What if this was the moment everything changed?

I just returned to my room after my second day at the IAITAM ACE conference in Las Vegas. I showed up wearing my Be Like Sam pin, focused on growing into this new chapter of my career. I was eager to connect, learn, and figure out what might come next. But somewhere between the breakout sessions and the keynotes, something shifted. I left with more than inspiration. I left with an idea I can’t shake.

The keynote speakers, Mike Rayburn and Kevin Surace, both lit a spark in my mind. Mike challenged us to ask, “What if?” What if we took the skills, knowledge, and passions we already have and used them to solve problems that truly matter to us? Kevin took that question a step further. He showed us that AI is no longer a distant concept. It’s here, it’s moving fast, and it’s reshaping everything. But instead of fear, he offered a different perspective. He inspired me to lean in, to see AI not as a threat, but as a tool. A way to get ahead, not just professionally, but personally. His speech gave me permission to think bigger.

The idea found me in a noisy convention hall, straining to catch pieces of conversation and wishing, just for a moment, that I had the right tools to level the playing field. I’ve lived most of my life with profound hearing loss, though I’ve never fully embraced a Deaf identity. I don’t use sign language, and I can’t easily leverage interpreters. That’s left me somewhere in between, navigating a world that wasn’t designed with people like me in mind.

But I do know tech. I understand the corporate structure. I know how to bring people together, how to get things done, and how to build trust. And most importantly, my hearing loss has taught me how to adapt. It’s shaped me into someone who is innovative, resilient, and resourceful, because I’ve always had to be. I’ve spent years bridging the gap between innovation and accessibility in quiet, everyday ways: reworking tools to fit my needs, advocating for more inclusive tech choices, and finding workarounds that let me stay engaged in environments that weren’t built for people like me. It hasn’t always been visible, but it’s been constant. And it gives me a perspective most people never have.

And now I’m thinking: what if I could bring all of that together? What if I could create something that would be not only life changing for me, but for millions of people all over the world?

I won’t give away too much just yet. But I’m imagining something powered by AI, driven by accessibility, and unapologetically stylish. Something designed not just to function, but to belong in the world of fashion, identity, and self-expression. A product that lives at the intersection of who I am: someone who understands tech, who’s lived with hearing loss, who knows how isolating it can feel to be left out of the loop, and someone who also values color, form, and beauty.

People like me are rarely centered in these conversations. Maybe it’s time that changed.

I’m still processing it all, still dreaming, but I think I may be at the beginning of building something. And I have a clear compass for how I want to do it: with integrity, humility, and vision.