A legacy is a long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc that took place in the past, or of a person’s life. My and my husband’s legacy will not be that of a child, as a normal married couple’s but, instead, our legacy will not only be a place of establishment but also a leadership mentality. Many businesses have embraced a corporate approach characterized by strict adherence to rules and regulations. This approach has left employees feeling undervalued and underappreciated, while customers perceive the business's products and services as not worth their time and money. In our ‘mom-and-pop’ business, we prioritize customers and employees, aiming for exceptional customer service and a welcoming environment for all gamers, offering food, beverages, and console entertainment. Upon entry, customers will receive a warm welcome. For our repeat and loyal customers, our servers will greet them by name, inquire about their well-being, and provide personalized service. Our employees will assist customers with their needs, including taking food and beverage orders, handling the rental of consoles, ensuring attentive service, promptly addressing any issues, and sharing knowledge of video games and their lore. Our menu features familiar comfort foods such as pizza, burgers, and wings, all reasonably priced to ensure that no one goes to bed hungry. We believe that good food should be accessible to all, not just a luxury. Our employees, who will also be avid video gamers, will thrive in an environment that they already know and love. When employees feel secure and content in their work, the customers are more likely to have a positive experience. We will prioritize accommodating our employees' schedules and personal needs, considering them as valuable team members rather than mere cogs in a machine. Employees will receive a variety of benefits including health insurance, paid time off, complimentary meals for shifts lasting six hours or more, and the opportunity to play games during slow periods. The management team will serve as mentors and guides to their subordinates, supporting them in becoming the best versions of themselves, just as my mentor has done for me. As our company expands, we aim for our employees to advance alongside us, offering internal opportunities for promotions and personal growth within the company. For instance, our kitchen manager, who will join us as we open, sees the potential to take on more responsibilities and reap the benefits of becoming the next General Manager as we expand to new locations. My husband and I believe that our greatest fulfillment comes from helping people find happiness and achieve personal growth, whether they are employees or customers. Our approach to leadership is deeply ingrained in our values, and it is what motivates us every day. As we look ahead to our retirement in thirty or forty years, we hope to pass on our business to someone who shares our passion and commitment, ensuring that our legacy of exceptional leadership and customer satisfaction endures. Just like Walt Disney's legacy of bringing joy to people lives on for generations, we aspire for our impact to be long-lasting.

My education goals were supported by two important people in my life: my father and my mother-in-law, Helen. My parents' relationship was not the healthiest, and they split up when I was ten years old. I lived primarily with my mother until I was an adult because my father had to travel for work. Surprisingly, the physical distance between my father and me helped us to become emotionally closer. He taught me the value of hard work and dedication, and inspired me to believe that I could achieve my dreams just as he achieved his own: starting as a bellhop in a corporate hotel, he worked his way up to become the Chief Operations Officer before retiring at the age of sixty. Through every obstacle I faced, he provided guidance, listened to my concerns, and offered reassurance that everything would work out. His support helped me discover my true passions and academic aspirations as well as emphasizing that putting in effort and striving for my goals would lead to greater happiness and pride than taking shortcuts or giving up. When I got married, I gained a wonderful mother figure in Helen. She provided me with guidance and support similar to my father. While my father focused on building his career and climbing the ladder of success, Helen had a different journey. Growing up during the Great Depression, she had to drop out of high school and didn't return to complete her degree until twenty years later. Despite these challenges, she always pushed me to excel academically, encouraged me to pursue higher education, and instilled in me the belief that it's never too late to achieve my goals. Her words of encouragement were a driving force behind my decision to finally return for my bachelor's degree in my thirties. Sadly, Helen passed away in August of 2023, but one of her final wishes was for me to finish my education, earn my degree, and build a future that would bring happiness to both myself and her son. The unwavering patience, love, and guidance of my father and mother-in-law have been instrumental in shaping my educational, intellectual, and emotional growth. Their support during challenging times has been invaluable. As I approach graduation, I am filled with a mix of emotions - a sense of joy and accomplishment for completing a seventeen-year journey, yet also a tinge of sadness knowing that Helen won't be there to witness her last wish fulfilled.

"Luna & Tofu's Playhouse" will be an arcade with a video game-themed restaurant and bar. My father was a Chief Operations Officer of Accor Corporation and my mother owned a store "Big Dog Textbooks", selling textbooks before Amazon put her out of business, and then "Desert Dave's Old Digs", a steakhouse restaurant. I grew up learning the knowledge of both the corporate and the small business worlds. I learned from both of them, but especially my father, the ways to treat employees and customers: how to earn and keep respect and loyalty, company policies, state and federal laws, payroll, and how to be a leader. Working in Big Dog Textbooks and Desert Dave's gave me more insight into the trades and tips, things that I soon began to take note of: what I wanted and didn't want to implement into my own. As I grew older and began to take different jobs, I began to apply the business knowledge that my parents taught me and realized that while many people will follow a person mindlessly, that I just couldn't be one of those people. I enjoy leading, I enjoy learning and teaching and by the time I was in my mid-twenties, I knew that I wanted to own a business. With more experience in each world, having gotten jobs in both corporations and small businesses, I began to form my thoughts of what I wanted for my future and found that I am a combination of my parents with business points of view. Like my mother, I wanted to be able to set my times, do things at my own pace, and do the paperwork behind the company - I enjoy numbers and math. However, like my father, I want to interact with people and build a place that encompasses a positive safe environment of people who can not only see my vision for the future but would have the same passion and the drive to move forward in that dream with me, both with employees and customers. Over time the desire to own a business combined with my husband's and my passion for video games turned into the "Playhouse" as I have nicknamed it. Our passion for video games, such as Fallout, Final Fantasy, Skyrim, dungeons and Dragons, The Legend of Zelda, and World of Warcraft has inspired us to create a menu of the foods from these worlds as well as design a haven of sorts for the fellow video game nerds of our real world. I want to be able to build a place where families, couples, or friends can make memories that will last their lifetimes, including mine. My husband and I don't have children and don't plan to. Our investment for the future, like parents invest in their children's future, is this business. "Luna & Tofu's Playhouse" is my baby, my hope for the future, and my ideal dream. I want to be able to, when I'm eighty, look back on my life not with regrets but with happiness recalling all of the memories and excitements that the "Playhouse" had.