Why People Travel to NYC for Mikhail Andersson at First Class Tattoos

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By: Ravi Rajapaksha

Most people don’t worry about getting a tattoo. They worry about getting a bad one. Maybe that’s why many people travel to NYC to get tattooed by Mikhail Andersson at First Class Tattoos.

We all know the excitement of getting a new tattoo. We think about the design, the placement, and all, but somewhere along the way, it hits that this is permanent. What if the lines are crooked or the colors are off? That’s where Mikhail Andersson comes in, known for his precision and attention to detail.

Because fixing a bad tattoo is harder than getting a good one in the first place.

New York has no shortage of tattoo studios. You can walk into dozens of them on any given day.

But people still book flights.

They come from other states and other countries, sometimes after months of research, just to sit in Mikhail’s chair. Through his reputation, Mikhail has become a tattoo artist with a loyal clientele willing to travel for his work. His focus on customized tattoos sets him apart in a crowded industry.

Take a quick scroll through Mikhail’s Instagram feed, and you’ll see why his work draws an audience. His attention to detail and artistic vision come through in every piece he creates.

Many of his clients return years later for touch-ups and new work.

But his background isn’t limited to tattooing. It’s rooted in classical art, with formal training in painting and drawing that gives his tattoos a distinctive aesthetic. This foundation allows him to blend traditional art techniques with modern tattoo styles, resulting in work that draws from both worlds.

Photo Courtesy: Mikhail Andersson / Ravi Rajapaksha

Mikhail Andersson has been working professionally in tattooing since 2008, which puts him at 17+ years of experience in the field as of 2025–2026.

In 2011, he moved to Miami, working across different tattoo studios. A few years later, he moved to New York, and in 2016, he opened First Class Tattoos on Canal Street.

At the time of opening a studio, there was a risk. Manhattan already had more tattoo shops than anyone could count, and talent alone wasn’t enough to separate one from the next. You needed a reason for people to remember the name, then come back to it later.

Nearly a decade on, First Class Tattoos has managed to do exactly that. The studio kept growing quietly while trends, artists, and entire waves of tattoo culture moved around it. A lot of that staying power traces back to one thing: what Mikhail actually does with a needle.

Mikhail is most widely known for color realism, but calling him a color realism artist is like calling Caravaggio a guy who liked contrast. Technically accurate. Completely insufficient.

What Mikhail does is build visual worlds on skin. He takes color realism and pulls surrealism into it. He’ll reference Van Gogh and land somewhere new.

He’ll work classical motifs into abstract geometry and make the whole thing feel inevitable, like it couldn’t have looked any other way.

The First Class Tattoos studio itself is at 52 Canal Street in Manhattan, and it doesn’t feel like a typical New York tattoo shop. Mikhail built it to be a place where serious artists could develop, and he recruited talent from around the world to fill it.

The crew at First Class Tattoos covers the full range: black and gray realism, color realism, neo-traditional, Japanese traditional, watercolor, fine line, surrealism, anime, abstract, and trash polka.

They also offer services like piercing and laser tattoo removal, making it a one-stop shop for all things body art.

Another thing that Mikhail prides himself on is the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere at the studio, where clients of all backgrounds feel comfortable and respected.

Mikhail Andersson and the team at First Class Tattoos approach the craft with a focus on artistry, customer experience, and individual creative expression. More information about the studio and its artists is available at www.firstclasstattoos.com.

Neal Goyal on Why E-commerce Has Entered a New Era and Most Brands Are Still Running the Old Playbook

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

There is a phrase that has started appearing with increasing frequency in conversations across the DTC and eCommerce industry: the post-easy-growth era. It does not have a precise start date, and reasonable people disagree about exactly when the conditions that defined it began to take hold. But most operators who have been working in this space long enough can identify the shift, even if they would describe it differently depending on where they sit.

Before that shift, growth in direct-to-consumer was largely driven by capital allocation and execution speed. Find a product with strong unit economics, direct paid acquisition spend toward the platforms with the most efficient targeting, and let the algorithm optimize toward conversion. Attribution was imperfect, but it was consistent enough to make meaningful decisions. Customer acquisition costs were manageable relative to lifetime value. The playbook was learnable, transferable, and scalable in ways that rewarded brands willing to move quickly and spend aggressively.

After the shift, almost none of those assumptions hold with the same reliability.

The forces behind this change are well documented across the industry: platform signal loss following privacy regulation changes, intensifying competition for the same audiences driving acquisition costs higher, increasing consumer sophistication and declining responsiveness to retargeting, and macroeconomic conditions compressing margins at exactly the moment that performance has become harder to predict. Individually, any one of these would require meaningful adjustment. Together, they have created conditions that the traditional playbook was not designed to handle.

What is less well examined is what actually separates the brands navigating this environment successfully from the ones that are struggling most visibly.

Neal Goyal has a direct view into that distinction. As SVP at PostPilot and a decade-long operator across the DTC and eCommerce ecosystem, he works closely with growth-stage brands navigating these challenges as they unfold. What he consistently observes is not primarily a resource gap or a creative gap between the brands that are pulling ahead and those that are not. It is a willingness gap, specifically the willingness to examine assumptions formed during a period when conditions for growth were considerably more forgiving and to update them honestly based on what the current market is actually showing.

“The brands that move fastest through this transition are almost always the ones where leadership has given itself permission to look at the situation clearly before defaulting to what is familiar,” Goyal says. “Trying to scale what used to work is not a strategy when the environment that made it work has changed around you.”

What that willingness looks like organizationally is worth examining concretely. It shows up in how brands structure their planning cycles, whether they build in regular mechanisms to pressure-test assumptions or simply extend last year’s strategy with minor adjustments. It shows up in how they evaluate new channels, whether the bar for investment is genuine evidence of incremental value or simply a matter of comfort with the familiar. And it shows up in how leadership communicates internally about performance, whether the culture rewards honest assessment of what is working or defaults to protecting the metrics that have historically defined success.

The brands building durable growth engines in this environment share a common characteristic: they are operating with a shorter distance between what the market is telling them and how they respond to it. They are not waiting for a bad quarter to prompt a strategic review. They are treating the signals the market sends continuously as inputs to decisions that get made continuously. That posture requires a different kind of organizational discipline than the one that built most DTC brands during the growth era, and developing it is one of the more significant and underappreciated challenges operators face right now.

The window for making that transition ahead of the broader market remains open. It will not stay open indefinitely, and the brands that recognize that earliest are the ones most likely to look back on this period as the moment their competitive position was defined.

What Makes Money Metals Exchange Different in an Industry Built on Confusion

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By: Natalie Johnson

Every year, thousands of Americans who set out to protect their savings with gold and silver end up significantly worse off than when they started. The metals themselves are real. The problem is everything built around the transaction: the markups, the sales tactics, and the buyback terms that make a fair resale nearly impossible.

The precious metals industry has long been home to a category of dealer operating on a fundamentally different model than Money Metals Exchange. Phone-based operations with aggressive, commissioned sales teams have historically targeted retail buyers through high-pressure outreach. The products they pushed were typically numismatic or rare coins carrying enormous premiums over their actual metal content, sometimes 50, 100, or even 200 percent above the spot price. Pitches emphasized collectibility, scarcity, and legal protections that had no basis in current law. The outcome for many customers was a product worth a fraction of what they paid, with no realistic path to a fair resale.

Money Metals Exchange was built specifically as a structural alternative to that model. The company sells bullion products whose value is directly and transparently tied to the current market price of the metal they contain. Premiums are published before any purchase is made. Buyback terms are disclosed upfront. There is no mystery, no negotiation, and no pitch built around manufactured scarcity. Buyers can choose between individual orders or a monthly accumulation program that applies the same transparent pricing to recurring purchases.

The practical difference in pricing structure is significant. A buyer who purchases gold at a 200 percent markup over spot needs the metal’s price to more than triple just to break even. A buyer who purchases at a 3 to 5 percent premium over spot pays a price much closer to the underlying metal value. That gap is the difference between a transparent commodity purchase and a product priced primarily for the dealer’s benefit.

Money Metals Exchange reinforces its pricing model with an educational platform that gives customers the tools to evaluate any dealer in the market. Published articles, guides, and market analyses explain how to read a spot price, calculate a markup, and assess a buyback policy before committing to a purchase. The goal is a buyer informed enough to recognize a bad deal on their own, anywhere in the market.

The buyback program at Money Metals Exchange deserves particular attention because it reflects a standard the broader industry has rarely met. A precious metals purchase is only as useful as the ability to eventually resell it at a fair price. Money Metals Exchange publishes its buyback terms before any purchase is made, so customers can evaluate the full picture before committing. That is meaningfully different from an industry norm in which buyback terms are often discovered only when a customer wants to sell.

CEO Stefan Gleason has been a consistent voice against abusive rare-coin practices, reflecting a belief that transparency and accountability should be industry standards rather than exceptions. For Money Metals Exchange, speaking out against harmful practices is a natural extension of a business model built around the customer’s ability to verify what they are paying and why. That consistency between public positioning and operational practice is what separates a trustworthy dealer from one that simply claims to be.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Precious metals prices fluctuate with market conditions, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Any decision to purchase, sell, or hold gold, silver, or other bullion products should be based on your own research and, where appropriate, consultation with a qualified financial or tax professional. The publisher and the article’s subject make no representation or warranty regarding the suitability of precious metals for any particular reader’s circumstances.

Alpha Queens Rising Reaches Times Square and Beyond

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By: Alena Wiese

An anthology written by eleven women has maintained a steady presence in its Amazon category since publication, with a recent feature on a Times Square billboard adding to its profile.

Most books peak in their first week and quietly disappear from view. Alpha Queens Rising: Where Purpose Meets Power has done something increasingly rare. It has stayed.

The anthology, written by a collective of eleven women leaders and published by Daily Success Media Network, has held a sustained position in its Amazon category since release, with visibility that has remained consistent across weeks and months. That presence has been driven not by advertising spend but by the kind of organic word-of-mouth that publishers spend years trying to manufacture and rarely achieve.

Add to that a recent feature on a Times Square billboard in New York City, and the picture comes into focus. The book is not a flash-in-the-pan release. It is building something.

A Different Kind of Leadership Book

The book was never designed to follow conventional leadership publishing formulas. There is no single guru at the center, no one origin story, no universal five-step framework. Instead, the anthology was conceived from the outset as a collective. Eleven distinct voices, eleven distinct professional backgrounds, one shared conviction that leadership rooted in purpose outlasts leadership rooted in pressure.

Karissa Adkins, the movement’s founder and the architect of the project, describes the book as a response to a particular exhaustion she observed in high-achieving women.

“This is about women leading from alignment rather than pressure. Each contributor brings a different expression of leadership, but the common thread is agency and purpose, and the ability to sustain it over time.”

That framing resonates across the contributor list, which spans health and wellness, entrepreneurship, finance, suicide prevention, and professional development. The range is intentional. Adkins wanted readers to see that the leadership model the book describes is not the property of one industry or one personality type. It is portable, adaptable, and grounded in something more durable than market trends.

Sustained Reader Engagement

When Alpha Queens Rising launched, it gained early Kindle traction and was recognized within its launch categories as a new release. Those are strong launch results. But launch results are common. What followed is not.

The book has maintained continued visibility in its category since publication. For context, Amazon’s bestseller rankings update hourly, and most books, including many with significant marketing budgets behind them, fall out of their category’s top tier within weeks of release. Sustained category placement over an extended period points to a reader base that is actively recommending the book, leaving reviews, and returning to it as a resource.

The story since launch may matter more than the story at launch.

A Signal That Reached Times Square

If the book’s Amazon performance represents its digital footprint, the Times Square billboard represents something different. It is the moment a publishing story crosses into cultural visibility.

Times Square draws an estimated 50 million visitors per year. A feature there does not happen by accident, and it does not go unnoticed. For a debut anthology by a collective of independent women leaders, not a celebrity memoir, not a business book from a Fortune 500 executive, the placement carries weight.

It signals that the audience for this kind of leadership conversation is larger than the traditional gatekeepers of the publishing industry have historically assumed. Women who lead in clinics, consulting firms, coaching practices, and painting companies are reading, recommending, and making noise.

Eleven Voices, One Framework

The contributors include Tiffany Lukasiewicz of the Lioness Alchemy Collective, Traci Coven, founder of Inner Game Performance, Jennifer Jorgensen, a suicide-prevention advocate and program creator, Leanne Harrell-McCoy, a leadership and movement mentor, Sarah Bouse, FNTP, creator of the ASCEND Method™, Stefanie Mendoza, owner of Modern Painting, Samantha Rambo, FNP-C, founder of Wellness for Any Body, Larissa Reid, founder of In The Black Business Services, Kay Spears, MS, CCN, CNS, and Angel Cottrell, founder of Apollo Consultancy Group.

Each chapter stands on its own. Each contributor writes from lived professional experience rather than theory. Read together, the book builds a cumulative case that the most sustainable form of leadership is not the loudest or the most aggressive, but the most aligned.

Beyond the Book

The project has also extended into philanthropy. The collective made a direct contribution to FITGirl Inc., a Nebraska-based nonprofit focused on building confidence, mentorship, and emotional resilience in girls. The contribution reflects what the collective describes as a non-negotiable principle of the project. Leadership without community investment is incomplete.

For a debut anthology, the full arc of Alpha Queens Rising, from Amazon presence to Times Square to a contribution to a girls’ nonprofit in Nebraska, is a case study in what happens when a book is built around a genuine community rather than a marketing calendar.

Alpha Queens Rising: Where Purpose Meets Power is available in Kindle and print formats at amazon.com/ALPHA-QUEENS-RISING.

Published by Daily Success Media Network

Community: Alpha Queens Rising Facebook Group

Hochul and Mamdani Close $12 Billion NYC Budget Gap with $4 Billion State Aid Deal

NY Weekly Staff 2 on May 12, 2026

New York City’s fiscal storm officially has a ceiling. Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced on May 12, 2026 a new state aid agreement that delivers an additional $4 billion in gap-closing support, bringing the total new state assistance to nearly $8 billion over two years. With the agreement, the Mamdani administration formally closes the more than $12 billion deficit it inherited from the previous administration, according to the joint announcement released through the NYC Mayor’s Office.

The deal lands days before the rollout of Mayor Mamdani’s Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget and reframes a relationship between City Hall and Albany that, until recently, was defined by years of public friction.

A Twelve-Billion-Dollar Hole, Officially Closed

The headline number is the one shaping Wall Street’s read on municipal credit and Main Street’s read on city services. The Mamdani administration walked into office facing a structural deficit exceeding $12 billion, a gap driven by post-pandemic spending obligations, federal aid roll-offs, and rising mandated costs. Monday’s agreement, secured by Governor Hochul in partnership with the state legislature, provides the final tranche of gap-closing support needed to stabilize the city’s books.

The new $4 billion builds on $1.5 billion in assistance the Governor included in her 30-day budget amendments in February, plus prior funding commitments tied to universal childcare. Combined, the state’s package now totals close to $8 billion over the two-year window.

For a city whose annual budget hovers above $115 billion, the closure of a multi-year structural gap of this size is a meaningful inflection point. It buys the Mamdani administration room to advance its policy agenda without resorting to deep service cuts or emergency revenue measures.

Where the Money Is Headed

Hochul and Mamdani Close $12 Billion NYC Budget Gap with $4 Billion State Aid Deal (2)

Photo Credit: Unsplash.com

The agreement directs new investments into four core areas:

Universal Childcare

The Hochul-Mamdani deal funds the rollout of free universal child care, a campaign signature for both leaders. The program is positioned as the centerpiece of the affordability message both officials have been pushing throughout 2026.

Education

State dollars will flow into K-12 funding streams that had been flagged as vulnerable in earlier budget projections.

Public Safety

The package includes resources for city safety operations, though specific allocations between NYPD, emergency services, and community-based programs are expected to be detailed in the Executive Budget release.

Infrastructure

Capital investments aimed at transit, roads, and city facilities round out the deal. These investments tie directly to long-running concerns about MTA capital needs and aging municipal infrastructure across the five boroughs.

A Different Tone Between Albany and City Hall

The political backdrop may be as consequential as the dollar figure. For more than a decade, public budget season has produced visible clashes between Albany and City Hall, with mayors and governors trading blame over education aid, MTA contributions, and Medicaid cost-shifts.

Both officials used Tuesday’s announcement to signal a deliberate reset. “From day one, I have been committed to ensuring New York City succeeds, because a strong and stable City means an even stronger New York State,” Governor Hochul said in the joint release, calling the agreement “a results-driven, responsible partnership.”

Mayor Mamdani echoed the framing, acknowledging the historical pattern before pivoting. “For years, the relationship between City Hall and Albany has been defined by dysfunction and infighting,” Mamdani said. “Governor Hochul and I, however, share a belief that government works best when we work together on behalf of the people we serve.”

That cooperative posture matters beyond optics. Bond markets, public-sector unions, and the city’s business leadership all read signals from the Hochul-Mamdani axis when pricing risk and planning hiring cycles.

What It Means for New Yorkers and NYC Industries

For working New Yorkers, the most tangible near-term impact is the universal childcare commitment, which the administration has framed as a cornerstone affordability measure. For the city’s business community, the deal removes a layer of uncertainty that had been hanging over discussions of potential tax increases on high earners and second-home owners.

The closure of the gap also stabilizes the operating environment for industries directly exposed to municipal spending, including healthcare, education, construction, and transit. Real estate watchers will be tracking the Executive Budget for signals on how property tax policy and rent regulation align with the new fiscal picture.

Attention now shifts to the Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget itself, which will spell out agency-level allocations and capital priorities. The City Council’s response, and the public hearing cycle that follows, will determine how the framework agreed to in Albany translates into line items affecting schools, parks, sanitation, and public safety on a borough-by-borough basis.

For now, the message from the joint announcement is clear: the $12 billion budget gap inherited at the start of the Mamdani administration is officially closed, and the political relationship that produced the fix is being marketed as something new for New York.

How the Tigers Olympiad Became an International Competition

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

For most school students, an academic competition ends with a medal or, at best, a one-week summer camp. Rimma Khaziakhmedova thought the rewards should look different. After eleven years working in education, she had watched thousands of capable students compete for prizes that rarely translated into anything material. She built Tigers Olympiad to change that pattern.

The competition is one of the first of its kind to originate in Kazakhstan, and it has grown into an international event with participants from 25 countries.

An Idea Shaped by Eleven Years in Education

Rimma spent more than a decade working with students, schools, and education partners before launching the competition. That experience shaped her view of what a competition should actually deliver. A medal is a moment. A scholarship, an admissions referral, or a documented international result is something a student can carry into the next stage of their education.

She built Tigers Olympiad around that distinction. From the beginning, the goal was to give as many talented students as possible something tangible to attach to their future university applications, not a recognition that fades after the awards ceremony.

How the Competition Grew Across 25 Countries

Once the concept was clear, Rimma set out to make it international. She searched for organizations in other countries doing similar work and invited them into the project. She also reached out to schools, universities, and educational partners to secure real opportunities for participants. Each conversation came back to the same question: what could that partner offer a winning student that the student would actually use?

That outreach produced the structure on which the competition operates today. Schools gain access to talented candidates from regions they do not typically recruit from. Partner organizations find emerging students worth investing in. Families see concrete outcomes from their child’s preparation. Students walk away with a record they can use.

The arrangement with a British school is one example of how the model works in practice. The school has agreed to provide two full scholarships to the strongest mathematics participants, fully merit-based and tied to competition results. The students who win them will have the chance to complete a British high school diploma, a route into UK universities that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive for many families. Rimma has said her ambition is to multiply these arrangements over time, bringing more schools and universities into the network so that the number of students gaining tangible opportunities expands with each cycle.

What the Next Round of the Competition Looks Like

The competition continues to expand, with new partners joining each cycle. Next year’s mathematics final round will be held in Singapore, drawing 500 finalists from a pool of 15,000 participants who first qualify through testing in their home countries. The scale of the math track reflects how far the network has grown since the early days.

The art track holds its finals across three additional locations. Cape Town, South Africa, hosts its round in September. Epsom, England, follows in April. Athens, Greece, holds its round in August. Each location brings in regional partners, schools, and judges, giving art participants the same kind of international exposure the math track offers.

What Drives the Work

For Rimma, the measure of success has never been the size of the participant pool alone. What matters is how many of those participants leave with something material, whether that is a scholarship, an admissions conversation, a university referral, or a portfolio entry that opens a door later.

She often returns to a line from Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Her interpretation is practical. If education is going to change anything, the infrastructure around it has to give talented students a real path forward, not just a certificate.

That is the project she has been building. Tigers Olympiad is the most concrete expression of it so far, and Rimma has said the work is only beginning.

Information about the competition, registration, and partner institutions is available on the Tigers Olympiad website. Rimma also shares updates and partner news on her education-focused Instagram, where she discusses the olympiad alongside her broader work with students.

Redefining Growth and Reality: The Thought Leadership of Dr. Nicole Munhoo

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By Ethan Klien

In a time where individuals are navigating both spiritual uncertainty and financial pressure, Dr. Nicole Munhoo brings forward a rare and balanced perspective. Her work does not simply inform, it challenges. It asks readers to look inward while also confronting the realities of the world around them. Through her writing, featured on her author site, she builds a connection between personal transformation and practical living, making her voice both relevant and necessary in today’s landscape.

What makes her approach stand out is her ability to move beyond theory. She does not write to impress; she writes to impact. Each idea she presents carries a deeper intention, pushing readers to reflect on their habits, beliefs, and long-term direction. Whether addressing faith or finances, her message remains rooted in growth that is intentional and sustainable.

Cultivating Leaders: Rethinking Discipleship and True Transformation

In Cultivating Leaders, Dr. Munhoo takes on a challenge that many modern faith communities quietly struggle with. She highlights the gap between belief and actual transformation. While many individuals identify with faith, fewer experience the kind of big personal change that shapes character and daily behavior.

Rather than focusing on surface-level practices, she emphasizes the importance of consistent spiritual development. Her work presents discipleship as an ongoing journey, one that requires discipline, reflection, and community involvement. She moves away from the idea that faith is simply about attendance or knowledge, and instead positions it as a lived experience.

Leadership, in this context, is not defined by authority or recognition. It is defined by growth, responsibility, and the ability to influence others through example. By addressing cultural challenges, individualism, and the lack of application in modern faith settings, she provides a more grounded and realistic understanding of what it means to lead.

Her writing encourages readers to move beyond comfort and into commitment. It is not about knowing more, but about becoming more. This shift in perspective makes her work particularly powerful for those seeking deeper meaning and purpose.

The Price of a Dream: Understanding the Psychology Behind Financial Reality

While her first work focuses on spiritual growth, The Price of a Dream explores a different but equally significant aspect of life. Here, Dr. Munhoo examines the hidden factors that shape financial behavior, particularly among younger generations navigating education, debt, and independence.

Instead of treating finance as a technical subject, she approaches it from a psychological and emotional angle. She highlights how early experiences, family environments, and unspoken beliefs create patterns that influence decision-making. These patterns often go unnoticed, yet they play a major role in shaping financial outcomes.

Her work brings attention to what she describes as the “unspoken curriculum,” the lessons about money that are learned indirectly through observation and experience. These lessons, whether rooted in fear, scarcity, or silence, often carry forward into adulthood and impact choices in powerful ways.

By shifting the focus from numbers to mindset, she offers a more complete understanding of financial literacy. It is not just about managing money, but about understanding the emotions and beliefs that drive financial behavior. This perspective makes her work both insightful and relatable, especially for those trying to make sense of their financial journey.

A Unified Message of Growth and Awareness

When viewed together, both books reveal a consistent and compelling message. Whether discussing faith or finances, Dr. Munhoo emphasizes the importance of awareness, intentionality, and application. Knowledge alone, no matter how valuable, holds little power if it is not practiced.

Her work bridges the gap between inner transformation and external responsibility. She reminds readers that growth is not automatic. It requires effort, reflection, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.

In a world that often promotes quick solutions and surface level success, her writing stands as a reminder that real progress is deeper and more demanding. It is built over time, shaped by choices, and strengthened through understanding.

Through her thoughtful approach and meaningful insights, Dr. Nicole Munhoo establishes herself as more than just an author. She becomes a guide for those seeking clarity, purpose, and a more intentional way of living. Both Cultivating Leaders and The Price of a Dream are available through her titles on Amazon.

Dr. Nicole Munhoo can be reached at nmunhoo@saintpeters.edu.

What William Brown, Founder of Build, Grow and Exit, Learned from Selling His E-Learning Business

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By: Matt Emma

William Brown built his first online education company from a bedroom in the UK, scaled it to eight figures in revenue without a single investor, and sold it to a US private equity firm, High View, in a multi-seven-figure deal. He now runs Build, Grow, and Exit, a Dubai-based advisory firm. Here, he reflects on what the sale actually felt like and what he would do differently.

There is a version of his last e-learning company that, from the outside, looks like a clean success story. A founder builds a business from nothing with no investors, no debt, just revenue, scales it to eight figures, and sells it to a US private equity firm for a multi-seven-figure sum. That version is accurate. It is also, William Brown has said, incomplete.

William Brown founded this company back in 2018. The business was an online trading education company built entirely on paid advertising. No YouTube channel, no book, no personal brand to speak of beyond the business itself. The model worked. It earned the Two Comma Club X award for surpassing $10,000,000 in all-time revenue. It was acquired by High View, a US private equity firm with a mandate to reinvigorate mid-market businesses, in a multi-seven-figure transaction that William Brown has since described as both the culmination of nearly seven years of work and the beginning of a more honest education.

“When I look back at that business, I’m proud of what we built,” said William Brown, Founder of Build, Grow, and Exit. “But I also see it for what it was. The revenue was real. The product was genuinely good. What wasn’t there, and what I wish I’d understood years earlier, was the brand. No YouTube channel. No book. Nothing that would survive if I turned the ads off tomorrow. I didn’t think seriously about that until I was sitting across from buyers and they were asking me about it directly.”

The due diligence process surfaced questions William Brown had not fully anticipated. High View, like most serious acquirers, looked beyond the revenue figures. They wanted to understand whether the business could survive the founder’s departure. Whether there was organic demand, or customers who found the company through something other than a paid ad. Whether the brand had any value that would persist if the advertising budget went to zero. W.B. Trading performed strongly on the financial metrics. On the brand and authority questions, William Brown has acknowledged, there was considerably less to show. The business was real. The dependency was also real.

“The exit was a good outcome. But the real education was in what came after. Building Build, Grow, and Exit from scratch with a personal brand, with organic content, with a book that taught me things that seven years of running ads never did.” William Brown, Founder of Build, Grow, and Exit

What came after the sale was, in many respects, more instructive than the sale itself. William Brown did not move immediately into another business. He had the exit proceeds. He had income from a property portfolio. He was, for the first time in years, under no financial pressure whatsoever. And that detachment turned out to be the condition under which Build, Grow, and Exit grew fastest.

“I started the YouTube channel, I wrote the book by hand, no AI, about a year and a half from start to finish, and I just put it all out there without caring what happened,” said William Brown, Founder of Build, Grow and Exit. “Within a few months, the channel had taken off, the book was selling well, and Build, Grow, and Exit was doing 400, 500, 600 thousand a month. All organic. No ads. And I think the reason it worked was precisely that I wasn’t chasing it. I didn’t need it to work. And that energy or the absence of desperation made all the difference.”

The book has since sold close to 30,000 copies, written entirely by William Brown, without AI, and never intended as a marketing tool. The YouTube channel attracted the following, which William Brown describes as the most valuable asset Build, Grow, and Exit has. Media coverage in Yahoo Finance and Business Insider followed. These were precisely the things his previous venture lacked when High View came to the table. William Brown has said that if he had built them in parallel with the first business, the exit would have looked different. Not necessarily larger in revenue terms, but different in what a buyer was paying for.

“Revenue is the obvious thing buyers look at,” said William Brown, Founder of Build, Grow, and Exit. “But they also look at brand defensibility. They look at whether the business survives the founder’s leaving. Whether demand is organic or entirely manufactured through ad spend. Building those things from day one, not as an afterthought when you decide you want to sell, is something most online education founders never think about until they’re in a room with a buyer and the questions start. I didn’t think about it either. That’s why it’s one of the first things Build, Grow, and Exit addresses with every client.”

Build, Grow, and Exit, the firm William Brown founded after the sale, is now the vehicle through which he passes those lessons on. The firm works with online education entrepreneurs who are already generating revenue, helping them scale their client acquisition, sharpen their offer, and, when the time comes, build the kind of business that a serious buyer will pay a premium for. William Brown’s other ventures include The Dubai Boardroom mastermind, a real estate holding company, and William Brown Consulting Services. He has said that across both of his eight-figure businesses, he has collected approximately $35 million in cash, and that the more useful number, the one that actually changed how he thinks, was the one he didn’t get because the brand wasn’t there.

How Interoperability Improves Communication Across Emergency Response Agencies

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

Key Takeaways

· Interoperability enables emergency agencies and responders to coordinate in real time.

· Technology is offering secure communication tools for first responders and public safety teams.

· Interoperability remains challenging, but standards, training, and planning frameworks continue to improve coordination.

Table of Contents

· The Importance of Interoperability in Emergency Response

· Technological Advancements Enhancing Interoperability

· Challenges and Solutions in Achieving Interoperability

· Case Studies: Interoperability in Practice

· Future Trends in Emergency Communication Interoperability

· Why Interoperability Matters

In emergency response, clear communication is critical. When every second counts, the ability for different agencies and teams to communicate effectively can influence how well a crisis is managed. Interoperability is central to this process, providing the technological framework that allows agencies such as police, fire, and medical services to work together across jurisdictions and systems. Solutions like the P25 radio network have been used to support secure, real-time data sharing across jurisdictions, helping responders maintain coordination during complex situations. With emergencies often crossing city and state borders, the need for systems and organizations to synchronize and exchange information efficiently has become more urgent. Interoperability can streamline workflows, strengthen emergency response planning, and reduce miscommunication during high-pressure incidents.

The integration of interoperable solutions also complements established practices in emergency management, such as PACE planning. These strategies help agencies maintain operational continuity when primary communication channels fail, ensuring backup options are planned and understood before they are needed. Effective emergency response is not merely about having access to information. It also requires that the right data reaches the right people at the right time. Interoperable networks can help agencies share maps, incident data, and situational updates, supporting faster coordination during crises. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified interoperability as an important part of effective emergency communications, particularly as agencies work across different systems and jurisdictions.

The Importance of Interoperability in Emergency Response

During natural disasters or large-scale emergencies, the ability of various agencies to work together is essential. Police departments, fire services, healthcare providers, and public safety agencies must be aligned when responding to incidents. Interoperable systems help bridge gaps between different technologies and jurisdictions, allowing resources and information to move more efficiently where they are needed. This coordination can reduce duplication of efforts and limit the risk that critical information will be missed.

The Federal Communications Commission has also addressed communications security, reliability, and interoperability through advisory work focused on recommendations for the nation’s communications systems. For responders and public officials, reliable information supports clearer decisions, especially when incidents involve multiple agencies or changing field conditions.

Technological Advancements Enhancing Interoperability

Technological innovation has advanced the field of interoperable communications. Modern software platforms can integrate voice, video, and data, giving agencies clearer channels for communication in complex operating environments. Cloud-based dispatch and mapping technologies can also help agencies track resources, share real-time updates, and coordinate with partners across county or state lines.

Public safety technology providers are developing tools that use artificial intelligence, geographic information systems, and mobile network capabilities to improve situational awareness. RapidSOS, Motorola Solutions, and other companies in this space have introduced tools designed to help dispatchers and responders access relevant information more quickly. With the expansion of 5G and cloud infrastructure, public safety agencies may be able to transmit richer data formats, including live video, sensor information, and telemetry, when those tools are available and appropriate.

Challenges and Solutions in Achieving Interoperability

Despite these advances, several barriers remain. Many agencies still operate with legacy radio systems and older IT infrastructure. Incompatibility between equipment from different vendors can create silos, making communication and data sharing more difficult. Cybersecurity and data privacy concerns also require careful protocols to protect sensitive information during emergencies.

To address these challenges, agencies are prioritizing standardization of communication protocols, ongoing training, and investment in scalable platforms. Cross-agency partnerships and frameworks such as the National Incident Management System help unify response efforts and align technology standards across agencies. These efforts support a more coordinated approach, but they require planning, funding, and regular testing to remain effective.

Case Studies: Interoperability in Practice

Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been part of broader efforts involving CAD-to-CAD, or computer-aided dispatch, technology. This approach allows dispatchers and first responders from different agencies and jurisdictions to work within a shared digital ecosystem. When implemented well, CAD-to-CAD systems can support more efficient resource deployment and improve coordination across city lines.

California’s wildfire response efforts also demonstrate why interoperability matters. Large wildfire incidents often require coordination among state, federal, and local agencies. Integrated communications can support evacuation planning, resource deployment, and field coordination during fast-moving events. While technology alone does not solve every operational challenge, interoperable systems can give agencies a stronger foundation for shared response.

Future Trends in Emergency Communication Interoperability

Emergency response communications are expected to become more connected and data-driven. The adoption of IoT devices may allow data from sensors, cameras, and drones to flow directly into dispatch centers, giving responders a clearer view of incident scenes. AI-driven analytics may also support predictive modeling, helping officials identify potential risks or resource shortages before problems escalate.

Agencies and technology providers are also working toward open standards and APIs that support compatibility across devices and platforms. Investments in 5G and cloud infrastructure, along with public safety partnerships, are creating conditions for more resilient communication systems. The goal is to make critical information available to responders when and where it is needed, even during complex emergencies.

Why Interoperability Matters

Interoperability remains a central element of effective emergency response because it addresses both technological and organizational gaps. By adopting modern systems, standardizing communication protocols, and training teams to use backup plans, emergency services can better manage complex incidents and protect communities. Continued investment, practical planning, and regular testing will help ensure that communication systems remain reliable when response teams need them most.

UX Designer Xiaoyun Chen on Empathy and Scale

NY Weekly Staff on May 12, 2026

By Seth Harrington

Digital product design has expanded dramatically in scope, yet few professionals manage to bridge the gap between intimate, therapeutic user experiences and massive enterprise ecosystems. Xiaoyun Chen, a UX designer based in San Jose, has built a career around moving between both worlds with unusual precision. Recognized by the MUSE Design Awards and the International Design Awards (IDA), Chen has drawn industry attention for projects that combine emotional sensitivity with scalable technological thinking.

Designing for Cognitive Care with Memory Line

One of Xiaoyun Chen’s most recognized projects is Memory Line, which received the Gold Winner title at the 2025 MUSE Design Awards and a Silver Award at IDA 2025. The project was developed for individuals living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition that affects memory, attention, and cognitive processing.

Rather than approaching elderly care through a strictly medical lens, Chen and her team explored the emotional dimension of memory retention. Inspired by the principles of Reminiscence Therapy (RT), Memory Line uses a tactile timeline interface that encourages users to revisit important moments from their lives through photographs, voice recordings, and physical interaction.

“We wanted to create a therapeutic assistive device that felt personal instead of clinical,” Chen explains. “For many users, memories are tied closely to emotion, touch, and familiarity. The design needed to support those connections naturally.”

Industry observers praised the project for translating healthcare research into a more approachable consumer experience.

Expanding Innovation Beyond Healthcare

Xiaoyun Chen’s interest in human-centered innovation extends beyond healthcare. Her AI-powered pet care companion, FurSphere, also earned a Silver Winner distinction at MUSE and an Honorable Mention at IDA. The system combines AI health monitoring, behavioral tracking, and smart-device connectivity, helping pet owners better understand the well-being of their animals and respond to behavioral changes.

Bringing UX Design to Enterprise Platforms

While Chen’s award-winning concepts highlight her creative range, her professional work at a leading TV streaming platform demonstrates her ability to operate at enterprise scale. As a UX Product Designer, Chen contributes to the company’s Developer Portal, a critical platform supporting an ecosystem with tens of millions of active accounts.

At the platform’s developer summit, company leadership highlighted features designed by Chen, including the “Phased App Rollouts” and “Channel Rollback” workflows. These systems were developed to improve release stability and reduce risk for developers distributing updates across millions of devices.

Photo Courtesy: Xiaoyun Chen

The improvements also represented a broader operational shift inside the platform ecosystem. By introducing safer release processes and more flexible rollback mechanisms, the company was able to remove previous publishing limitations and shorten deployment timelines for developers worldwide.

Technology with Purpose

Across both conceptual and enterprise work, Xiaoyun Chen’s portfolio reflects a consistent belief in what she describes as “technology with purpose.” Her projects often address moments of frustration, uncertainty, or vulnerability, whether helping an elderly patient reconnect with memories or helping developers move through complex publishing systems more efficiently.

Chen, who holds a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Georgia Tech, believes the role of design is ultimately to simplify complexity.

“Design is about solving problems where they exist,” she says. “Whether it’s a patient struggling to remember a familiar face or a developer struggling to debug an application, the responsibility is the same: use technology to make the experience clearer, calmer, and more accessible.”

As digital ecosystems continue to expand across healthcare, entertainment, and consumer technology, the industry increasingly values designers capable of balancing emotional understanding with large-scale systems thinking. Xiaoyun Chen’s work demonstrates that innovation does not have to come at the expense of humanity, and that the most effective technology experiences are often the ones that feel the most personal.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. References to Mild Cognitive Impairment, Reminiscence Therapy, and assistive design concepts are provided for editorial context. Readers with questions about cognitive health or related conditions should consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Menu

Explore New York Weekly™

Legal & Support

  • Get published in New York Weekly™

Founders, executives, and brands ready to build credibility through publication.

Get Published

Follow Us

Facebook Instagram Linkedin

New York Weekly™ is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Copyright ©2026 Matrix Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Use of any part of this site implies acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The content on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or used in any way without the prior written permission of New York Weekly.

Explore New York Weekly™

Legal

Explore New York Weekly

Legal

A Matrix Global Publication

New York Weekly™ is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Copyright ©2025 Matrix Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.