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.

Kurt Cagasan

Moments in our life definitely change how we view the world and how we show up in life.
About two years ago, we experienced a tragedy and well as a life altering moment that reshaped how we showed up to our practice and how we treated our patients. We lost our new born son after just two days. He was an angel and changed us and our family instantaneously. Read More>>

Lisa Tauai

The defining moment in my professional career as a United States Air Force officer and Registered Dietitian occurred when I met my mentor, Brigadier General Al Flowers. General Flowers taught me invaluable lessons on how to be a true servant leader. The wisdom he instilled in me revolved around having a positive, “can do” attitude, working hard, and treating everyone with dignity and respect. Read More>>

Emily Schirmer

A defining moment in my career was when I worked with one of my youngest clients — a teenager who was experiencing a severe case of acne. He came to me feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and discouraged after trying countless trending “how I cleared my skin” routines online. He had already worked with other professionals, but his skin wasn’t responding the way he’d hoped, and he was starting to lose faith in the process. Read More>>

Hannah McChesney

The defining moment in my career as health coach came about 20 years before I became one. I was diagnosed at the age of 30, with a degenerative blindness, call RP (retinitis pigmentosa). I’d been having a hard time seeing at night, and didn’t see stars anymore. The eye doctor told me I would be blind by 50. No hope. No cure. Read More>>

Allison Davis

The most defining moment in my career was probably getting hired by the Kansas City Current to be their team physical therapist. The people I worked with and learned from are some of the best in the business and I will forever be grateful for my time there because of that. Being surrounded by professionals that set such a high standard for themselves only pushed me to be better. And now I can use the knowledge gained there in my current practice. Read More>>

Karen Sullivan

Oh Yes! At 39. My health had declined tremendously. I knew I had to take a deep dive to understand what was happening to my body. That experience propelled me to leave my corporate job and go back to school for nutrition. Read More>>

Annawyn Laing

I am a lover of wellness and all things Frequency, I’ve spent 25 years studying Ayurveda, reiki, yoga, meditation, trauma informed somatic techniques, kundalini and high vibrational food, and incorporate all of this in my business offerings. Read More>>

Ian Teeley

To be fair, I’m noticing lately defining moments are happening more and more. In the beginning, defining moments were non-existent. So much so that it felt like I was navigating through a dark tunnel with nothing but a book of matches. Wet matches, too. So choosing one defining moment feels impossible, but I can choose my most recent one. Read More>>

Jennifer Margell-England

The moment in my life that changed not only my career path but my whole perspective was when I was seriously injured in a car accident. I happened to be on my commute to my job at the time when I was rear ended, and sustained a head injury. I was unable to return to my job working at a busy dealership, it was crushing at first but, I decided to use my time off to further my education and earn my Yoga Teacher Certification. Read More>>

Iesha Sturdivant

The defining moment in my professional journey wasn’t one specific event. I would say, it was the realization that I didn’t have to live a fragmented life. That I could integrate every part of who I am: The artist, mother, coach, advocate, and healer. belonged in the work I was called to do. Read More>>

Janell Lammatao

I started dating my partner (now ex) at 30 – an age where I thought I had almost everything figured out, where settling to marry was the move and questioning if graphic design and marketing was something I was still passionate about. With all the right intentions and a growth mindset, I felt confident navigating this relationship but I was SO wrong – green flags (healthy behaviors) started turning into pink (indicators that may not feel right), and very quickly to red (unhealthy/toxic behaviors.) The cycle of these flags started all over again, week after week where it became confusing. Read More>>

Briggs Wallis

When I was younger I had a job as a holistic coach where I traveled to help expand the presence of integrative pharmacies that blended traditional western pharmacies with herbal and nutritional supplementation shops around the United States. Read More>>

Michele Schlanbusch

I remember it like it was yesterday — on October 24, 2024, a friend invited me to a town hall meeting hosted by California State Assembly Member Dr. Akilah Weber. You see my friend knew how much I love working with prenatal and postpartum women. She was also aware of my tendency to geek out on Pilates and statistics. I had no idea that attending this town hall meeting would change my life forever. Read More>>

Kyle Billingsley

I don’t think it’s uncommon for people in this modern world to change careers as they grow through life experience all the different things that they would like. I first moved to LA to work in the sound industry and spent 10 years as a Foley recordist/mixer in post-production audio. At the same time I was getting married, and starting my journey in Pa Kua martial arts, Read More>>