Meet the Interns Season 1: Zsa Zsa Goldstrom

The imperative material for the story of life is one's journey. Having a guided path with clues along the way assists us as we approach the next chapter in our success journey. As this book provides the eye-openers for you to notice the clues in your journey and meaning behind them, I am here to share my path so far.

My name is Zsa Zsa Goldstrom, currently 20 years old when writing this briefing, attending the University of Miami, Miami Herbet Business School, studying business technology. The clues in my life led me to my dream school and city that I did not acklowledge had a meaningful significance for where I am today, until Melissa suggested I write them down to visually see the clues in words.

Meeting Melissa was an, “X marks the spot” type of clue in my journey. Melissa and I met three years ago at my father's luxury car dealership, where Melissa was seeking to purchase a new Rolls Royce. Her license plate happened to be "Zsa Zsa" so you can imagine my excitement when I saw this coincidental clue directly in my face. When Melissa and I spoke, there was a spark of energy between us. She was the future vision I imagined for myself, and I was her premier person to mentor. We bonded so well, I invited her to one of my high school classes to speak to my classmates and share her knowledge and experience. Fast forward to where we are today, publishing a book on life's clues with a small group of my brilliant peers Melissa successfully believed could help her establish her empire of like-minded powerful women.

Since meeting Melissa, I co-authored and published a workbook on decentralized finance called, “ The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Creating & Selling Cryptocurrency & NFTs,” with a Harvard lecturer. This book has brought inimaginable opportunities to meet and learn from successful entrepreneurs like Melissa, specifically in the financial technology sector. With the book I have been given the chance to co-author books with other professors on the related subject of blockchain and decentralized finance. Along with meeting other enthusiasts in the field, the book opened up a creative outlet to pursue: educating others. One of the clues in my journey directed me to this route. I met Professor Jim Kyung-Soo Liew, an MBA professor from Johns Hopkins University, during a bitcoin networking event in Miami. Liew and I discussed my latest publication as well as his newly developed blockchain/crypto course at Johns Hopkins, which he would be lecturing. As the conversation continued he offered me the position to teacher assist his class alongside him. Being able to lecture MBA students as an undergraduate was not on my rough draft list of accomplishments but it certainly made the bucket list check off. This opportunity led me to speaking at conference panels, classes, and educating friends on the subject.

I believe one of my main purposes in life is to assist those in success. That's where educating others falls into my strengths. Knowing this about myself, I researched a variety of professions that require collaboration with others to achieve success. The

industry of interest was real estate. I knew there would always be a strong demand for real estate in Miami, and a fanciful location to learn in. My parents' sale of their property in July 2022, when the market was soaring, was the tipping point that led me to real estate. I obtained my real estate license the summer before my sophomore year and now work for a brokerage in Coral Gables. Being a member of a real estate team has taught me new methods for communicating, making market forecasts, and acquiring vital life skills and lessons. I savor having the confluence of academia and the real world functioning at the same time in my life.

The University of Miami was my "dream school," and being there still thrills me. I selected UMiami for a variety of reasons. To begin with, I cannot managee the cold weather, so out of state was not an option. The education follows the city, innovative and technology friendly. The city of Miami is becoming known as the CryptoHub, where various Web3 and FinTech firms are shifting their headquarters, fostering greater interaction in the industry to develop relationships. Professors from around the world work on their own successful projects/businesses at the institution. I visit office hours to engage with these professors to further learn about their life experiences and travels to get to where they are today. What I have learned over the years is people want to help you succeed, they are willing to share their resources, networks, stories, failures, opportunities, if you give them the chance to share their story. Listening is one of the most powerful skills a person can express and being present with others engages the conversation to be more meaningful.

My journey is still in its early stages, and there are many more chapters to be written. Everyone's life narrative has a varied number of chapters, and each table of contents is unique to their story. I would say, I am on chapter five in my story, what chapter are you on?