Evelyn
The applause that followed my introduction was the kind that filled a room from the floor up, and I let it settle before I even moved a muscle.
I looked down at Julian from the podium and he was already watching me with that quiet smile he reserved for moments he knew mattered, the one that said he was proud without needing to say a word.
"Five years ago, Hart-Willy Tech Innovations was a vision that most people in rooms like this one would have laughed out of the building," I opened, and a ripple of polite laughter moved through the audience, "and I want to personally thank every single person who did not believe in us, because you gave us something that no investor ever could, you gave us a reason."
The applause came again, harder this time.
I moved through the speech with t
