My name is Elizabeth Beeli, and I’m different. I’m different because I love learning. I’m different because I can’t help but share my passions. I’m different because while performing everyday tasks, I think about how I can perform them more efficiently. I’m different because I thrive when finding problems because I enjoy solving them. I’m different because I break the mold.

Here’s a little about me, and why I do what I do. From a very young age, I’ve been encouraged to pursue my interests. Not just encouraged but held responsible for pursuing my interests, often independent of others. And I think at its core that’s what has shaped my work ethic. When I was 8 or so my siblings and I had a bread business, it was quite the successful startup, when you consider it was run by elementary aged kids. However, that experience served as a catalyst for my future endeavors. A couple years down the road I was involved with several other self-directed business ventures, buying wholesale jewelry from China and reselling it, as well as trying my hand at inventing. When working on these projects, I’d never felt so alive.

When I was twelve I competed in my first speech and debate competition and that opened a door to an incredible journey. I found one of my lifelong passions, public speaking. I actively pursued public speaking in high school, through just about every extracurricular you can imagine. But it wasn’t until early 2016 when I gave my first TEDx talk that I realized public speaking could be more than just a hobby. I spoke at my first conference this past summer and have full intent to continue pursuing it for the rest of my life.

My family has moved a number of times and we currently live in Utah. Looking back moving has been a mixed blessing,  even though moving can be difficult I’ve been able to meet so many different people. I’ve been able to evaluate traits I admire and disdain from the many people I’ve met. I’m an intellect. I am passionate about entrepreneurship, business, photography, and going against the grain. I am truly most in my element when I’m working, whether that be writing, strategizing, brainstorming with others or analyzing data. I thrive off of challenges and picking up new skills. Learning new skills just for fun can is incredibly rewarding. Just this past semester I decided to learn the ukulele and now 2 months in I’ve written my first song and can’t get enough of it.

Through my high school years, I was a summer camp fiend. What better way to spend one’s summer then surrounded by like-minded passionate people? Most summers I would attend 2-3 camps, a few of which had quite an impact on me. I met T.K. Coleman, now a close friend and mentor, when he was a speaker at an FEE conference (Foundation for Economic Education) in California. After I heard him speak I knew he had the kind of articulate drive I wanted to in my life. So I found him at lunch and asked him a couple questions, some regarding his startup Praxis. He gave me his email and presented a reading list to the whole conference, with a condition. Read some of the books on this list and send him a book report for a free trial of his youth program with Praxis at the time. I was the only participant at the conference who completed the challenge. Fast forward to Nov 1st 2017, I’m starting the adult program today and I couldn’t be more stoked.

Praxis fits perfectly into my entrepreneurial mindset, it’s tailored to help me to build my skills and connect me with the right kind of professional opportunity I need. I truly feel as though I have already built valuable skills that I can use to make an incredible amount of difference in the world. And because I know a challenge lies ahead I couldn’t be more excited, because I’m different.