In our experience, talking about legacy is often subtly discouraged by society and we find this to be deeply unfortunate. Thinking about the legacy you would like to build can help you better align your work, life, time – your sweat and tears – with your values. Below, we’ve tried to create a space for folks to start conversations about they legacies they are hoping to build.

Shauntay Pitts

I think legacy is so vast because it’s layered. The legacy I want to leave is just that. Layered with energy and empathy and a real energy and impact that you can’t experience anywhere else. It’s not only a magnetism so addicting it’s also life altering. I think we are given gifts that are meant to awaken energy in others. I hope my legacy will be about what I did and how I made people feel. Read more>>

Ashley Pieper

Often times I believe legacy is thought of as being an item to pass on, but I believe it to be more. Pursuing my career path after being a stay-at-home Mom for years came with challenges and learning curves. I felt passionate about the work itself and quickly realized that each step of the process to getting to where I am now shows my children that stereotypes and the averages do not need to stand in your way. Possibilities for growth and achievement doing what interests you to spite the ways society can ostracize are there. One of the reasons I love furniture making and design is that it has the ability to be a physical representation of qualities. The pieces themselves can be a symbol of the time spent, and care taken, a legacy in their own right. I hope that what I leave behind is an example of character. I hope to embody dedication, drive, passion and resilience with the pursuit of my dreams in building my business. It is also a wonderful thing to know that the people who invest in my work, and ultimately me, have the work as part of their personal moments and that special sentiments are attached to them and can be passed on. I hope I am remembered as using my life as a love letter to the people around me. Read more>>

Melanie L. Denny

I am actively working toward a legacy of empowering Black women professionals and business owners to confidently embrace their authentic selves, transforming how they show up in the world. I want to be remembered as someone who not only helped women build personal brands but also championed their voices, visibility, and value in spaces where they’ve historically been overlooked. I want my work to inspire others to lead boldly, embrace their identity, and leave their unique mark. The ripple effect of my impact will extend beyond branding—it will influence lives, careers, and communities, and the world. Read more>>

Ammara Zaheer

As an event designer, the legacy I hope to leave is one of transformative experiences that foster connection, creativity, and community. It’s not just about designing beautiful or functional events—it’s about crafting moments that resonate emotionally and create lasting memories for those who experience them. I would want to be remembered as a designer who understood that the true power of events lies in the emotions they evoke. My aim has always been to go beyond aesthetics and logistics to create experiences that touch hearts and inspire meaningful connections. Read more>>

Kirsten Stockton

I hope to build a legacy centered on the soul’s journey—the gifts we’re offered every day, even in hardship—and the profound impact we create when we embrace, honor, and love our authentic selves. For much of my life, I wrestled with the question: What do I want people to say about me when I leave this earthly plane? The answers I came up with always felt hollow, like they belonged to someone else. Read more>>

Lee Torres

The legacy I want to build is rooted in the power of outdoor fitness—running, hiking, and shared movement. These simple yet transformative activities have the ability to connect people, strengthen communities, and create lifelong memories. As someone who didn’t grow up with access to outdoor fitness, I’m intentional about ensuring it is the foundation of my daughter’s childhood. I want her to grow up knowing the freedom of a good trail run, the peace of a quiet hike, and the resilience found in pushing through challenges with others by her side. Read more>>

Taunya Said

The Legacy I am hoping to build is through my Children’s Chapter Series, Smart Alec Alex! I created Smart Alec Alex, The Series to give children a sense of belonging through a fun and easy read that relates to the antics in their normal lives. The series focuses on life lessons that help in various areas of a child’s coming of age and assist them in their decision-making and problem-solving. As our children are developing, Smart Alec Alex, The Series will teach them how to navigate through various situations without escalating to the unknown. At some point in our lives, we all have faced peer pressure of being something or someone other than our true selves. Smart Alec Alex, The Series is geared to keep our youth grounded and help them become aware of how great of an influence they can be for their peers. Read more>>

Georgeanne Irvine

Ever since I was a child and throughout my life, I’ve always been a storyteller. When I starting working in public relations for the San Diego Zoo nearly 47 years ago, the opportunity to become a voice for our wildlife and our worldwide conservation efforts became first and foremost in my career as well as a life-long passion. While I was in the public relations department and then the philanthropy division, I freelanced nearly 20 children’s books about animals for publishers like Simon & Schuster and Scholastic. Now I am the director of publishing for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, overseeing a variety of book projects but also writing our award-winning, non-fiction Hope & Inspiration children’s book collection. Read more>>

Mary Gillett

I’d like to be remembered for leaving the world in a better place and when I could help, I did. In particular, I strive to offer a hand to those who cross through my life and extend them the welcome, the support, and the encouragement others passed on to me when I was younger.. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before and have a responsibility to pay it forward for those who will follow. So, yes, I would like to be remembered for one who supported and mentored and helped those that follow me succeed. Read more>>

Daira Austin

This is such a difficult question to answer because by industry standards we need to be extremely successful to be able to leave some sort of legacy. It could be money, lots of possessions, properties or sometimes simply having a very important last name could come with a very large legacy attached. But in my case, I am just a simple mom that one day thought to herself, I want to do something different and hopefully inspire others to do the same. So if I was to say what I would want my legacy to be or what I would like to be remembered by? I would say I want people to remember me for someone that loved life, that loved nature, that loved the little details and saw how healing nature can be. My legacy would be the inspiration that hopefully I gave someone to do something different, to try new things and to be happy even with the little things. Read more>>

Olivia Graff

As a creative and within my personal life, I am a fiercely loyal supporter, and as I progress in my career, I want my colleagues to remember me as such. While studying at SCAD, I learned that I’m not a director, and it’s truly because I love being the support system for my team. When a director and I enter a project, my sole goal is to act as the guard rails for the story based on everything we’ve discussed. They get to carry the vision while I act as a bounce board for ideas and sometimes clarification when there are so many voices and questions. Read more>>

Dr. Dana Walker

I always ask myself am I changing the world and making a difference. I have worked in special education for 25 years. Changing the world and making a lasting difference in the lives of people impacted by disabilities, such as autism, deafness, speech impairments, and intellectual disabilities, involves a blend of compassion, advocacy, and systemic change. By focusing on inclusivity, accessibility, and parent empowerment, I have tried to create environments of engagement where individuals of all abilities thrive, rather than just survive. Read more>>

Sophie French

I hope to be remembered for helping women break out of the boxes they’d found themselves in! I hope people will say “she really saw me and what I was capable of – she held space for my dreams, it was perhaps the first time anyone had done that, and encouraged me to give myself the permission I needed to break out of my limiting boxes and break free into the life I truly wanted to live and the things I truly wanted to bring to life!” Read more>>

Bob Brill

Legacy. What does it really mean? We all either want to die in bed with family and friends around us, or to go out in a blaze of glory saving others. Well, maybe those are the choices I’ve thought about over my life time. As someone who truly plans on living to 120 years old (I know dream on), I’ve thought about the fact that who will be around to remember me. I would like my legacy to be someone who worked hard and achieved a lot of different things creatively on a wide level. As I get older I realize a 25 year old today usually has no clue to when the Berlin Wall came down or the fact that Russian Communism (a threat to the entire world with Mutually Assured Destruction), was 72 year experiment. As a historian (I like to call myself that) my memory goes back to when I was four years old and my dad brought home a cat for me. Best cat ever and I do not like cats. I’m a dog guy. I love to study baseball players from the 1880’s and early 20th century. I know stats and I love to read about the obscure presidents. Read more>>

Ashley Logan

Mostly, that I left this world better than how I found it. It’s hard, sometimes, to believe that one person can make much of an impact at all, but when I consider how much of an effect the words of others have made on my one, small life, the lens of legacy widens and it becomes clear to me that our impact is ultimately defined by our efforts. For me, art is an effort worth putting energy into and so it is my hope that my efforts in crafting poems and stories will affect even just one person in a positive way. And leave them better than when they found it. Read more>>