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

Massimo Fedozzi

My father, (and mother). Not to be corny but, my dad was the epitome of hard work and dedication. From a young age he instilled in me the importance of working hard and never give up on my dreams. He came from extremely humble beginnings, growing up in a small village with very limited opportunities, but he was determined to make a better life for himself and his family. After years of hard work and dedication, he was finally able to open his own business and with the help of my mother, his determination and tireless work ethic, was able to grow the business into a successful enterprise employing dozens of workers. Despite his success, my father remained humble and grounded, always putting his family and workers first. Read more>>

Lingzhi Wu

He’s a quiet man — not someone who talks a lot — but his silence holds strength, integrity, and a deep dedication to his craft. He spent his entire life working with ceramics in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China, where I was born into a family of ceramic artists. His presence in my life was steady and grounding, and he became my earliest teacher — not just in art, but in how to live a meaningful and committed life. Read more>>

Barry Litherland

Generally – and this an unfortunate way to begin to answer a question like this – I don’t have heroes. There are numerous people I admire or respect and even more from whom I’ve learned skills which help me improve my craft. They are people to whom I am eternally grateful. Some of them, I’ll confess now, I have never met and never will do. Notably, a few who are long dead. Generally, I admire those people who stand firm to their beliefs no matter what the cost; people who, if they were offered a million dollars to act against a firmly held belief, would have no inclination in refusing outright. Read more>>

Alexander Yanis

There are those you look up to whom you have only heard of. These people are so beyond intangibility that your relationship with them can only ever be fantastical and idealistic even if they are real. This can sometimes cloud your vision of their flaws, their nigh-impossible standards, and the mythos that surrounds them. Read more>>

Zipei Zhang

My hero is Pete Docter because of his ability to tell emotionally honest and imaginative stories. Films like Inside Out and Up taught me that the most powerful stories come from personal truth. Read more>>

My parents are my heroes. They moved to the US when I was just a child, and I remember their struggle to seize any opportunity so that we could have a better life than the one we had in Vietnam. Their strength, coupled with resilience, is my greatest inspiration on my journey. Read more>>

Phyllis Lynch

My hero is my Aunt Anne. As a child, she was the one adult who truly saw me for who I was, without projecting her own expectations or ideals onto me. Anne Bell (Rushin) is my mother’s older sister and the middle child of nine siblings. Growing up in North Louisiana during the Civil Rights Movement, she developed a deep love for learning, which led her to earn a bachelor’s degree in Early Education from Louisiana Southern University and a master’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana. For her, education symbolized freedom. Read more>>