Miranda Levi

I was recently asked, What is the most impressive thing you have ever accomplished? After a bit of thought, I wanted to share my answer:

The most impressive thing I’ve ever accomplished isn’t a single event—it’s a pattern throughout my life. Time and again, I’ve been presented with challenges or opportunities that seemed impossible, and I’ve chosen to say yes and prove what’s possible.

When I was a kid, it was writing my first book in the third grade, Cinderella Lied. In high school, it was being one of only four students in a class of 400 to graduate with an associate degree alongside my diploma—after a teacher told me I’d never amount to anything when I asked to drop their class so I could pursue college-level courses instead. Moments like that have fueled my drive to push past limits and expectations.

Later, it was graduating with two master’s degrees, becoming a 911 dispatcher and saving my first life, and building a pinball bar business from the ground up that turned a profit in its first year.

It was also the year I drove solo across 22 states, the day I finished and published my first novel, and the moment I signed my first author, whose book went on to be nominated for two awards with my small press.

Even when someone told me I “couldn’t,” like when I was told a Mac user couldn’t program on a Linux system, I taught myself how—just to prove them wrong.

So perhaps my most impressive accomplishment is this: I refuse to let others define my limits. I’ve built a life and career around saying yes, pushing myself past expectations, and turning challenges into milestones.