It started on December 31, 2007, as I was attending my girlfriend's Colombian family New Years party. 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I grew up a white male athlete of privilege.

My parents busted their ass day and night to build a company that created the life we had. I knew my blessings stemmed from their hard work. 

Even as a kid, there wasn't a day I took this for granted. 

I knew my mom shit in outhouses as a child. 

She grew up with nothing! Her family was impoverished, with a single parent mom. 

After watching her as a child, my respect for strong women built over the years, and now, my company is made up of mostly women. 

It's humorous to see how life takes its paths.

As a white teenage male in America, I had something inside of me where I didn't view people based on the color of their skin, gender, or beliefs.

I was drawn to people who were kind, friendly, and funny. My best friend is Colombian. 

He has one of the biggest hearts I've ever met. 

His story is crazy. He doesn't know his father, prison, and his mother was murdered by her boyfriend. He was adopted by an incredible family who is interracial. 

They are incredible people, and I'm blessed every time I get to see them. 

I also hung out with plenty of black people and the stereotypical white guys who loved the country. 

There was also this chubby, Spanish kid that would get bullied. He wasn't a friend, but some assholes would pick on him. 

They would shoot rubber bands at him from the balcony.

I hate bullies, especially the ones who become cowards in the face of adversity of their own. 

I'd put my arm around him as we walked through the courtyard. They wouldn't be stupid enough to shoot me with the rubber bands. 

Culture, to me, has been a thing of fascination. 

When I attended my girlfriend's New Year party, I didn't know what to expect. I was a white guy with no rhythm going to a Colombian party where I could only guess they danced…a lot. 

I was nervous. 

I hated to dance.

Sure enough, one of her cousins was a DJ, and things were bumping when I walked in. 

It's hard to explain if you haven't had the opportunity to experience different cultures, but what I experienced that night was fun, love, family, and living life to the fullest.

This has transpired twelve years now, and she's my wife. The Spanish culture is something I've genuinely connected with and now call my own. 

Culture has no boundaries, and we should experience them all

The family business has allowed me to work with people from all over the world, every race and religion.

From this, I've deemed a life reality, that it's not right in today's world to put others in a stereotypical bullshit box. 

The world is small, and we have to embrace a multicultural life. 

The easiest way to do this is to treat others with respect and have empathy for who they are.

Who cares what religion they believe in or where they live—they’re still human. You're still human. 

If they're not harming other living things, then so be it. 

A great example of this is when I went to India. Indian people are some of the hardest negotiators in the world. 

There's a lot of people! 

The night we arrived in New Delhi, my wife and I decided to walk the streets. A beggar came up to me and asked for money. 

I made the wrong move and looked at him. 

He proceeded to rub his amputated limb up and down my back. Well played, sir. 

It was a cultural shock, but if you visit places with an open mind and empathy, you begin to understand who they are. 

When we attended the wedding, I only knew one other person, the groom, but the family was incredible. They were kind, sweet, and some of the most beautiful people on earth. 

If you're reading this, I want you to understand, be multicultural, respect others, and have empathy. If you do that, your world will change forever.