"Without exaggeration Ray completely changed my daughter’s life. This phrase is tossed around often, but I’m not sure what my daughter’s future would have looked like without her work with Ray. My daughter was 18 years old when she first started meeting with her. School has never really clicked for my daughter. Throughout high school, it became clear that she was not going to go the traditional college route. When they first started meeting, my daughter had a vague notion that she wanted to be a seamstress. As a father, I never want to discourage my kids from their dreams. Quietly I had concerns about whether this could be a viable source of income.

Over the next few months Ray worked with her to build a brand, website, and file business documents. I would hear my daughter talk about business with excitement and see her motivated about life in a way that I had never witnessed. When this vision for her life connected with her passion, her sewing skills took off. Within a year of working with Ray, she was one of only four fashion designers in a runway show - the other designers were all older than forty. The two of us traveled to Italy to scout out moving there and starting her fashion career.

I’ve always had a deep love for my daughter. We’ve been close since she was a baby. But I wasn’t sure how to usher her into adulthood. I used to be scared for her. It wasn’t clear to me what her path to independence would be. And now, not only does she have that path, but I have complete confidence that she has a beautiful path of her own making and that she is blossoming in as a person, as an artist, and as a human being. Again, I have no idea where my daughter would be without Ray. But I cry tears of gratitude for her as I write this."