Core & Main was celebrating the fifth anniversary of becoming a public company, and I had the privilege of standing alongside fellow directors and company leaders at the New York Stock Exchange for the closing bell.
For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Before the bell rang, we received a bit of history about the Exchange. As I stood there, I could not help but reflect on what that room represents: enterprise, capital, opportunity, discipline, risk, growth, and the power of markets to move ideas into scale.
It was a powerful expression of capitalism in our country.
But I also found myself thinking about how far so many Americans are from Wall Street.
Not just geographically. Experientially.
So many people are not thinking about markets, capital formation, public companies, governance, or wealth creation. They are thinking about rent. Groceries. Childcare. Transportation. The next bill. The next shift. The next emergency.
They are trying to make it from day to day.
And in that moment, I had one of those quiet internal conversations I often have when I find myself in rooms I was never expected to enter.
I thought about the foster kid I once was.
I thought about the young man who did not grow up seeing these kinds of rooms, knowing these kinds of systems, or understanding how capital moves in this country.
And I thought: he would be proud.
Not simply because I got to stand there. Not simply because I got to see it. But because I now feel a responsibility to help translate what I have seen.
That is the work.
To enter rooms, learn the language, understand the systems, and then distill the principles in ways that help other people see more clearly what is possible.
Because exposure matters.
And when you come from a background where opportunity was not always visible, one of the most important things you can do is make opportunity more visible for someone else.
That moment at the New York Stock Exchange reminded me again: we should never confuse proximity to power with purpose.
The purpose is not just to be in the room.
The purpose is to learn from the room, carry wisdom out of the room, and help others imagine themselves in rooms they have not yet seen.
Did you catch that?
Sometimes the blessing is not just where you get to stand.
Sometimes the blessing is what you are now responsible to explain.