On this episode, Sidney Madison Prescott, MBA, founder and CEO of MIRROR | MIRROR, shares her remarkable journey from overcoming poverty to earning an MBA and now preparing to apply to top PhD programs worldwide. She reflects on the resilience it took to navigate higher education without a safety net, the mentors and texts that shaped her love of philosophy, and how the pursuit of knowledge became both a personal lifeline and a professional compass. Her story illustrates how determination and academic achievement can break through systemic barriers and open doors that once seemed out of reach.

Sidney also explores how her MBA and academic path have informed her work as a startup founder. She draws connections between the rigor of business education, the critical depth of philosophy, and the disruptive energy of entrepreneurship. For her, pursuing a PhD is not a departure from startups but the continuation of the same mission: to challenge entrenched systems, fuse scholarship with innovation, and build ventures that expand what’s possible.

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