Every once in a while, something happens that really matters. Something that will define at least the next chapter of your journey – perhaps it’s a conversation with a client, a meeting with a visionary or a major event in your personal life. Below, you’ll find some very insightful folks sharing defining moments from their journeys.

Rachel Olweya

One of the defining moments in my career came when I hosted my very first Self Care Funday.

At that point, I was already working as a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, helping women through one-on-one coaching and online programs. I loved helping people make healthier choices, but there was a gap I couldn’t ignore: so many of the women I worked with felt alone in their journeys. They didn’t just need information or a workout plan; they needed connection, encouragement, and a safe space to show up as themselves. Read more>>

Asta Malciute

I believe life offers us many defining moments – those uncomfortable, often unexpected places where we’re stretched beyond our comfort zone and invited to grow. They become thresholds, the space in-between where we were and who we’re becoming. Looking back, I’ve had many across relationships, health, and career, but there is one moment in my professional path that changed everything. Read more>>

Cassie Groeschl

For the past decade, I’ve had a full time job as a dietitian and at least one or multiple side gigs going. I am your typical passionate, sometimes chronic achiever who says yes to all the opportunities. I was able to juggle it all pretty well until I had kids. And with each child we added to our family, I was finding I had less and less time and energy to put toward all of my roles, especially since I would work on my side gigs at night after the kids went down. It was absolutely draining and I was burnt out. Read more>>

Carly Robinson

I was working at the college counseling center completing my internship, and had recently gone through a relationship ending. I was struggling with that change in my personal life, and one client came in extremely emotional for her session. During this session, she described a recent breakup, feeling confused and abandoned, struggling being a single parent, anxiety about her ability to be successful in her future career, and personal insecurities. I remember vividly that I thought “Me too!” repeatedly during that session, and struggled not to cry while listening to her struggles. Although we are taught to do self care, and be able to leave our personal struggles at the door, I was very aware that I was not feeling competent in that moment. Read more>>

Vanessa

A defining moment… It was Wednesday, January 8th, 2020. My healing business, Lava to Stone had just launched about 2 months prior and very quickly opportunities lined up to work on individuals. These lead to being invited to attend and work at a retreat in Joshua Tree, which then lead to being invited to do energy work alongside a shaman doing reiki as he lead breath work classes at a studio called Oraya in Beverley Hills. From there I began tag teaming with another instructor for breath work and meditation classes at Oraya. My only job was to do reiki for the students as they were lead by him. Read more>>

Erin Galloway

A defining moment in my career came when I became a mom myself. When I first started working as a social worker, I wasn’t a mom yet. I worked with families and pregnant women navigating unexpected journeys, and while I cared about them and what they were walking through, I don’t think I fully understood how truly challenging and rewording motherhood could be until I experienced it firsthand. Read more>>

Betsy Clark

I didn’t start my career in pelvic health. I was a travel therapist, moving across the country with my husband, practicing in every setting you can imagine. When I finally settled into an orthopedic job during my first pregnancy, I noticed a pattern: I could get my low back pain patients about 80% better, but never all the way. I didn’t know why. Read more>>

Heidi

In October of 2018, it happened in an instant—one phone call that split my life in two. I was perfectly healthy, with no respiratory symptoms, when a pulmonologist told me I had terminal, Stage IIIA inoperable lung cancer. The voice on the other end was somber, the message hopeless. In that moment, my life plans and my sense of self dissolved. Suddenly, I felt stripped of control, my days dictated and defined by a calendar of doctor’s appointments. How could this happen to a lifelong health enthusiast, health educator, fitness trainer, someone without any known risk factors? My head was spinning. Read more>>

Lindsay Kozyra

Since I was a child, I’ve always loved all things beauty. I have memories of putting makeup on my grandmother and doing her hair. I was the one all my friends came to for makeup tips or skincare advice. I dreamed of being a Cosmetologist. I didn’t even know what an Esthetician was, I just figured learning hair was my way in. However, my family wasn’t supportive of that idea and encouraged me to go to college for teaching instead. I didn’t enjoy it, but I pushed through and graduated. I worked with children for a few years and then when I had my own children, I became a stay-at-home mom. Read more>>

Joanna Bonilla

At the time I became paralyzed, everything in my life seemed to be falling into place. I was thriving in my career, making real strides, and feeling proud of the success I had built. But then, an illness struck and escalated so quickly that it turned my world upside down. Suddenly, I found myself paralyzed—something I never could have anticipated. At that moment, I felt completely lost and confused, unsure of what the future held or how to move forward from such a life-altering change.I was very blessed to discover an adaptive gym called Adaptive Fitness Gym during a time when I needed it most. Read more>>

Ixchel Xochitlzihuatl

I was working in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas from 2014 to 2018 on immigrant rights and community development. I saw how our community was challenged to meet all the different needs of the region (climate change, political changes and economic hardship). I also saw how most of our community had indigenous roots (myself included) but many of us had not been raised in our own cultural traditions. And we were not using this cultural wisdom to address our biggest challenges. I felt something major was missing from my life and strategy and began a multiyear process to reconnect to my own mixed indigenous lineage and learn from first peoples throughout the continent. Read more>>

Beatrice Calori

In my career as a Professional Educator, employed by a Social Cooperative, there was a decisive moment that changed the course of my career.
I worked for seven years as a Professional Educator in schools, supporting children with disabilities. The social work field has always fascinated me, as I have a calm and empathetic nature. I also studied at the University of Educational Sciences, with the clear intention and conviction that I wanted to pursue this profession. Read more>>

I get asked sometimes if there was a defining moment that changed the direction of my career, and honestly — yes, there was.

Back in 2020, I was in a really hard place. Anxiety and depression had a hold on me, and even though I had built a good career in sales and marketing and was busy with family and community work, I felt like my body and mind just shut down. It was as if I had hit a wall. I couldn’t keep pushing the way I always had. Something had to change. Read more>>

Maggie Stevens

I spent over thirty years in public education. The majority of that time was spent working in my district’s early childhood programs with children birth to five and their families. I loved my work and was able to fill a variety of roles: quality assurance, program manager, and grant writer. My last four years, I was the Director of Early Childhood Programs and the Teen Parent Program. By definition, the majority of our families were at-risk. One could work 24-7 and never meet all of their needs. That didn’t keep me from trying! I began using meditation to deal with the pressure and anxiety. My practice gave me islands of calm in my chaotic life. I decide that when I retired, I would pursue becoming a meditation teacher to calm myself and bring that gift to others. Read more>>

Shemar Mckoy

One defining moment in my professional journey happened during my second rotation in Unum’s Professional Development Program, where I was serving as a Client Success Manager. At the time, I was tasked with leading a newly formed onboarding team during a period of rapid growth and change. On paper, the role was about managing KPIs and workflow efficiency—but what it became was a crash course in leadership, empathy, and impact beyond metrics. Read more>>