The older I get, the more I realize that each of us has a story; Good, Bad and the Ugly one too. Although it hasn’t been without bumps, I consider myself blessed in many ways… so here is the good part of my story:It was just a few months after my 15th birthday, when one evening, in newly independent Croatia, my parents set me down and told me I will be going to visit my grandma in New York. It was war time in former Yugoslavia, and we didn’t know what tomorrow will bring. I had no return date.I landed in New York in the summer of 1991. In grade school I studied English, but I am admitting publicly, it was my worst grade. I spent most of the summer around Rockefeller Plaza and south east side of the Central Park. I remember watching people come in an out of the offices, into limos, in suits, going to and from what seemed important meetings…. I was impressed, but I had no idea who they are and what they do. Fast forward about 25 years… high school and college in Michigan, internship back at Rockefeller center, first job in Chicago, automotive world of Ford, MBA at Bocconi in Milan, consulting gig, international travels, and my career in Finance and M&A… That morning, we landed at Teterboro airport with our corporate plane, limo waiting for us to take us to the i-banker’s offices, no other place but Rockefeller center. Suited up, I was one of the team members negotiating restructuring of the largest and longest JVs in the industry. It was small accomplishment in comparison to other success stories, but for me it was a major one. Flash back of my past 25 years, my reward for the work and effort I put into my career. Two years later I was named VP of Corporate Business Development for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber co. It was more than a 15-year fresh immigrant could ever imagine. And that is why I feel blessed.PS. That is my grandfather, Ivan Brlek, a concentration-camp survivor and one of the Taxi pioneers in Croatia, with his 1938 BMW 327.