When Will Friend was 15 years old, he traveled alone from the United Kingdom to Washington, D.C., and after a few days he called his parents across the Atlantic to break some news: He wasn’t coming back. Most teenagers could never have gotten away with such a bold move, but most kids weren’t Will and not only did he get away with it — he convinced them that it was a good idea. So, he left the prestigious Harrow School in London, made famous by his idol Sir Winston Churchill, and set off for a new life. As he recalled later, he just instantly “fell in love with America.” “I could feel the American dream,” Friend said in 2019 on The Fort podcast. “It’s hard to truly appreciate what that feels like until you’ve lived somewhere else. Anything is possible in America, and it’s important to never take that for granted.” By all accounts, he never did. Motivating people to go to places within themselves and push beyond their own self-perceived limits was a hallmark of Will’s personality, but his first project was himself, and coming to the U.S. alone as a teenager was an early glimpse of the man Will became. Through sheer determination, it worked out quite well for Will. By the time he turned 27, he had already risen through the ranks of Bisnow to become its CEO. He transformed the company from a local, family-run events business into a global company that now boasts 350 annual digital and… Read Full Story  | 
