Allow us to introduce you to
Michael Konanec, Jr. one of our latest investors and Board member!
Michael Konanec, Jr. embodies the essence of self-made success. While he originally planned on pursuing a doctorate in genetics and physics, he became a true renaissance man and, instead, utilized his abilities to work in a wide range of industries from professional basketball, to actor and stuntman, roofer, and even a VIP-bodyguard (where he met Faviola, our founder) before becoming a serial entrepreneur and investor.
During his basketball career, Michael suffered from multiple concussions, resulting in brain swelling, seizures, and memory impairment. He still experiences cognitive difficulties, particularly with memory. Unfortunately, athletes often bear the high costs of injuries they incur while pursuing their dreams and brain injuries in sports are not taken as seriously as physical injuries, resulting in many athletes not receiving appropriate medical attention.
While struggling with his own cognitive injuries, Michael’s father began showing signs of early-onset dementia and his grandmother also had Alzheimer’s Disease. Ultimately, Michael retired from basketball to help care for his ailing father. It was painful for him to notice how similar the cognitive challenges they faced were. After his father passed away Michael immersed himself in his father’s roofing business; growing it as a loving tribute to his dad, Mike the Roofer. In the meantime, Michael also expand into other business endeavours too. Through his connections he found himself in the early stages of Amazon’s logistics industry launching several last mile delivery companies and quickly expanded into several other industries.
Michael became more conscious of the significance of cognitive health after suffering brain injuries himself and watching his father and grandmother’s mental health deteriorate. Nowadays, he is a proponent of healthy brains and raising awareness of brain injuries from sports. He is fierce and outspoken advocate and even played a role in a production for the Brain Trauma Foundation that focused on concussions in college athletes.
Through his hard work, Michael has been able to invest in companies that he genuinely believes in. Understanding cognitive challenges first-hand and seeing how they affected those close to him, Michael recently invested in NeuroReality. He recognizes the importance of helping others who suffer the consequences of cognitive problems and he sees NeuroReality as a leading solutions provider in the emerging healthcare landscape.
We are very fortunate to have his business expertise and all the valuable connections he brings on board. Michael shared, “Besides my uncle Bernard, I’m the last male Konanec in the United States. I find it important to do everything I can to honor my family’s name and make them all proud. Prior to investing, I saw this as an opportunity to attach ‘Konanec’ to something great, but shortly after, I found out that I have a son on the way! So now I have two ways of carrying on the family name while hopefully providing a better future for him!”
Michael is using Koji’s Quest himself to provide us with first-hand feedback on improvements his memory issues. We are excited about collaborating with him and welcome him to our NeuroReality team!
Fun fact: Michael’s love for basketball has taken him to slam-dunk on six continents, including Easter Island! He only has Antarctica left to become the first person in the world to have dunked in all of them!