Imagine if your father took you at three years-old, kidnapped you and then told you your mother was dead. Then, once taken to another part of the country, your father basically abandons you and leaves you to be raised in several different foster homes and orphanages. This is what happened to Ed Hajim well before Google, Social media and all the ways we now track down folks. Ed was left in poverty, abandoned and feeling incredibly lonely. By the time Ed was sixty-years-old, with the help of an old suitcase, letters found in it and a private investigator, Ed discovered his mother was very much alive. He was angry with his then late father, how could he have been so selfish and taken Ed from his own mother, when Ed needed her??? Ed had so many questions. Learning his mother was alive, who he hadn’t seen since he was three-years-old, 57-years-later, everything Ed knew went upside down. And his sense of trust questioned. Then, he had to think, does he reach out to his mother, would she want to see him or reject him?? His own mother. But for the last almost dozen years of her life, Ed Hajim spoke to his mother almost every Sunday and celebrated many holidays and enjoyed family vacations together with Ed’s family, his wife, their children and grandchild and his in-law family, who really had become HIS family too. Plus, by meeting his mother, Ed gained a half-brother, sister-in-law and nephews. He describes, his late mother, Sophie Hoffman, as the gift he found later in life. Ed explains his incredible story of resilience, discipline and using his inner voice to navigate his life -which is a true rags-to-riches American story - in his just released inspiring and riveting memoir, ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: An Unlikely Journey from the Orphanage to the Boardroom (Skyhorse; March 2, 2021). Despite his difficult early years, Ed learned to survive, to keep himself strong and focused. And step by step, he turned his life around, eventually living the American dream with the help of a NROTC college scholarship, got himself through the University of Rochester and then attended Harvard Business School. Became a Wall Street executive, a business tycoon of the highest order. Married fifty-five years, has three children and eight grandchildren. In 2008, after 20 years as a trustee of the University of Rochester, Hajim became chairman of its board and gave the school $30 million to support scholarships and endow the Edmund A. Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - the largest single donation in its history - as he is an example of the importance of education and how it can change your life - Ed wanted to share that opportunity with other scholars. Here are a few recent media and event links to further get a sense of Ed: NY POST: MY DAD TOLD ME MY MOM WAS DEAD — THEN I MET HER 57 YEARS LATER WGN-TV (#1 MORNING SHOW CHICAGO): FROM ABANDONED CHILD TO WALL STREET EXECUTIVE: AUTHOR ED HAJIM HAS ADVICE FOR PARENTS EVERYWHERE WTNH-TV (ABC): ED HAJIM SHARES DETAILS ABOUT NEW POWERFUL MEMOIR BARBARA’S BOOKSTORE: ORPHANAGE TO BOARDROOM ‘ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED’ WITH ED HAJIM; MODERATED BY MARK E. KLEIN, MD AUTHORITY MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ED HAJIM: RISING THROUGH RESILIENCE; FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO BECOME MORE RESILIENT LEADERS MAGAZINE: Interview with Ed Hajim, Chairman, HighVista Strategies, LLC (leadersmag.com) EDHAJIM.COM/MEDIA Although Ed’s life is a rags to riches American success story on every level - his challenging beginnings still stayed with him. So he read and read a lot. Over time he was able to use his inner voice, his one consistency, to create the ultimate mentor: Ed Hajim’s The Four P’s: Passion, Principles, Partners and Plan – from ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED:
