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.

Jeannette Mueller

Almost everything I’ve done in my professional life has come about from bumping or stumbling into and saying yes to the intuitive curiosity. After struggling with mental and physical health I pursued my studies in nutrition, herbalism and regenerative food systems- while working with clients as a coach I stumbled into edible landscape design while in conversation with someone at the farmers market. Read more>>

Kelsey Martindale

My journey to becoming a Reiki Master had sort of fell into my lap naturally. I have always been very empathic and always prioritized helping others in all aspects of my life. I had met a group of people at a spiritual expo and instantly felt connected. I then decided to begin my certification. Read more>>

Mary Callozzo

I have many childhood memories of expressing my intuition and trying to do the things that I am now certified too. There was an entire weekend my cousin and I sat in the treehouse attempting to hypnotize each other for hours at a time. As a teenager, I remember pulling a deck of cards out for solitaire, and instead used them to do a reading for my brother on his love life. Because of my gift of sight, I always considered myself a ghost hunter of sorts, although they never seemed to appear exactly when I wanted them to.v Read more>>

Alison Acerra

When I was in my late 20’s I had quite a free entrepreneurial spirit! After moving to the SF Bay Area, I had a dream of building my own nutrition private practice. I began contacting physicians to see if they would be willing to meet and potentially serve as referral sources for me. One afternoon, I cold-called an endocrinologist with offices in Downtown, San Francisco. Unexpectedly, he answered the phone! I gave him my pitch, and while he told me he already had referral dietitians, there was perhaps another opportunity that might interest me. Read more>>

Stav Pinder

“How cool would it be to be one of those chic yoga teachers”, I thought to myself one day walking through New York City (where I used to live). The only problem was that I was too intimidated to talk to other adults and felt like there was no way I could teach a bunch of them how to make impossible shapes with their bodies. Read more>>

Feliss Goree

I received my first job in the field by first being connected to the company by my professor for an internship opportunity. I loved watching and shadowing clinicians work with individuals who were diagnosed with severe mental illness. This was my first on-the-job, hands-on experience in the field of counseling. Read more>>

Lakeisha Green

In 2003 I moved to Lafayette, LA. In that I was new to the area I had no clue about the area or job opportunities at the entry level. However. always knew counseling was my calling. I took a chance and reached out to a family friend who was a Director of Drug Court at the time. She took a chance on me and I became a CIT and have been practicing in substance abuse since. Read more>>

Michael Piercy

As a kid growing up, I always had an active interest in Physical fitness and would read fitness books hoping to learn and get tips. At age 15 for my first job, my mom walked into a big box gym and asked if I could have a job since I enjoyed fitness that much. That began my journey into the fitness world. Read more>>

Cherisse Scott

I came to know the Reproductive & Sexual Justice (RSJ) framework, movement, and leadership through my lived experience. I was someone that the movement served before I worked in it. There are so many of my movement kindred who have academic grounding informing their preparation to work in the RSJ movement. I didn’t know anything about the movement. This was a little over 20 years ago. Read more>>

Ivy Abrams

I had been attracted to the spiritual realm my whole life, studying various topics on and off for years in addition to direct messages I was receiving. I thought this was just for my personal healing and growth. Near the end of a nine-month intensive study program, I was diagnosed with cancer. Read more>>

Abby Mason

I became a health coach after a lifelong love of learning and researching how to be the best version of myself. I have four daughters, and they inspire me every day. I want to be an example of how to live a long and full life. After I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, our family moved from Rye, New York, to Dublin, Ohio. Read more>>

Victoria Bennie

During my graduate school experience in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, we have to secure an internship site to practice our counseling skills with real life clients experiencing real life issues. Well, I have always been passionate about working with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, so, naturally I chose my internship site to be the local shelter for those who have experienced abuse/trauma. Read more>>

Megan Johnson McCullough

I had completed my Masters degree in Physical Education and Health Science with a teaching credential. The career i really wanted at the time was to be a high school P.E. teacher and basketball coach. For a little over 2 years I did substitute teaching until a permanent position opened up, but the future seemed hopeless with so few opportunities becoming available. Read more>>