Over the years as we connected with incredible from folks from almost every imaginable industry we realized that every nook and cranny of our economy is full of small business owners, artists and creatives who live and breathe what they do – and their stories are nothing short of heroic. It’s the immigrant parents who overcame the odds and kept their small business alive for decades allowing their next generation to thrive and the artisans who pour their passion into every piece and refuse to let even the most common items remain mundane that make our communities come alive. The stories below will inspire you and we hope you’ll take the time to read and connect with these incredible folks.

Fayth Hunt

My schooling and training experiences have been really formative, both personally and professionally. I did my undergrad at Texas A&M in College Station, where I focused on public and community health. This gave me a broader perspective on counseling, thinking about how individual mental health connects to community and systemic factors. Read More>>

Courtney Donaldson

The best advice I gave to my client when it comes to them changing their healthy lifestyle was “mind over mattered” & “The best version in the mirror is you”. My client took my advice and became very consistent and made me super proud as she was sending me videos, and photos of her progress. Read More>>

Lindsey Rapp

One of the most impactful pieces of advice I ever gave a client was helping her understand that her breakouts weren’t just a ‘skin issue’ but a reflection of what was happening internally. Read More>>

Devin Duncan

When I think back on how I started, I realize my only goal was to have a product in my hand. Profit didn’t even cross my mind at first. I bought my first ebook during COVID and that is when I started taking things more seriously, but even then I was still moving fast without understanding the business side. Read More>>

Jeff Steele

The first time I ever earned money as an actor was when my favorite mentor and acting teacher, Karen Hensel, asked if I would help her run a Shakespeare workshop for English teachers around Los Angeles. I was about 19. I loved studying the classics, including Commedia dell’Arte and Shakespeare, and she invited me because she knew how passionate I was. Read More>>

Tamara Hart Heiner

As an author, the “first dollar” moment is a little different. Most of us don’t actually *see* that first dollar—our publisher does. Royalties are delayed and everything filters through someone else’s accounting system. But I *did* have a moment that felt powerful. It was at my very first book signing. Read More>>

Brett Furlong

One of the biggest industry-wide U-turns I’ve experienced was during COVID. Almost overnight, most international airlines stopped flying. Qantas, for example, didn’t fly into the U.S. for eight or nine months, which meant we had zero ability to move pets to Australia. Domestically, it wasn’t any better. United and Delta — two of our main pet-carrying airlines — stopped flying pets entirely. Read More>>

Tatiana Sunik

When I first started out, I joined a firm — actually several over the years — because I wanted to learn the business from the inside. My first experience was at Merrill Lynch right after college, and later I spent nearly two decades at boutique RIA firms in New York. Read More>>