Stories are incredibly powerful – their ability to teach, inspire, and create understanding is why we are so in love with storytelling. Most stories have a defining moment and so we’ve asked some of the most talented, insightful folks across a broad range of industries and markets to tell us about a defining moment in their story.

Stephanie Kantu

I never thought I’d end up dedicating my life to helping others get better and transform their health. But let me tell you, life took me on a crazy ride. It all started with me being overweight my whole life and dealing with a bunch of health issues. I had problems with my thyroid, messed-up digestion, autoimmune disease, arthritis, anxiety, depression—you name it, I had it. I was so sick, physically, mentally, and emotionally, that I hit rock bottom. Read more>>

Shawna Webb

In my two-decade journey in the healthcare industry, I encountered a pivotal moment that reshaped the trajectory of my professional life. Twenty years of relentless 16-hour days took a toll on my health, culminating in the need for a total knee replacement in my 30s. Read more>>

Deja Osborne

A couple months into my practice, I felt that I was beginning to hit a wall. Being a novice entrepreneur, recently laid off from my corporate job, I felt a sense of urgency in getting my business fully up and running. The problem was – I had no idea how I could connect people to the purpose behind my business and struggled to find my niche clientele. Read more>>

Domasha Beavers

Defining, my moment was more like understanding who I was in reality. Learning to accept me for me. Not being afraid of what people thought about me or felt about my career choice. Grown-up in church and then having a gift to read people was hard so I had to make a decision just to be me. Read more>>

Megan Thompson

The moment I let myself break free from the boxes I trapped myself in and leaned into curiosity instead. We often box ourselves in to feel in control or because our brains love sticking to the usual. We set out on our paths thinking, “Okay, to keep going, I’ve got to look a certain way, act a certain way, do these specific things.” And yeah, sometimes that helps us connect with ourselves and others, sparking growth. Read more>>

James Keegan

My professional career was deeply impacted by seeing my mother deteriorate. Psychosomatic illnesses are real and so too is Psychosomatic healing. It took only 18 months for my mother to succumb to mental anguish causing a massive coronary heart attack. My mother passed away in my arms as I tried to resuscitate her. This has led me on a journey to help others heal. Read more>>

Ke’o Velasquez

I was about about three months into my first job in senior living as an Executive Chef at an independent living community managing a particularly difficult Sous Chef. The rumor was they had applied for the Executive Chef position and when they did not get it as expected there were strong feelings of bitterness and resentment. Having spent a number of years working in the restaurant industry where the Gordan Ramsey-esque style of management and leadership was rampant, I had adopted a very direct and unfiltered approach to difficult staff. Read more>>

Karen Abdool

I have had several defining moments in my career. Perhaps the most significant came at one of the lowest times in my life. The covid epidemic had just begun, when my husband of 14 years filed for divorce in June 2020. I was already incredibly burnt out in my career and was carrying an unbearable patient load. I felt that i could not properly care for any of my patients. In addition, I was a supervising physician which added extra duties. Read more>>

Daisey Anglow

“Realizing I can grow my practice beyond what I thought possible”. When I transitioned from an in office practice to virtual, I had a true concern of how will I be able to reach the clientele that I want to without any knowledge of marketing or PR or SEO even. By using social media, I realized that there was more than ever a need for my voice and what I offered. Towards the end of my first year in solo practice I had one person who found me though social media purchase my first high ticket offer. Read more>>

Kurt Webber

I’m not sure what category this falls under but maybe “defining moment” works for my experience as a volunteer. I suspect that Gregg Martin recommended me to you because of my work with Camp Resilience. As one of the founders, I am very proud that we have run 117 Camp Resilience retreats since 2014 that have served over 1100 participants. Read more>>

Nicole Laird

I have been a physical therapist close to 12 years now and there have been a few key moments in my career. One of the biggest defining moments for me was after I had my oldest son (he’s 7.5 now). I walked back into my CrossFit gym at 7 weeks postpartum and started working out, after all, my doctor said “ease back into it.” I thought I was taking it slow. Turns out I moved a little too quickly and ended up with injury after injury leaving me frustrated and feeling alone. Read more>>

Jenny Smith

One day, I was sitting in front of the computer attending a training about cultural adaptation. Suddenly, I was struck by the parallels between living cross-culturally and transitioning to life with a disability. My journey with disability began when I was sixteen years old after I sustained a C6-7 spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the chest down and without the use of my hands. I had entered the world of disability without training on how to survive. Read more>>

Ryan DeLapp

I would say there have been two defining moments that have led me to the career I so dearly love and cherish. First, I was a 16 y/o camp counselor at the local YMCA in Winston Salem, NC. And, during a morning drop off, I observed a kid and his mother engaged in a heated argument that resulted in the mother storming off and the kid in tears. I approached the kid, sat with him, and then he asked me what would end up being a career defining question, “Why doesn’t my mother love me, man? Read more>>

Michael Holcomb

Of all the questions this one stood out the most to me I moved to Baltimore in 2015 fresh out of a trade school for HVAC with no job lines up just some money saved and some friends that had the same idea to choose Baltimore, its fun, charming and just a great time. Especially in your early 20s, In my first month i got an incredible Job working in the hvac trade, was healthy ‘Or so I thought’ and was feeling confident in life. Read more>>

Relentless Royal

I’ve always dreamed of doing a TED Talk! For two years straight, I kept applying to get my first opportunity… but nothing opened up for me. I was discouraged and I was like…. “Forget it…” BUT get this… not too long after a door opened up!!! Please take notes family. PLEASE! 1. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. This opportunity came out of NOWHERE. I didn’t have a year to practice my talk nor months. I had about 42 days to get right. Read more>>

Shay Williams

A defining moment for me was when I realized that I don’t do well in boxes. What do I mean by that? I see myself as a person with many talents and interest but often times there’s this pressure to be really good at one thing and to stick with that. I realized this year that that is not the case for me. I would describe myself as pretty free spirited and dynamic meaning that I’m not just a therapist, but I’m also an author, I love creating relatable content, I like to twerk on my spare time, I sing and I am a pet sitter on the weekends! Read more>>

Eryn Price RMT

I was having a major crisis in my career as a healer and massage therapist. I’d been a healer for about 15 years at the time, only the last 3 as a registered massage therapist. I was facing burn out, chronic pain and the potential end of my career as a “professional helper”. I was trying to make change within my massage practice with my existing clientele, but it was not working very well. I found myself crying on the couch most nights after work, and I couldn’t even lift my teacup without cradling it between two hands because my hands were in so much pain from fingertips to elbows. Read more>>

Kate Neligan

There were two major defining moments in my professional career. The first was when I was still working as a marketing executive at a movie studio in Los Angeles. I was attending a Master’s program in Spiritual Psychology which was all about living a soul-centered life and remembering that we are divine beings having a human experience. Yet I was still selling horror movies and very unfulfilled at work despite my success with salary, title, and ability to get things done. Read more>>

Diana Perkovic

My mission is twofold; to purify the word empowerment and to help women live an empowered life, on their own terms. For the longest time, we’ve been sold a co-opted, packaged, branded and marketed definition of empowerment. There is no one-size-fits-all definition of empowerment – but that seemed to be the main message. This observation came into razor sharp focus for me in 2022. I was hit by a suburban while crossing the street. Read more>>

Brittany Webb

In reflection, I can see small defining moments throughout my career. The most profound was at my last job where I felt I was unable to apply my clinical skills effectively due to the company’s values and was not heard when providing my insights in my role. In addition to these issues, my supervisor and I did not align. In any case, this caused high stress and my work expectations pushed the boundaries into my personal life. Read more>>

Sam Rassoul

My defining moment would ironically be my first moment with chiropractic care. After earning my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami, I earned a job as a biomedical engineer with Boston Scientific Corporation, working in both their Miami and upstate New York plants on validation and verification projects. During this time, I endured an elbow injury one day while training at the gym. Read more>>

Imani Jackson

Moving to California especially, really opened my eyes more, to the beauty of nature. From 2021 till about 2022 I used that as a catalyst for what I wanted to do professionally. I started incorporating that more into my model, having shoots in more natural environments, using and wearing more natural colors to compliment what I see outside. Read more>>

Nikki Naab-Levy

My journey in the fitness world started with me becoming a group fitness instructor and teaching Pilates. When I first began teaching, I knew I was flexible, but I had no idea that my hypermobility would have such an impact on my fitness experience and pain levels. I’ve always believed that there’s no such thing as “bad exercise” or “bad movements,” but it turned out that the style of group fitness I was teaching wasn’t the best fit for hypermobility. Read more>>

Kim McGuiness

Actually, there were defining momentS throughout my career. My career has spanned being a teacher, an Executive Administrator/Human Resource Generalist then Officer of Executive Development and Training, to Executive School Board Member, Business and Leadership Consultant to Clinicial Mental Health Counselor/Small Business Owner. Each time my career evolved it gave me insights into my strengths and areas of opportunities to grow. Read more>>

Sebastian White

April 22, 2020 and May 19, 2020, will forever be meaningful and painful for me. I lost my aunt Gwen first, who was like a second mother and I mean that literally because she was. A month later I lost my father… my rock, my best friend, my hero. I couldn’t resolve them being gone so I created The Evolved Network. An incorporation of our passions, our unconditional care, and their lifelong support of so many different lives. Read more>>

Edwin Echevarria

One client I trained came to me with depression, anxiety, and fear of never being able to find a healthy relationship or have children. She was over 300 pounds at a height of 5’4. After 6 months of training she lost 75 pounds and became the strongest version of herself that she had ever been. She gained the confidence to begin dating and ended up finding love and having her first child. Read more>>

Monica Bowens

I have had many defining moments in my career with the first occurring when I switched from a pre-nursing major to child development in college. However, the moment that has set me on the path that I travel today is when I left the early childhood field for social work. I have worked with or on behalf of families and children for almost 20 years. This career has been rewarding and helped me support many initiatives in my community. Read more>>