Growing up in a family of doctors, engineers, writers, and public servants, service to the community was ingrained in me from an early age. I dreamed of following in my father’s footsteps into medicine and eagerly joined him whenever possible, witnessing firsthand how he transformed his patients’ lives.

I was born and raised in Albania, a communist country isolated since WWII. Despite limited resources, my family placed immense value on education, hard work, and self-reliance. This fostered my entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. After Albania’s revolution in 1991, the shift to a capitalist system fascinated me. I watched as people launched private enterprises, embracing newfound economic and personal freedom. I started my first business at just 7 years old. By 10, I had my first computer, taught myself to code, and realized that technology and software had the power to reach millions. The following year, I joined a small team of five who brought the internet to Albania for the first time and began selling it door to door.

During my time in the hospital, I learned English and began applying to colleges. Still envisioning a future in medicine, I worked various jobs and started multiple businesses to fund my education, but eventually dropped out to focus full-time on building my first tech company in the U.S., a path that would ultimately lead me to founding Hyperplane years later.