30 under 30, we must be onto something

I'm turning 30 this year, in a few weeks actually. Last night, my wife and I reflected on the past year and where we want the next to go. I told her that I feel like I'm strapped to a rocket ship with my best friends, and even when I come back to earth to be with her and our newborn, my head is sometimes still in the clouds. It's a jostling juxtaposition that I guess I need to grow into.

She reminded me of my upcoming birthday and this decade, the thirties, that lie ahead. I hadn't thought of it much. For me, it's always been about the next step, much less the next year or decade. But that's probably one thing that's changed since becoming a dad: in a decade, I'll have a ten year old boy. This has made me realize I'll need to shift the way I think to accommodate a longer view.

This morning, I was hit with messages of congratulations for getting listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare. I walked around feeling a bit wide-eyed throughout the day. Although humbled, I felt awkward to be given such a personal honor for something that's truly so team oriented. It seems artificial to pull out an individual and give credit when really, no individual can make or break us.

I'm not Aaron Rodgers or Michael Jordan. We're not that kind of team.

We're the kind of team that's in it for a purpose far beyond the sum of our parts. Our fears are that this problem doesn't get solved, or it gets pushed into a mediocre solution that belittles the magnitude of possibilities in healthcare.

We're the kind of team that forms in the trenches. Every one of us has personally sacrificed to be here, and with that sacrifice comes a mutual understanding, a trust, and a brother-and-sisterhood-like blood through veins.

This award isn't on me—it's on the backs of the 26 people who make up Redox, and although we won't stay under 30 for long, I can't accept something like this without making it clear that it's on them, my brothers and sisters. We must be onto something—Forbes said so.

Press Coverage:

Forbes - 30 Under 30 - Healthcare The Cap Times - Forbes' '30 under 30' includes Redox leader Wisconsin State Journal - Forbes honors a young Madison entrepreneur Milwaukee Journal Sentinal - Skievaski: Red in the face over Forbes shoutout Politico Xconomy Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures Becker's Hospital Review - 30 healthcare leaders on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list Texas Medical Center - TMCx and Biodesign Alumni Make the Forbes List