Kindness begets kindness. So, wanted to create a space to share and amplify stories of kindness with the hope that it inspires a chain reaction.

Stephanie Vega

As a crafter who loves to make a little bit of everything; I can’t tell you how many times people walk to my booth and see a cup or a tote bag that triggers a core memory and tells me the stories of their memories. Just this past weekend a mom stopped by my both and saw a little elephant cup and told me that her toddler was obsessed with Dumbo and started telling me the baby stories. Read more>>

Teresa Vick

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was say, “So you’re an artist!” I looked at her with a confused expression on my face. What? I’m not an artist, I only dabble. “No, you’re an artist, just like me.” That moment changed me forever. And then it happened again a year or two later with another artist, a local photographer friend. “So you’re a Black and White Photographer!” Stunned again I sat there for a minute absorbing what she had said after I told her I might be done with photography because I only wanted to do black and white work. I thought to myself, “Can I actually just be a photographer who only produces black and white work?” Then, “Why not? Why can’t I choose to do the kind work I love to produce?” It became so obvious after it as spoken outlaid Read more>>

Dave Newman

I have a letter of recommendation from Gerald Locklin thumbtacked to a piece of corkboard in my office. The letter must be 20 years old and the paper has started to go brittle and turn brown. It says the stuff that letters of recommendations say, but better, but more personal. Gerald Locklin, a California author who wrote really accessible poetry that was also smart and terrifically funny, was one of the first poets I discovered on my own, away from the classroom. I found one of his chapbooks on a library bookshelf when I was 22 and just starting to read seriously. A chapbook is small collection of poems. In the 90s, chapbooks were usually paper folded over into a pamphlet-looking thing. I pulled the Locklin chapbook off the shelf because it looked ridiculous. I’d never seen a chapbook before, and it reminded of a church bulletin or a PTA newsletter.  Read more>>

Carol Dorn

I am thinking career-wise the kindest thing was when Campbell Scott let me shadow him on a film he directed. It was early Fall, right after I was at Williamstown Theatre festival as an actress. Unfortunately they found out I knew tech, so by a third of the way through the season I barely made any acting classes. But my ego was bolstered because I was “in demand” as a board op and many other positions like scenic painter etc. Campbell had been there that season as well. SO when he saw me doing wardrobe supervision on this film that he was directing he said hi and “…why are you doing this? What do you really want to do?” And I said “I really want to direct.” So he said, “Ok, every day, after you finish your wardrobe set up, come find me and shadow me every day.” And I did and it was like having a private master class. Read more>>

Lakysha Hampton

The kindness thing that has happened to me was my yoga teacher Mrs. Deva Parnell blessing me with my yoga teacher training certification. It was September 13, 2019. I had enrolled myself into yoga teacher training at Discovery yoga in St Augustine Fl. When I enrolled myself I was very hesitant. In my mind I was already preparing to pursue the yoga program however I just didn’t know it was going to happen so fast. When I went to do my research on which yoga training program I wanted to take I had misread the dates of when the program was starting. So when I went to go visit the school and I spoke with Scott who is a another yoga teacher there . He told me that they would be starting in the next couple of weeks. My heart dropped because in my notes they weren’t starting until that following year. Read more>>

John Huynh

The local college was hosting an artist market, but not many people had shown up due to two factors: it had been raining on a cold day, so not many students were out, and I believe winter break had just begun, so not many students were on campus to begin with. These were just factors out of anyone’s control, but it did put a damper on my setup, since the market was outside. There just so happened to be a crepe seller next to me, and he was a kind older man who offered to let me use the tent he had in his truck. Read more>>

Robert Butch

One thing I strongly believe, that many people disagree with, is that makeup is for everyone, regardless of gender. Being a masculine man who enjoys doing eyeliner, I often get pushback from those who think makeup is only for women. The journey to this belief started when I first tried eyeliner just for fun. I realized it wasn’t about conforming to a stereotype but about expressing myself creatively. As a man, especially one who might be considered masculine, people assume I’d never engage in something like this. But for me, makeup is an art form, and being confident enough to embrace that is empowering. It wasn’t about making a statement, but over time, it became a way for me to show that you can be both strong and break traditional norms. I think it’s important to challenge outdated views and redefine what masculinity can look like. Read more>>

Vince Quinn

Most people who do business podcasts default to having a show that’s based on interviewing guests. It’s the wrong approach for a large percentage of people–especially solopreneurs and service providers. They should be owning their platform instead of handing off to another person every week. How are you supposed to build and audience and get clients if your marketing hardly has your voice in it? I came to the realization recently while in a cycle of regularly booking myself on other people’s podcasts. Almost all of them were connected to a business, and I dominated probably 90% of the episode by design. They would take 15 seconds to ask me a question, I’d answer it for 3-5 minutes, and repeat the cycle until the recording was over.  Read more>>

Rachel Mcever

I don’t pay for Leads! There are hundreds of companies whose sole purpose is to give “leads” to real estate agents, and a lot of agents pay for these leads (at a pretty hefty price tag too). Although, I respect each individual’s way of running their business, I personally won’t spend my resources paying for leads. I would much rather spend money on taking someone out to coffee or dropping off holiday treats to my past clients and friends. I would much rather spend my time going out and meeting new people or volunteering with local organizations than cold calling leads who don’t even know me. I am such a relationship person that my whole business model is based off of networking and nurturing all of the relationships in my life. I make “friends” everywhere I go and I genuinely take interest in people and their lives. I keep this quote in my car so I see it every day while I’m out, “One connection can change your life” and I truly believe that. Read more>>

Dan Michael Jedrejczyk

As a film producer, I spend a large part of my time promoting and marketing films on social media and in person. But I don’t stop there. I promote films that I’m not producing too. I believe in being an ally to other filmmakers. Those filmmakers don’t have to create films in the same genre. For instance, Kris McMenamin is a filmmaker currently working on a comedy drama entitled “Misfits”. I produce films in horror and sci-fi. He reached out to me on Instagram. I have been promoting his film even though it’s unrelated to films I’m producing. Read more>>