Hi y'all! I'm Praveen, Empire on R2R, and praveens21 on IG. I grew up in Old Bridge, NJ, moved to Dallas after grad school, back to NJ - lived in Jersey City worked in Manhattan, and moved to Charlotte in 2019.
Like most of you, I started my journey into saltwater switching over from fresh. My father and I used our passion for fish tanks as a way to bond. One day we decided to convert our 65g into a saltwater tank and failed MISERABLY. That's when I joined R2R and RC and the addiction became real. I've had 6 tanks throughout the last 15 years or so. I've worked for LFS in NJ and managed the books for a few of them and learned the business side of the hobby from OG's who have been around since the 80's. I've been rather active in a few thriving local reef clubs in the Northeast (NJRC, Manhattan Reefs) and wanted to bring what I learned from them down here.
I currently work as the CFO in a Real Estate Private Equity fund down here in Charlotte. Prior to that, I was on the founding team of a series B PropTech startup which initially brought me to Charlotte. I ran strategy and growth before my exit in March 2020. Out of grad-school, I moved to Dallas, TX and worked in Real Estate Private Equity focused on strategy and asset management at one of the largest Private Equity funds in the world. I love all things real estate and acros!
