As an outsider, breaking into an industry can often seem like an impossible challenge and so we reached out to some very generous folks who agreed to share their stories of how they broke into their respective industries.

Taylor Cox

When I started working with a chiropractor in 2011, I had absolutely no idea how chiropractic was going to change my life when I walked into that door. In the beginning of my career, I really didn’t know the reach of things and illnesses that chiropractic has the potential to help with. It wasn’t until chiropractic changed my life that I knew I needed to spread the message of chiropractic to the world. I will never forget the first time I helped someone else feel better. Read more>>

Susan Hicks

I actually started out as a nursing assistant when I was 16. I attended vocational school during high school. At the time, I just wanted the credits, but it’s where I first got my itch for taking care of people. After the first year I was hired on at a local small hospital in the ICU. Watching and assisting the nurses taught me about who and what I wanted to be. Read more>>

Denise Walsh

I choose the field of psychology after being a camp counselor for several summers. The first two summers I worked with a home repair ministry in Asheville, NC, and the following two summers I worked with New York City foster kids at a camp in Port Jervis, NY. It was here my spark was lit. These kids came to camp with their heads down and their guard up, and throughout the summer, I got to see them start to blossom. Throughout these months I knew that this is what I was supposed to do, see people 3 steps ahead of where they see themselves and support their journey of growth to get there. Read more>>

Angelia Stepien

“Spitzoid features,” I read aloud puzzled, narrowing my eyes as if to better understand. Only two weeks into my new job as a medical assistant and the terms were incomprehensible. Seborrheic keratosis, telangiectasias, onychomycosis, it all sounded like a foreign language. I was in my junior year of college looking to gain clinical experience for my medical school application. I never would have thought I’d work in dermatology, but I saw a bulletin posted on the pre-health job board and figured “why not?” Read more>>

Melanie Blythe.

I always knew that I would be in the medical field. I got my certification as a certified phlebotomist back in the 80s. That was my very first job working at Alexandria Hospital. I think I worked at pretty much every hospital in the area. In the early 90s I was a Cert Phlebotomist at LabCorp. those years I had enough bosses to decide what kind of boss I wanted to be whenever I start my own business. I took cues from bosses who were not good and thinking I know not to be like them and cues from bosses that I had good relationships with.. Read more>>