Jeronimo De Miguel

One of my favourite phrases of all time, by an anonymous writer, refers to the idea that ‘a mind once stretched never regains its original shape’. I’m a big believer in growth through discomfort. In fact, I think we learn and grow the most in our lives through challenging and difficult situations. Luckily for us, evolution has given us neuroplasticity and we can rely on neurons that fire together to wire together.

I was born in Mendoza, Argentina to a family of winemakers and immigrated to Canada at the age of 13. My parents are both successful entrepreneurs who instilled in my two younger sisters and me a tremendous sense of a ‘can do attitude.' As an entrepreneur myself, I often think about my early childhood experiences growing up in Argentina and later teenage years in Canada as a breeding ground for my insatiable appetite to learn from experiences and people in my life.

I’ve lived in half a dozen countries and learnt a handful of languages while pursuing opportunities to have an impact with government, non-profits and the private sector. In 2018, I co-founded as a side project The Open Collective in Prince Edward County to help individuals explore the potential of human achievement through mindful, expansive programming in a single, connected natural, immersive environment. I believe we are born curious, and that our drive to learn, invent, explore, grow and discover deserves to have the same status as every other drive in our lives.