The African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” is powerful. My own educational journey took a huge village of people. Crimson's journey so far has involved literally thousands of people all rowing as hard as they can toward our mission. ACCEPTED! is no different.

I want to thank my wonderful Crimson head of marketing and loyal supporter, Kimberly Scott. I like to joke that trying to get a book produced is way harder than raising money from venture capitalists. I gave writing a book a crack back in 2018 and found it very confusing to navigate the different publishers and requirements by myself. I originally met Kim because she hired Crimson to support her daughter, who is now an Ivy League graduate. Her faith in Crimson led her to join us to lead our content marketing efforts. She is an extremely talented writer and helped me by introducing me to her legendary agent Harvey Klinger. She worked hard with me to offer her unique perspective and give me feedback at all kinds of wacky hours of the morning and night. ACCEPTED! would not be here without Kim.

A huge thank you to Harvey. Thanks for believing in me and my vision for this book. People have written loads of books on college admissions but for the most part they are quite generic, treading carefully and respectfully around established norms. My goal was to break all the rules and write a book that truly reflects the most powerful strategies I have used in my own life and with my students to best amplify their educational journeys. Harvey saw the need and opportunity for this book and jumped in.

Next, thanks to the team at Jossey-Bass/Wiley. In particular, thanks to Amy Fandrei for believing in me and my learnings and philosophy and seeing the value in bringing it to students and their families all over the world. I have loved working with you and seeing how the book publishing industry works from the inside.

Thank you to John Key. You have been an inspiration to me for many years as a shining example of a Kiwi who crushed tall poppy syndrome, embraced your ambition, and then shared your wisdom with New Zealand to benefit our society. Your journey from New Zealand to Wall Street to leading our country from strength to strength as prime minister for 10 years helped to inspire many Kiwis including myself and Fangzhou to aim higher.

Thank you to the whole Crimson team. Your hard work every day changes the lives and opportunities of thousands of students directly through your services and millions indirectly through your viral online content. Your energy for our mission is addictive and keeps me running as fast as I can to help us get to each new milestone for our students, families, and team.

A special thank you to my executive team including Andrew Wooten, David Freed, and Elizabeth Jurlina. I wouldn't have had the opportunity or the time to write this book if it weren't for your strong management, leadership, and operational excellence in supporting me to grow Crimson.

Thank you to Fangzhou. You are my brother-from-another-mother and helped Crimson unleash its potential on the world stage. You inspire me with your commitment to leveling up and continuing to pursue your education while being a phenomenal leader for Crimson. Your commitment to our students at Crimson is absolute and I know I can count on you as I would my own family.

Thank you to Sharndre, our Crimson cofounder (along with Fangzhou) whose devotion to Crimson for eight years helped me to balance the crazy years at Harvard when we were straddling a growing organization with our undergraduate studies and were on opposite sides of the world.

Thank you to my partner, Nensy. You have been by my side every single day of making this book, supporting me and cheering me on. Your love, encouragement, and belief in me gives me a kind of rocket fuel that never seems to run out.

Thank you to our students and families for trusting me with the most serious moments of your education journey. It may look obvious now but to our early clients who put their faith in me when I was 18, still had my braces on, and had no track record other than my own academics, your faith in how I could help you created a snowball that continues to roll faster and faster, affecting more students.

Thank you to Adriaan Van de Wetering for teaching me how to negotiate and supporting Crimson's early growth into new support areas.

Thank you to my mentors, investors, and supporters who are too numerous to acknowledge individually. In particular, thank you to Julian Robertson for seeing my vision at Crimson and backing me before anyone else did, not only with your capital but also with your mentorship, philosophy, insights, and network. Your support led us to take Crimson from affecting a small pool of Kiwis in Auckland, to being a global leader in university admissions support, changing the lives of young people from all over the world.

Thank you to Janine Manning for being my Crimson mum for many years now and giving your brilliant feedback on the book. You have supported me with complete faith since our earliest days and taught me many of the foundational components of running a company professionally.

Finally, and most important, thank you to my whole family: Glenn, granny and grandad, and my mother, Paula Beaton. Mum, you made me the center of your universe for 18 years and covered me in buckets of love. I get to look a bit knowledgeable and wise these days, but the truth is I owe all my learnings, educational journey, and opportunities to you and your clairvoyance. You had the stamina and vision to ignore the conventional parenting wisdom in New Zealand and raise me in your own distinctive style. You inspired me with your own educational journey, values, and work ethic and cheered me on every day. You sat next to me and trained me for all my exams and studies for many years. You worked hard to invest in my education and give me a set of opportunities many students in our position would not have been able to access. You are the best mum in the world, period.

That's a wrap!