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

Janan Nimock

My hero would be my mother who passed away at 95 years old in July of this year. My mom and I have always been close, even when I was a fairly bratty teenager. My dad died when I was 18 – she lived a great deal of her life without him. She taught me how to be a better person, looked at the bright side of most situations, forgave easily and most of all, loved unconditionally. She never complained about aches and pains (ever) and had the biggest laugh in the room. I can’t imagine my life will ever really be the same with out her but she gave me all the tools i need to navigate this life. She is my hero and will always be in my heart. Read more>>

Claudia Burgos

My mother is my hero. Her incredible strength, intelligence and perseverance, just to name a few of her qualities, has been the foundation in achieving resilience and success in my life. Looking back at her life and our life together the lessons are countless, the stories… and her journey in this world taught me to be strong, fearless and kind, but most importantly a fighter. Read more>>

Jocelyn Sandoval

I like to think that everyone who touches our lives leaves us with a lesson and shapes who we become, but there are a couple of people in my life who I feel have had a profound effect on who I am today both personally and professionally. Personally, the biggest influence for me has been my parents. Watching them build a beautiful life for themselves and their family in a new country with little education and no support taught me that I truly can achieve anything I dream of as long as I put in the work. Read more>>

Selena Haynes

My hero is my father. He passed in 2012 and there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thinking of him. Now that he’s gone, I realize quite often how much I’m like him. He worked many jobs in his lifetime, mainly factory work, but he was always an entrepreneur at heart. I grew up seeing him do side businesses from arts and crafts to having a greenhouse. He instilled the entrepreneurial spirit in me. Read more>>

Vincent Edwards

I would have to say, that would be Stephen King. One of the most masterful writers of horror and suspense. I learned how to adapt to the characters that I was making up as I was writing them by reading his books. That not every story I wrote was going to end the way I thought it would and allowing my imagination to be free. Mostly, I learned that even some of the greatest writers had their moments of wanting to give up. Where they ended up questioning themselves and thinking that they would never make it. Read more>>