delta-force barista in action!

This Memorial Day, Lisa and I helped my brother at his café in The Hamptons during Memorial Day weekend. The busy season lasts from Memorial Day (May) to Labor Day (September). However, most of the summer help doesn't come until school ends in June.

After passing the Series 24 Principal exam on Thursday, I changed out of my suit and into my black-and-tans as I went to work over the weekend as the "Delta-Force" of baristas. Although I have worked at Hampton Coffee Company (http://www.hamptoncoffeecompany.com/) in some capacity or another since I was 18 y/o, delivering coffee from Montauk to Manhattan, now I'm only called in for special situations to provide speed and surgical precision as I leave the confines of Wall Street to make non-stop vanilla-soy lattes for 6-straight hours. Quite humbling, but I'm quite proud to think that in some small way I may have helped contribute to Dan's Papers readers having voted us as the "Best Cappuccino" and "Best Breakfast Restaurant" in The Hamptons year-after-year.

tribute to my fiancée and family

On March 27th, earlier this year, I learned that after my second application attempt, I was finally accepted into the MBA program at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University. It was truly a dream come true. Nearly 10 years earlier in 2000, I had studied abroad at Oxford while an undergraduate student at the State University of New York. That was when I first heard of the business school as they had just started breaking ground on their new state-of-the-art building. I immediately knew then what it would mean to me to return to England one day, and earn my degree from "the city of dreaming spires."

However, a lot happened during those intervening years. For one, I finally finished my undergraduate degree! I also transitioned careers from managing my brother's beucolic Hamptons cafe to investing other peoples' money as a financial advisor for some of the top Wall Street investment banks. But most importantly, I finally woke up and smelled the coffee, and realized that the love of my life was right in front of me all along. After 10 years of due diligence I am happy to say that my now fiancée did not hold it against me, and she agreed to marry me.

Of course, this made the prospect of leaving to do my MBA nearly 3,500 miles away in blighty ole' England problematic. Thankfully, I have a very understanding fiancée, and as long as I bring home the bacon I will have a very happy household to return to. That is why it is my great pleasure to thank my fiancée and family for all of their understanding, and continued support, as I take one great leap into the unknown with the hope of making a difference, and improving our family's fortunes. Wish me luck - I look forward to sharing my journey with you!