If you are interested in the full life story, in interview form, here you go!

In written form?

baby

My little league coach pulled me aside during practice one day and said, “you’re a real piece of shit, Kravitz…” There are those kids that seem to breeze through childhood and then there are those that tumble down the tree of life, smashing every branch on the way.

I was born in 1983 at a hospital on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in Boardman Township just south of it. Born with neon blonde hair and soft features, I would spend the majority of my first decade being confused as another daughter alongside my four sisters.

(That’s some pretty damn amazing hair, isn’t it?) vacuum

The joys of being the youngest child, with several older sisters, made for a slightly askew boyhood. I probably spent as much time learning about My Little Pony, perms, and clip-on earrings, as I did learning about G.I. Joe, Tonka Trucks, and burning shit with a magnifying glass.

My sisters are amazing women, and they shaped my life in many ways, as did everyone in the family. My passion to help others came from my mom, my step-mom taught me how to cook, and my dad taught me how to deliver a quick joke.

(A seal walks into a club…)

Aside from growing a badass mullet and having a striking resemblance to MacGyver, I spent most of my school years filling notebooks with sketches of buildings and daydreaming… Most certainly the cause of my 1.92 GPA in high school. However, no one would have guessed that from looking at me; I wore green button-up collared shirts and carried a briefcase, which if someone called it a briefcase, I would correct them with, “It’s my valise!!” We all had our awkward phase, right?

Following my sisters’ lead, I headed off to study architecture at “THE” Ohio State University in 2001 (No one including myself, understands how was allowed in via their Early Acceptance program, but it happened.). While there, I helped restart a chapter of AEPi (now over 120 brothers!), launched a web design business out of my dorm, gained 30 lbs, met my business partner Lev, launched a company called InsuranceAgents.com, dropped out of college, and buried myself in debt.

Over the next couple years, I got married to my college sweetheart, my business partner Lev and I grew the hell out of InsuranceAgents.com (landing us at #24 on the Inc 500 in 2009), and I moved to Chicago. Then the company proceeded to nearly collapse, I got divorced, and I found myself in a mid-twenties crisis. Let’s just say 2009 sucked.

inc

2010 and 2011 were true rebuilding years, during which I discovered Chicago has one hell of an amazing entrepreneur community. Seeing a big need for more community support, I co-founded Technori, began helping out all around Chicago’s startup community, and met some new life-long friends. Finally, in 2012, InsuranceAgents.com was acquired by BankRate (NYSE: RATE), thus closing that chapter of my life.

I have no idea where the future will take me, but the last five years have been the most interesting and intense of my life. Look for a lot of interesting announcements throughout 2016 from me. You might want to add yourself to the mailing list to get the latest as they come out!
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