Love from: Ash Rust

Lauren Walters changed my life. We met in September 2007 when he was visiting one of his sons at Oxford. He'd come to Dinner at our house, invited by a roommate, another whose life he had already changed. He took an immediate interest in me and without asking anything in return, gave up his time to help me get to Silicon Valley. I had dreamed of living in California since I was 8 years old but was coming up short. No startup wanted to front thousands for a visa only to wait on the immigration system, and every big company wanted me to work for years in Europe first. America seemed very far away and I had begun to accept my fate.

From this one dinner, Lauren advocated for me and I got interviews all across the country. I had one interview near his home in Concord, MA, it was during the holiday season and I had no plan to get there. Lauren loaned me his car to drive from NYC to Concord and let me stay at his house, alone, with the family dog. I was so scared of crashing, I smoked a whole pack of cigarettes on the 4 hour drive (sorry!).

Time marched on and I still had no offers in the USA, let alone Silicon Valley. Lauren didn't give up, hearing the weakness in my voice he promised my patience would be rewarded. He made multiple attempts to get an old lawyer friend to help on the west coast. After initially dismissing my resumé, Lauren's repeated references led his friend to introduce me to my first job in the US: a well-funded tech startup, based in Menlo Park, California, willing to apply for a visa. Lauren Walters changed my life and I will always be grateful.