Winning London
A family seeking healing, growth and adventure
Life-changing moments come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they can be in the form of a painful loss, while other times they can be as simple as someone adding Braille to an amplifier and changing the course of accessibility and history. In January 2026, our family experienced both of these moments back-to-back.
On January 7th, 2026, I was filming Anthony open a giant package that showed up earlier that day. As he pulled out the guitar amp, I could instantly see the most beautiful Braille integration on a product I have ever seen in my life. Anthony reached down and felt the Braille and instantly screamed out in joy. There was Braille everywhere on the front and back plates of the amp, and it was perfectly legible. Victory amplifiers had just changed the game for accessibility in music, and they were the first company to ever attempt this feat.
4 days later, I found myself in an ambulance on the way to the ER. I was a little over 8 weeks pregnant at the time, and mostly only our close friends and family were aware. Things didn’t feel right, and I knew something was wrong. We left the ER that evening with the reports that, although I was in fact pregnant, the ultrasound was showing something missing from the sac, the baby itself. Unsure of where the embryo was and how serious the complications of this pregnancy were, I was sent home to wait for a doctor appointment scheduled the next day. That evening, it became more than obvious that there was no longer going to be a baby coming to us in August 2026. We had lost the child to be, and our lives were kicked into a sprawling forward motion that neither of us could have predicted.
At the time, we lived in a small apartment in our dream town, only a couple of blocks from the Ocean. It was the home we made for ourselves as newly engaged, newly married, first-time dogparents to first-time child parents. Imagining growing even further in this home with another child was a bit nerve-racking, but we were excited to welcome the new life. When we lost the baby, we had a moment to think of what was to come. We knew we wanted another child, a sibling for our sweet daughter, and another chance to become parents all over again. We also knew we wanted to have more space for the growth to happen. On a whim, we applied for pre-approval on a mortgage to see if what we even wanted was at all possible. Approved. All the hard work we had done as husband and wife, running our business together and parenting our only child together daily as her main caregivers, we had somehow made enough for someone to trust us with such a significant financial investment.
Two months later, on March 7th, 2026, our family headed to Newark airport for a redeye to London Heathrow. In the morning, we would be in the United Kingdom for the first time as a family. The next 10 days would unfold a myriad of events that blended healing, tourism, childhood, work, and appreciation all together. As we walked through the streets of London, it was hard not to imagine some of the greatest musicians of all time. We were there as a family, and we weren’t just seeking healing from our loss; we were there to express gratitude for another life-changing event that occurred just before the world’s first Braille amplifier.
First things first, we had to adjust to the time zone with a 2.5-year-old bustling toddler. We have taken her all around the world since she was 7 weeks old, but somehow this felt like our first trip with her. Our first trip with her new consciousness felt magical to witness. With a toddler, logistics matter more than ever and can be intensified at times. We had a pretty busy schedule ahead of us with not only the Victory Amp team but plans to visit Guildford to film content with Andertons Music Company, meet some friends from online we have followed for years, as well as a trip north to meet the beautiful Thorpy family and experience the world’s first Braille guitar effects pedal. But how would we do all of this and make it a memorable experience for our child? — playgrounds. Lots and lots of exploration and adventures within the different play experiences laid across the city and countryside. How slow those first few years of being a parent to a newborn child can feel, and then all of a sudden she’s asking to go to the “Peter Pan clock” and looking up in awe at THE Big Ben.
We made everything an adventure. From grabbing a train on the Underground, transferring to another train, and making it on time to our destination. Maintaining professionalism and parenthood somehow in the same manner. Teamwork. Anthony was able to hold down his role of being present, and I could play with our girl and find us an incredible park to venture to during interviews and quiet times, where having her ask a million questions or randomly melting down with toddler cry-outs were not always appropriate. All the while finding time to film and document the experience from our side in our traditional form of short-form media. It was exhausting at times, or let’s be real, most of the time, but it was also exhilarating. Coming from such a previously dark life moment of losing a child-to-be, we had found life in the form we had so deeply enjoyed, adventure and hustle.
While we were sitting in our London flat enjoying dinner one evening, Anthony opened his email to the biggest job offer of his career. A job that would change everything for our family. Although we were pre-approved for a home loan, we would need money to put down on a home if we could even find one. This job was going to make it possible, and we both embraced each other with a feeling of hope and excitement. We were really doing it. We were taking all that life was throwing at us, figuring out how to live with it, how to move forward, and go after all of the things we wanted so badly.
Reflecting on everything that happened leading up to and on that trip to London, it all feels like a dream. The chain reaction of occurrences and the courage to press forward with international plans ended up giving our family one of the most magical trips together to date. It’s hard to compare one adventure to another as they are all different. But this trip to London with our daughter really came into consciousness and changed everything for us. We got to be kids again. We didn’t just plan for ourselves but for her too. We get to take her along with our work and teach her along the way. She met so many wonderful people and even got to see how Braille amps were made from start to finish. Although she may not remember any of this, I know Anthony and I will, and it was a life-changing trip following so closely to those life-changing moments.
When we arrived home from London, we started looking for houses. After a few misses, we found the one. We put in the offer and waited patiently to see if we would be able to call that our home. While waiting for the mortgage to come through, I was having weird feelings again. Following my intuition, we took a home pregnancy test, and sure enough, it came back positive. We were expecting a child again, and this time they were going to come to us in December. This same year that we lost a baby-to-be, we were still going to gain one. Tears of joy flowed from both our eyes, and we were getting the baby we had prayed for and made so many changes for. The house became our home, and we moved in after the long, grueling process of waiting and waiting and waiting. The funny thing is, after doing the math, we realized our baby-to-be first came to us in London, and we brought home a baby made in the UK, just like the Victory amps that are now offering Braille to anyone who needs it free of charge.
Life-changing moments come in all shapes and sizes. Healing comes in many forms. Hard work eventually pays off, even if it’s not in the way you originally envisioned it. And raising the standard for accessibility in an entire industry is not an impossible goal. Our family was blessed throughout the journey of this year, and as I sit here writing this in July, I smile to myself knowing there are so many more things to come for 2026 that I can only brace myself for and thank God for the family and life he has given us, even if it means it is subjected to change at times, both good and bad. One love.
Congratulations!!
Congratulations!