Nancy Amandi

High agency is your greatest asset when the odds are stacked against you. Growing up with limited resources teaches you that waiting for perfect conditions means waiting forever. You learn that nobody's coming to save you, not because the world is cruel, but because everyone's fighting their own battles. High agency means you stop asking "why me?" and start asking "what's next?" It's seeing every constraint as a puzzle to solve, not a wall to stop you. No connections? Build them. No capital? Start where you are. No mentors? Books, podcasts, and observation become your university. The beautiful paradox: those who start with less often develop more agency. When you've never had a safety net, you learn to build wings on the way down. You become resourceful in ways that privilege can't teach. Your background isn't your destiny, it's your training ground. Every obstacle you've overcome has been building your agency muscle. The hunger that comes from scarcity, when channeled right, becomes the drive that refuses to accept "that's just how things are." The path isn't about forgetting where you came from. It's about using that perspective as fuel. You see opportunities others miss because you've learned to create value from nothing. Agency isn't about denying systemic barriers exist, it's about refusing to let them have the final word on your story.