Working on something meaningful is a common desire – but how? We started asking folks to share the story of how they ended up working on a project they felt was meaningful because we wanted inspiration but also because we wondered if hearing from people from across a range of industries would help us identify patterns making it more likely for anyone to be able to find and work on projects that they would find meaningful.

Jordan Bell

Currently I am working on a podcast series titled Reboot. Reboot is a podcast where my college roommate David Grunfeld and I take some of our favorite movies and TV shows and “Reboot” them. Now, Rebooting the show could mean we come up with a sequel, prequel, or even a spin off tv series. On the podcast, we both present our idea to a friend of ours, that serves as a guest judge and that person picks a winner. I love this project for a few reasons. The first being, I believe in the originality of it. Throughout our friendship which has now spanned over 16 years. Read more>>

Dash Kwiatkowski

I created Liminal, a paranormal investigation docuseries that I co-host, about the connection between queerness and transness and the High Strange and the Magical. I have been working on this show for around 5 years and our pilot episode has won awards at film festivals all over the world. In the first season of the docuseries I try to highlight queer and trans people in the rural american south, as I don’t believe their stories are heard and celebrated enough. Read more>>

Jenny Tran

One of the most meaningful projects for me is booking my first lead. As an Asian woman, I was always the supporting character or the funny sidekick. I was making a living off of commercials which was an accomplishment but I never really got a chance to really sink my teeth into a character like you do when you are the main protagonist. All the work and preparation I had done in the many years of classes and workshops for one line co-stars felt reductive to what I was capable of and was yearning for. When I got my lead in Little Miss Sociopath. I beat thousands of other actors for the part.One of the most meaningful projects for me is booking my first lead. As an Asian woman, I was always the supporting character or the funny sidekick. I was making a living off of commercials which was an accomplishment but I never really got a chance to really sink my teeth into a character like you do when you are the main protagonist. All the work and preparation I had done in the many years of classes and workshops for one line co-stars felt reductive to what I was capable of and was yearning for. When I got my lead in Little Miss Sociopath. I beat thousands of other actors for the part.One of the most meaningful projects for me is booking my first lead. As an Asian woman, I was always the supporting character or the funny sidekick. I was making a living off of commercials which was an accomplishment but I never really got a chance to really sink my teeth into a character like you do when you are the main protagonist. All the work and preparation I had done in the many years of classes and workshops for one line co-stars felt reductive to what I was capable of and was yearning for. When I got my lead in Little Miss Sociopath. I beat thousands of other actors for the part. Read more>>

Charla Pettingill

n early 2024, I created a series of spot illustrations for L’Occitane’s Mother’s Day discovery set packaging. Collaborating with their talented NYC-based creative team was a joy, and I was especially proud of how the artwork came together: digitally painted florals, botanical accents, insects, and hand lettering all woven into a vibrant, celebratory design. What made this project particularly special was the timing: I was expecting my first baby, and the packaging launched just in time for my very first (unofficial) Mother’s Day. Read more>>

Greg O’Connor

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on is a personal song, “Through Your Eyes” which I wrote for my fiancé Kevin Sikorski for our upcoming wedding. Kevin is a highly regarded and sought after photographer who has a creative mind for the visual arts. About a year and a half ago, we were visiting Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford CT. I was attempting to take a photo of the estate and surrounding gardens. Kevin quickly repositioned my hands to get a better angle of the shot. I thought to myself “If I could see the world through your eyes.” This was the inspiration of the song which took on a deeper meaning as we got closer. The song is really about being able to “mirror” your partner in order to have better communication empathy and understanding into their way of thinking. Read more>>

Bianca Wright

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on has been being part of the Tiger Friday #TIGRICON ambassador team. It’s more than just wearing cool, edgy styles (although that’s definitely a perk!). What makes it special is how it’s helped me grow—not just as a dancer, but as a leader and role model. When I first joined, I was excited but a little nervous. I looked up to so many of the other dancers and couldn’t believe I was now part of the team. But through this journey, I’ve found my own voice and confidence. I’ve learned how to express myself on and off the dance floor, represent a brand I truly love, and connect with other dancers who inspire me every day. Read more>>

Benjamin Archibald

Just over a year ago I created what I call, The Imprint Project. This project started with a simple goal: I wanted to create a piece of art for a fundraiser that would spark emotion—and inspire generous bids. As I thought about how to make it truly meaningful, I began to question the value of a single artist’s work versus something created by many. That’s when it clicked—what if the art was a collective piece, made by the hands of the community? Read more>>

Andy Sutphen

Well, we just finished our most dynamic album we’ve ever written.. But it’s finally done. It’s called Hostile Architecture and it’s our 4th album. It’s been almost 3 years since I brought John (Xarras) the demos. And it’s been a wild ride ever since. Read more>>

Emily Nott

The most meaningful project I have worked on has been as a graphic facilitator for organizing and social justice work. This artistic practice has spanned years and remains a part of my life to this day. As a graphic facilitator, I enter education, justice, organizing and community spaces and “listen with my hands.” This means I ink notes and images from an event, convening or action and share those notes with the participants in the space. I have done this work for Teachers for Social Justice, Sustainable Community Schools, and the Dane County Food Collective. I have also been a graphic facilitator for individual speakers including Tony DeLaRosa (Anti-Racist and Pro-Asian American educator and author of “Teaching the Invisible Race”).  Read more>>

Ana Beatriz Silva

I was born in Mexico and raised in Guatemala, the heart of the Mayan culture. A culture that has a story of science, art and conquest that became a clash of cultures. For the good and the bad a story that defines us.
My latest ceramic collection is called Mestiza. The collection consists of pieces combining red native clay and white European clay, dramatizing its fusion. Evolving to vertical constructions generated by a layering of mostly broken pieces, my way to embrace our roots, ourselves. Read more>>

MarShon Peoples

The most meaningful project I ever worked on was writing my first book Epiphany The Designated Bullet.

Writing this book was meaningful to me because it helped me to see my progression from tragedy to triumph. Writing this book also allowed me to share my lessons, in hopes that my mistakes might be some youths wisdom. Read more>>

Yeonjin Park

As a product designer who has experienced the complexities of the tech industry firsthand, my most meaningful project is Collecto, a personal work documentation tool I developed during my master’s program. It grew out of my own challenges tracking and validating professional experiences. I created an AI-powered platform that automatically generates worklogs from users’ digital work history, addressing a real problem many tech professionals face when trying to document their achievements. Read more>>

Ginger Ooi

The most meaningful project I worked on was one of our latest Travel Series titles here at Assouline – Kyoto Serenity. Although it has been wonderful working on projects on locations across the world such as Cartagena, Santo Domingo, Rio de Janeiro and more. This one hit close to home as it was where my father attended college and was a frequent location of our family vacations growing up. Therefore, I had a strong sense of responsibility in making sure this book turned out to be extraordinary. Read more>>

Sadie Piper

As a creative, this question has been presented to me many times in many forms: “most meaningful project,” “most memorable experience,” “most life-changing achievement,” and my answer has always been that my achievements/memorable experiences/meaningful projects have never been just about me. It’s always been about the creative communities that have welcomed me and allowed me to be myself and grow. Read more>>

Bekah Kolbe

The most meaningful projects I’ve worked on are those that connect emerging artists with new collectors—especially when those connections create real, lasting change in both of their lives. There’s something incredibly powerful about helping an artist who’s just starting to break through—someone still juggling a full-time job—make that leap into becoming a full-time fine artist. At the same time, guiding a collector to discover the joy of investing in an artist early in their career is equally rewarding. It’s about more than just a sale—it’s about creating relationships that can shape the course of an artist’s journey and ignite a lifelong passion for collecting. Read more>>

Haig Gevorgian

I recently Just finished an album to be released April 18 of this year. It began as another tunnel vision fueled compilation of songs that had no relativity to each other and a hope to just create the next thing. I had been writing and playing guitar for 23 years at this point and doing it the same way. Little did I know that ever piece of routine and understanding within me as an artist was about to be disassembled. Read more>>

Momo Chapin

What kinda music am I supposed to make during the year that I moved, joined BerkleeNYC’s grad program, then suddenly lost my dad. I sifted through a lot of shock, was flooded with nostalgia, and then fought on every song to find the remaining rays of joy. This album is the soundtrack to a year-from-hell where I grappled with proving to myself that losing a loved one doesn’t drain life of purpose. This album is ENCHANTÉ. Read more>>

Lilli Eller

Many of my art projects study the theme of the relationship between the natural world and humanity. I am a person who thrives in the embrace of the woods, and shrinks away from bustling cityscapes. I took my senior thesis project as an opportunity to reflect my awe for nature and horror about destructive humankind. I worked on a series of five paintings depicting how humans try to control nature and wishes for a time when the paths of humanity and nature wind tightly together once more. The imagery was pulled from mythological creatures that had occupied much of my childhood fascination. Read more>>

Claudine Pierre-Louis

Logan Alcosiba, a transgender woman, wrote a short film titled, Amid the Noise & Haste. It’s a film about a trans woman who tries to regain her sense of security through voice feminization therapy, but amid naysayers and her own self scrutiny she struggles and yearns to find a true voice of her own. Claudine Pierre-Louis, owner of Clawreigna Production, is producing this film with the Vice President of her company, Faith Stanton. This film was directed by director and photographer, Julie Goldstone in January 2025. Read more>>

Margo Parker

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is actually a tie—between the first project I ever did, and the most recent. Both shaped me in ways I’ll never forget.

My first project was a musical performance piece called “Wannabe” set in the 1990s, about a girl group auditioning for a record label. I got to perform at the legendary Viper Room, which was already surreal, but what made it truly special was how many parts of myself I got to bring into it. I was singing, acting, dancing—fully embodying a character with every sense. It was the first time I felt what it was like to live inside a role, not just play one. It affirmed everything I love about storytelling. Read more>>

Kayleigh Eppinger

Last year I completed my first ground-up build. It’s the first project of mine where I was there from the very beginning. This project in particular was on a remote mountaintop in rural Maine and when my client first took me to the site where he was thinking of building it, we had to hike through the woods to get there. When we started out there were no roads, electricity or water up there, it was just an untouched plot of land. So to be able to start with nothing except a vision in my head of what it could be, and then see that vision eventually materialize was so rewarding. My client put a lot of trust into me, which is ideal as a designer. It was a project I spent so much time thinking about and to see it finally come to life was magical. Read more>>

Fallon Brannon

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on is the “LinkedIn Catfish” article with Teen Vogue. It’s considered my first piece in a large publication. I was in a professional rut as I tried to navigate this complex job market while living in Los Angeles. I didn’t necessarily have a full-time job; I was temping, so I was in the market for something full-time. I chose to abandon writing as a creative outlet because I began to see the art as a chore; I felt that I was writing about the same frustrations that reflected my reality, and the craft just wasn’t fun for me anymore. But in my traditional chronically-online fashion, I was scrolling down my TikTok “For You” page one night, and a mutual of mine reposted a video of a young Black woman, Aliyah Jones, struggling with similar issues that I was facing. Read more>>

Megh Patil

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was a short film called Cub, which I directed during a filmmaking summer programme in Italy in 2023.

We shot it in Calabria with a 70-year-old Italian theatre actor, Capitano, and a 7-year-old girl, Vittoria. Neither of them spoke English—and none of us on the crew spoke Italian. My Italian was basically limited to ordering a gelato. The crew was beautifully international: a Kenyan DOP, a German AD, and me as the Indian director—with Google Translate holding us all together. Read more>>

Johnny Brasley

my organization and I were recognized for our social impact thru our skateboard education scholarship that we offered at Parisite DIY skatepark. our non-profit organization (Transitional Spaces) is responsible for operating maintaining and managing the space

Transitional Spaces: Best of Social Impact Through Skateboarding in New Orleans of 2025
New Orleans is a city defined by resilience, creativity, and a deep sense of community. Leading the charge in youth empowerment through skateboarding, Transitional Spaces has been recognized with the Best of Social Impact Through Skateboarding in New Orleans of 2025 award. This honor highlights their unwavering commitment to fostering growth, education, and connection among local youth through the transformative power of skateboarding. Read more>>

Tanisha Nevrekar

I’ve always known I wanted to create garments not just clothes, but pieces that speak, that feel like they hold emotion and history. Even as a kid, I’d be sketching outfits in the margins of my notebooks or draping fabric over anything that resembled a mannequin. So when it came time to finally put together my first collection, I knew it had to mean something. It would be wrong to say my most meaningful project was anything other than Rhapsody of Resilience because that’s where it all started, both creatively and personally. Read more>>

Rob Fitzgerald

As a indie country music recording artist, each song I write, record and perform brings a new found excitement, momentum, more fans and more industry connections. Nothing could be more true than my current single release ‘Sounds Like A Memory’. With my last 4 singles charting on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart and 5 songs going to #1 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown the culmination lead to making the connection and signing a single release with music publisher For The Record based out of Nashville, TN. The company was founded by country artist and songwriter Aaron Goodvin and his wife Victoria who has worked in the music publishing business for many years. Read more>>

Kase Peña

The most meaningful project I have worked on is TRANS LOS ANGELES, the independent feature film I have recently finalized, which took me four years to complete, and that is right now making the rounds in the film festival circuit. This film was not financed by a studio or a streamer, nor did it have the backing of a production company. It was made thanks to a number of grants and scraping a few dollars here and there. Read more>>

Ruoyun(Dry) Dai

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is Dream Complex, an immersive AR installation that bridges storytelling, psychology, and emotion. It was born during a time when I was deeply preoccupied with the language of dreams—how they carry unresolved feelings, shape memory, and reveal parts of ourselves we often can’t articulate in waking life. Read more>>

Steven Kinchen Jr

The most meaningful project I have worked on so far is probably our newest song “I know you want me”. This song is about the commitment I made to my wife when we said “I do” to remain faithful to her even when temptations are everywhere you look. Frontmen tend to get a lot of attention, and with that attention comes a lot of opportunity to fail. Marriage is choosing every day to love that person more than you did yesterday, and this song allows me to openly speak about this on stage and publicly declare my love for my wife whenever we play it. Read more>>

Richard Washington

Less Sad Boy Poetry is my latest project and is more than just an album—it’s a snapshot of my inner world during a transformative time in my life. I created it in the postpartum haze, grounded at home during my wife’s pregnancy, navigating the emotional terrain of becoming a father again while trying to hold onto myself. Read more>>

Sophia Ellis

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is my upcoming indie film, #WhoKilledJabori. It’s a murder mystery rooted in the flashy, high-pressure world of social media influencers — but beneath the suspense and style, it’s about identity, truth, and the masks we wear to survive. Read more>>

Makayla Gilliard

Being that I’m a Passionate creative I believe that I invite other passionate projects into my life. The most meaningful projects I’ve worked on is honestly when the client and or creative shares their passion for whatever we are creating. I’ve done hair for the elderly , disabled , celebrity and day to day people and out of them all its fulfilling and meaningful when you’re able to make that person happy . not who can pay the most but show their appreciation by seeing your passion connected to the purpose of that specific connection. Read more>>

Grace Graber

This last August I released my very first full length album. Me and my team had a vision to releasea project that represented all the areas in life we might need breakthrough. “The Breakthrough” is about accepting the broken pieces as they are and understanding that God want to repurpose it from something much greater. We started producing singles and quickly released we were pursuing a full length album. It was incredibly hard because I’m currently independent but we did it. We believe that God is gonna use those songs to save someones life. Read more>>

Tayzha “Mama T” Collier

This year I’ve started my most meaningful project, called Conversations for Collective with Mama T. It’s a podcast available on my YouTube channel @4thecollectivewithmamat. I have been so blessed to have had many different conversations throughout my spiritual journey, that have expanded and challenged my mindset in a beautiful way. I’m a talker, a truth teller, and to be able to use my platform to give back to my community just fills my cup. With my podcast, I am sharing these expansive conversations with the world. Intentionally not gate keeping the secrets the practitioners use to get by, and to feel whole and happy. Read more>>

Max Ehrman

I have painted murals for over 12 schools and have transformed the context of the students learning environment from one of dreary blank walls to color and energy. I have also painted in cities all over the world and have interacted with people through the bridge of art. Read more>>