-in on CultureTicks. The goal: build a unified ticketing and discovery platform for performing arts. Make it easy for audiences to find incredible shows. Help venues fill seats. Give arts organizations better tools than the legacy platforms charging them 15-20% fees.

The Competitive Mindset

Before the violin took over, chess was my obsession. I won the Washington State Chess Championship and spent years studying openings, endgames, and positional theory. Chess taught me pattern recognition, strategic thinking, and how to stay calm under pressure.

Building a startup requires the same mindset: think several moves ahead, stay focused when things get chaotic, and know when to play aggressive versus defensive. The combination of musical discipline and competitive drive is what I bring to CultureTicks every day.

Where I Am Now

I'm 23, based in Seattle, and fully committed to building CultureTicks. We're live in the Pacific Northwest, partnering with venues, and shipping features every week. The goal for 2026: 100+ partner venues, 100K social followers, and 3K tickets sold per month.

I still play violin—it keeps me grounded and connected to why I'm building this. And I still play too much chess (though mostly online these days). But the main focus is clear: make CultureTicks the platform that transforms how people discover and attend arts performances.

If you're interested in what I'm working on, want to partner with CultureTicks, or just want to talk about the intersection of arts and technology—reach out. I'm always up for a conversation.