Passing the Torch

March of 1977 was a defining moment in my Dad’s life, when he left his job as a partner at Alexander Grant to start J.D. Edwards. That same year I was in the 5th grade and entered an essay contest where I won a horse. That experience was a defining moment in my life because my parents made me pay for the horse’s upkeep. That summer I went to work full time for J.D. Edwards as the Xerox girl. 

Little did I know that going to work to pay for my horse would put me in the right environment for my natural gifts and talents to emerge. My Dad’s living legacy began to unfold as he passed on to me the joy of working, the love of elegantly designed software and a belief that company culture is even more important than software.

I took my work seriously and felt proud to contribute to my Dad’s growing business. Between age 11-18, I went from Xerox girl, to receptionist, to tele-marketer, to demo data to being responsible for Accounts Payable and Fixed Assets. 

In the early days, there were plenty of times my Dad came home and asked the family to pray that the company would make payroll. What I did not know at the time is that he sometimes went without a paycheck, putting the employees before himself. 

Following in my father’s footsteps in 2016, Ed and I, along with Axel Allgeier and Vito Solimene, started Nextworld because we saw a crisis in the industry where ERP vendors were not able to re-write their legacy software fast enough to keep up with technology. At the same time customers were forced to endure massive upgrades in order to embrace modern software. We knew there was a better way to architect software that would always be ahead of what’s next.

Founding a company at age 53 is awesome because I have a few years of maturity and wisdom under my belt. Due to my joy and passion for our employees and customers, I’m 53 going on 35. Thank you, Dad, for investing your life in me and passing on the torch!