Growing up in Buffalo, NY – which, at the time, was touted as "the most segregated major city in America" – I saw the tremendous wealth disparity from one neighborhood to the next. Neighborhoods so close that I could ride my bike between them (and I did). Two blocks east was one of the richest streets in town – stone mansions on a hill, with smooth, curvy pavement dotted with plenty of well-kept foliage. Three blocks west was one of the poorest streets – cookie-cutter wooden shacks with peeling paint, rusty railings, and cracked concrete steps yielding to pesky weeds.Why was there such a staggering difference between the two communities? Is there something I could do to help? These questions sat in the back of my mind for years.One day, my mother took my brother and me to Walmart. On our walk back to the car, my mom found two twenty-dollar bills flapping in a bush. “Woo hoo!” my brother and I celebrated, realizing that we were now $40 richer. “No, boys,” my mom said. “We have to return this.” And she did. She walked it back inside the store and gave the bills to the customer service desk, and asked them to put it in the Lost and Found. That lesson – about doing the right thing, and only taking what you rightfully earn – had a lasting impression on me.I started to connect the dots as I got older. Dots about the economy, income, assets – even the nature of money itself. I had so many “ah ha!” moments that I eagerly shared with anyone who would listen. Despite earning an MBA in Finance, my biggest learnings came from outside the formal education system: books, podcasts, documentaries, and the like. One of the biggest influences on me was the Hidden Secrets of Money series on YouTube.“That! That’s exactly the kind of thing that everyone needs to know!” I thought. “If everyone knew that, there’d be no poverty!”Perhaps it was my youthful naïveté getting the best of me, but even after years of careful research, thought, and deliberation, I still believe in the messaging and values of that fantastic series. In fact, it made such an impact on me that I decided to reach out to its creator, Mike Maloney, and offer to work for him. He graciously accepted.It’s been five years now, and my role has evolved from a researcher and chart maker to the co-host of the channel itself. I believe so strongly in the mission of the company, GoldSilver: to enlighten the world that maximum prosperity comes from free markets, individual liberties, and sound money.