And when she examined the unauthorized flight arrangements Richard Vance had been hiding, those words would return to her.
Because an aircraft scheduling system that looked impressive while concealing unreliable behavior wasn't a successful system.
It was a dangerous one.
After graduation, Naomi accepted a position with a medical logistics company in New Jersey.
Her salary was modest.
But the job placed her close to the problems she wanted to understand.
She studied delivery schedules, equipment availability, and the complicated coordination required between hospitals, couriers, aviation providers, and specialized transportation companies.
She discovered that many organizations possessed excellent individual teams but struggled to share accurate information.
A dispatcher might know a vehicle was delayed.
A hospital coordinator might not.
An aircraft operator might change an arrival time.
The receiving facility might continue preparing for the original schedule.
Each person worked hard.
Yet the overall system failed because the right information didn't reach the right person soon enough.
Naomi began designing tools to reduce those gaps.
At first, she worked on improvements within her employer's systems.
Then she developed an idea for a separate platform that could coordinate specialized medical shipments across multiple transportation providers.
She didn't want to own every truck or airplane.
She wanted to make the entire process more reliable.
The idea eventually became Ellis Horizon Group.
She founded the company at twenty-five with a small amount of savings, a business loan, and financial support from two former colleagues who believed in her work.
The first office was a rented room above a printing business.
It contained three desks, two computers, and an air conditioner that made an alarming rattling sound whenever it started.
Her father repaired the air conditioner twice.
Her mother brought food every Friday.
And Naomi worked so many hours that she sometimes forgot which day of the week it was.
The first year was terrible.
Potential customers liked her presentations but hesitated to trust a company with no established record.
Larger competitors offered similar services.
Investors questioned whether she understood the financial risks.
And several executives treated her youth as evidence that she lacked authority.
One prospective client laughed when she introduced herself as the founder.
"Where's your boss?"
Naomi smiled politely.