We’ve highlighted responses from some of the brightest and most talented artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in the community below.

Luz Estrella Colon

My hero is my husband and amazing father of our four children, Willie Colon. Despite some initial hesitancy about the career change, he never left my side. He shows me every day that he is working hard to provide for the family. Whether something needs to be fixed or renovated in the house or the children need some time at the park to run around, he continues to be an inspiration on how I approach my work. Read more>>

Luis Rodriguez

My wife and kids are my heroes they motivate me in every aspect of life and everything I do is for them!! Read more>>

Olivia Erenberger

My hero is my father and mother. I have learned too many lessons to count from them throughout my life. One important one is to never quit even if the thing you are doing is not your thing. When I would go out for a sport in school and figure out it was not my thing my dad would say “you can’t quit now that you started it just finish the season out hard then you won’t have to go out for that sport again.” Same for marching band, musical arts not my thing but visual arts definitely my thing. Read more>>

Baylie Ranae

My hero is (or was) definitely my Grandpa. He was everything to me. No one was more supportive of me and my photography than he was. I was constantly getting emails, texts and calls telling me how amazing my work was and how he saw a picture at a farmers market in a booth and how it didn’t hold a candle to my work. I feel like in a way a lot of what I do, I do for him. He passed away when I was 20 and I really want so bad to make him proud. Read more>>

CLAYTON ARNOLD

Well to be honest my family are my heros. They are my inspiration and my joy and my heart and they been there my whole life. My hero is my dad. What i learned from him it’s that never make excuses and stay humble and understand you control your own life. You can do anything you put your mind too. And also what I Always learned from him was keep your word and your word is bond. Be the man you need to be in this life. Read more>>

Zoe Mc.

I have two Two wonderful ladies that inspired me, pushed me, and they both were always here for me
Linda Knight. She took me under her wing, she taught me to do the things about hair and cosmetic tattooing. My first mentor. And now I consider her family. Linda Figueroa , my hair dresser She said go for it go do hair and I did. Read more>>

Amber Jones

I’d have to say my hero is my Dad. I lost him back in March and it’s been hard without him here, as my Dad and as a grandfather to my son. He was my biggest supporter. He was always so interested in what crystals I was getting in the mail and what they meant. He taught me a lot, but the lesson that I hold closest to me is how calm he taught me to be when everything is going wrong – how to be strong. We were exactly alike in all honesty, and I know he’s proud of the person I’m becoming. Read more>>

Yasmine Moment.

My hero is and will ALWAYS be my “ mom “.! My mom has been through so many thing such as losing her husband, father and mother but she is still going hard and smiling in this thing called “ life “. The lessons I’ve learned from my mom is to NEVER GIVE UP and have faith in God, I’ve learned that from her saying it and from actions of me watching her never give up on us ( my sister and I ). This has influenced my journey ALOT because being an entrepreneur, lesbian, black and a masculine woman i go through ALOT it has continued to build my strength, charisma and drive to push through any and everything in a positive or negative situation. Read more>>

Susan Snider

My hero is my great grandma, Mimi. She was a woman of strength and love and kindness. She taught me growing up how to treat others with love and how to show those the love of Christ. Mimi grew up with much trial and tribulation but she taught me how to take hard moments in life and grow from them. She has greatly influenced my business journey even through she is no longer with us today. Every time I go picking I am always looking for the number 27. She was born in 1927, so every time I see that number it is a constant reminder of an amazing woman and the legacy she left for me and my family. Read more>>

Taylor Bungert

My hero’s would hands down have to be my parents, growing up my parents owned multiple restaurants. At a young age my mom and dad had me working in the service industry which taught me so many life lessons..it taught me everything from communication skills to simply learning the value of a dollar. My parents have always been so humble, so successful, so kind, so giving and most importantly so loving to the people who supported them through all of their endeavors! Growing up like that wasn’t always easy for me to understand at a young age, I had to miss football games, I had to miss parties, I would show up late to events… Read more>>

Brandon Burdette

One of my biggest inspirations and hero’s is my dad. He is a business owner as well and runs a fence business named “B&M fencing” in Rock Hill, SC. He has had a lasting impact on my business structure and how I hold myself to a high quality standard. I think that a lot of business owners stray away from their core morals once they’ve reached a certain point in their career and growing up watching how he always stays true to his ethics is very inspiring, even after success in staying busy with consistent work. Read more>>

Hareem Idris

My hero is my Dad, Idris MS. An award-winning, serial entrepreneur who has developed, established and successfully operated more than 10 small businesses in various industries across North America & the Middle East. I grew up admiring; his journey, the decisions he took for his family for the betterment, his style of approaching risk-taking challenges, his positivity throughout the ups and downs he faced in life, the way he would invest himself into his adventurous ventures, these are a few things out of a million that not only fascinated me but encouraged me to try to follow his footsteps… Read more>>

Julianne Mellas-Holmberg

My hero is a watercolor artist named Cami Monet, of Orlando, FL. She is a super talented watercolor artist with a very fun personality which she portrays in her business as well. She’s five years older than me and has owned her business for 6 years online and recently opened her storefront, and recently had her first child. She puts passion and personality into her work, and her watercolor is so detailed and realistic; I’m inspired to be a better painter because of her. I got to work for her for about a year last year, which was the best experience. Read more>>

Quiana LeCount

The person I consider my hero is my mother, Diane McCray. My mom has been there for me through thick and thin and she’s never left my side, not once. I wouldn’t know where I’d be in life today if I didn’t have her. She has brought me into this world and has done nothing but love me unconditionally and I am forever thankful for everything she does and has done for me. could . Read more>>