Every life has turning points: moments that redefine identity, shift priorities, and reshape the path forward. For me, those moments were not just milestones but pivots. They were choices to live fully by living differently, even when the easy path was to continue unchanged.
That philosophy runs through each story that follows: transforming debt into foresight, diet into empathy, travel into humility, leadership into balance, and transparency into connection. Looking back, I see the uniqueness of my life not in titles or places but in these conscious choices that turned failure into foresight, constraint into freedom, and personal struggle into shared learning.
From Collapse to Freedom: Learning Foresight Through Debt
In 2008, I was earning $30,000 a month. From the outside, success was evident: a beautiful home, luxury vehicles, and a lifestyle that spoke of achievement. Then contracts were lost, income collapsed, and I fell into $380,000 of debt. I lost my home, cars, and the sense of security I thought money provided.
That collapse took a decade to recover from, yet it forged one of my most important principles: financial foresight. I shifted from living on assumptions of endless abundance to living with deliberate choices. Cash became the norm, debt freedom the goal. That painful decade transformed how I see stability, not as accumulation but as clarity and freedom.
Empathy Through Gluten-Free Living
Another turning point came when my young son, Drusus, was diagnosed with celiac disease. At two years old, his body rejected gluten entirely. Meals became dangerous, every bite a risk. Instead of letting him face isolation, I chose to live his diet with him. That choice reshaped me.
Before, I saw food allergies and sensitivities as weakness. Afterward, I saw them as reality and saw empathy as strength. Eating gluten-free was not just about food. It was my pivot away from narcissism toward care, away from self-first thinking toward shared experience. It made me listen more, assume less, and practice compassion every day.
A Life Stitched Across Cultures
My life has been a global journey: studying computer science in Seattle, learning Korean in Seoul, Chinese in Taipei, and French in Marseille. I have lived and worked across the U.S., Taiwan, and Europe, with more than 3 million kilometers of travel shaping my view of the world.
That breadth of experience has given me a global fabric to weave from, different languages, different norms, different truths. It taught me humility: what I know is not always right, and what others believe is not always wrong. It is just different. And in the difference lies growth and respect.
Leading With Automation and Culture
At Axelerant, I discovered a new way to lead, through automation, yes, but also through culture. We created an AI-powered Slack bot that cut production timelines by 80%. We built systems that reclaimed 7% of team focus time by eliminating unnecessary meetings. But the more lasting changes were not technical.
I redefined performance management, introduced intent-driven policies, and encouraged leaders to give clear, courageous feedback. Automation saved time. Culture gave that time meaning. That balance, efficiency paired with empathy, became my leadership hallmark.
Open Source, Open Life
Since the late 1990s, I have contributed to open source. What began as code evolved into photography and then into thought leadership about organizational culture. Open source is not just technology; it is philosophy. It is giving freely, taking what is needed, and believing communities outlast transactions.
In writing about open source traits, accountability, consistency, passion, and shared responsibility, I realized they mirrored my personal values. These same traits that sustain a community sustain a life. My work in open source became a metaphor for how I live: transparent, collaborative, purpose-driven.
Sharing the Struggle
Unlike many leaders who hide imperfection, I chose to share it. My blog posts openly admitted struggles with sleep, willpower, or burnout. Discipline down, Environment up was not a declaration of mastery but of struggle. I admitted discipline fades and showed how shaping environments can shape behavior.
That vulnerability became an invitation. Others saw themselves in my writing. My failures became their lessons. Transparency was not a weakness; it was a connection.
The Thread of #BeingMichael
A colleague once coined the internal hashtag #BeingMichael to describe the way I lived. What stuck was not my career milestones but the underlying philosophy: live fully by living differently. Say no when convention says yes. Choose purpose when pressure demands conformity. Build a life aligned with values, not expectations.
That thread runs through everything: financial foresight, empathy in diet, global curiosity, leadership through culture, open source philosophy, and public vulnerability. Each pivot was not just about survival but about integration. Purpose, principles, and values became not abstract ideals but daily practices.
Closing Reflection
What makes my life unique is not that it has been harder or more successful than others; it is that I have chosen to live it differently. I have taken collapse as teacher, constraint as compass, and struggle as story.
And by sharing those lessons, I have discovered a simple truth: uniqueness is not about being extraordinary. It is about living consciously, with courage, and inviting others to do the same.
That is #BeingMichael. (Thanks, Parth, for creating it.)
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