Tony Aguilar is co-founder and CEO of Austin-based Student Loan Genius, Austin-based inventor of the first complete student loan employer benefits solution.

As a first generation high school graduate who grew up in a small West-Texas town, Tony knew he’d have to finance every penny of his out-of-state college tuition. But, what he didn’t know when he walked into the financial aid office to sign his name on the dotted line was that we he would carry more than $100,000 in student loan debt off the graduation stage.

This eye-opening, but all-too-common situation led Tony into a decade-long career in financial services, where he worked as a financial advisor, founding both Amiti Advising, a millennial-focused financial planning company, and Campus Slice, a tuition crowdfunding platform. Today, Tony uses his experience to help crush America’s $1.3 trillion student loan problem with Student Loan Genius’ student loan benefits platform.

Featured in the Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money Magazine, and on CNN, Tony’s commitment to helping young professionals get ahead and live a life free from debt is the common thread in all of his work. President Obama invited him to the White House to share his story and the impact he is having with Student Loan Genius.

When Tony is not leading team strategy at SLG, he is either spending time with his two-year old daughter, running around Town Lake, guest lecturing at the University of Texas and Concordia University on entrepreneurship and personal finance, serving as Chairman of Concordia University’s Emerging Leaders Advisory Board, or mentoring fellow social entrepreneurs and startups.