We asked some of the brightest folks from within the community to reflect back on their days in school and to share with us a story of when they learned a particularly important or impactful lesson. We’ve shared highlights below.

Megan Unger

I went to a trade school for Interior design at Brooke’s College in Long Beach and there were a total of 45 of us in my graduating class that year. I always tried to give 110% to all of my projects and classes. Although, I was always an A and B student which I was happy with. I will never forget I was super sad that my design project never got picked to be in a glass display for the school to see. Read more>>

Sasha Izum

In my profession, as a personal stylist, I want my clients to find themselves through their style, learn to express themselves through style and communicate non-verbally with other people. I am for an adequate and psychologically healthy approach to working with style. I am always on the side of the client, not trends. Read more>>

Daniella N. Shaw

The COVID19 pandemic caused me to take a career “U-Turn”. I went from serving in the hospital setting as a medical social worker to starting The Mental Exchange nonprofit organization and transiting to full time in my private practice Peace at Last Counseling. The pandemic also ignited economic, social, and racial crisis which caused a shift in the mentality, environments, and workforce of many people. Read more>>

Amber Simpson

Story about Ed. I had a professor whose name was Ed. He had a reputation of being a hard ass. I remember showing up late on the first week due to moving to a new area and not knowing where to park (even though I left early). Man, did he drill me in front of everyone. He turned out to be one of the best professors I ever had. His life before retired when he started teaching was out there in the field, working as a Social Worker, paving the way; Read more>>

Tiffany Womack

How bad do you want it? I remember being in my tax guy’s office and it was complete pandemonium! The admin in me kicked in & I started making copies of documents and driver’s licenses. I was putting the info in file folders and had used the last one. I remember thinking WOW, there are 100 folders in the box, and I know how much I’m getting charged, Read more>>

Lindsey Bergfalk

I am dedicated to being completely transparent about what I am selling, I give a very descriptive description good or bad about each pair, several important measurements to insure the best fit. I have a guide/diagram and explanation of how I’m measuring my jeans and where those measurements hit on the body at the end of each listing. I also have a video tutorial of how to measure your body on the front page of my website. I also use the international sizing chart to size the jeans for modern sizing given the measurements. Read more>>

Juliet Peay

In the personal branding industry, there are two very strong messages. 1) It’s actually not about YOU, it’s about THEM and 2) Put your best foot forward! While these messages have good intentions, they create a performance-based personal brand that leave solopreneurs even more stressed and unsure about what to share online. Read more>>