Leslie Stein

Leslie Stein (1975- ) has tried a little bit of everything. Her non-linear path has given her opportunities to travel the world, study human dynamics, and live life to the fullest every minute. She calls herself a “Life Enthusiast” because if there’s some kind of challenge most people don’t want to tackle…she’ll give it a try. From running a marathon to taking lessons to master the flying trapeeze, Leslie doesn’t know the meaning of the words, “I can’t.”

She decided early on to take the road less traveled, which led her to The U.S. Military Academy at West Point after high school. Leslie spent four years there pursuing a degree in Portuguese (including a summer program in Brazil, which hooked her irrevocably on international travel) before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. She spent seven years as an Aviation officer flying CH-47D Chinook helicopters, including tours in Kosovo & South Korea.

Her writing career came later & sprung from her love of "The Penny Project," a quirky little passion for picking up pennies that led to places she would never have imagined and taught her lessons that just felt too important not to share. Her first book chronicles the unfolding of the first few years of the project as well as stories from other areas of her life including her time as a cadet at West Point and a helicopter pilot in the army.