Over the years as we connected with incredible from folks from almost every imaginable industry we realized that every nook and cranny of our economy is full of small business owners, artists and creatives who live and breathe what they do – and their stories are nothing short of heroic. It’s the immigrant parents who overcame the odds and kept their small business alive for decades allowing their next generation to thrive and the artisans who pour their passion into every piece and refuse to let even the most common items remain mundane that make our communities come alive. The stories below will inspire you and we hope you’ll take the time to read and connect with these incredible folks.

Siquoyia Blue

I began my singing journey at 12, and my unique genre, abstract soul, breaks all the conventional rules of music. Alongside my musical career, I am a podcaster, AI artist, author, and technologist. Read more>>

Vivienne Varay

I spent the first seven years of my life on the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station Base before it was decommissioned. My father served as a Marine, and my mother worked as a payroll accountant. When my father was deployed overseas, my mother and I relocated to Peoria, Arizona. Both my parents were creative in their own ways, but it wasn’t something they pursued professionally. Read more>>

Mitzi Campbell

When I was a young mother in my early 30’s with two young children, my mom began to have some problems. At first, she was just a little lost. Then, she started to get anxious. She’d always had some anxiety about things like driving on the highway or flying, but it got much worse. One day, there was an announcement on the local radio station that a criminal had escaped and was on the loose in town. A police officer found her pulled off on the side of the road crouched down in her car, hiding, hysterical. Read more>>

Lanaesya Burrell

My journey into content creation started unexpectedly during the pandemic. A friend of mine invited me to a Discord server where I found a community of supportive and creative people. I wasn’t a fan of social media at first and barely posted, but through this space, I started exploring the idea of streaming. Read more>>

Fred Grant

When I was about 3 or 4 years old I walked into a room where my parents were watching the movie Alien. I asked my mom what this was and she replied, “it’s a movie.” I then proceeded to ask her what a movie was and she responded, “Well, it’s like dreams, but real.” From then on I was fascinated by this concept. Looking back it’s quite interesting how I essentially discovered many concepts on my own by basically just trying to problem solve. For example I thought I could created a video game so I drew many pictures of each level as it progressed with dialogue which was storyboarding. Read more>>

Ro Bailey

I was the eldest of 4 children and the only daughter. (Insert eldest daughter psychoanalysis, lol) An active tomboy who played basketball and ran track, I had a very busy teenage life. One of the ways I found peace and comfort was through music and retro tv shows. Frequently I found myself searching for connection, something that made me feel safe and understood, something that made me feel unique and special but at the same time made me feel like I wasn’t alone. I wanted to find something that was familiar but could also connect me with new people with similar interests. On the way back from a basketball game I was on the bus listening to music in my headphones. Read more>>

Neo Ernest

It’s your boy Ne-Oh from Pampierstad, TEN. Let me take you on this journey real quick.

I started off in the streets, just a kid with a dream and a passion for music. Growing up, I was surrounded by sounds that inspired me—everything from hip-hop to soul. I’d spend hours writing lyrics, trying to find my voice. The struggle was real; I faced challenges like anyone else, but that only fueled my fire. Read more>>

Tammy Myers

After building a corporate career for nearly ten years, I decided to walk away from it all. I thought I’d try the stay-at-home-mom life. That lasted about three months before I started looking for new opportunities. This led me to going back to school earning a Professional Marketing Certification at the University of Washington by the following year. Read more>>

Badass Tran

No, there’s a lot of trials and tribulations especially if you have a low income. Read more>>

Myde Glover

I started professionally in 2020, got an opportunity to act a scene in a series by one of my favorite filmmakers and I ran with it and never stopped.
I also always knew that I wanted to tell stories from a very young age. It’s one of the things that has kept me going.
Today I have over 20 titles to my name. I have works on streamers like Netflix, Prime video, Showmax. I’ve screened my personal works to different audiences and different festivals. Read more>>

Ali Ayhan

I wanted to do something I enjoy and at the same time, be useful for other people. So, I looked for ways to inform people about some topics I am interested in. I decided that starting a social media account is an easy and fun way to do it. That’s why I opened up my accounts. I didn’t have any big expectations when I started. I just wanted to share information about flags and symbolism. For this reason, I didn’t care if I had many likes or comments or not. Later, it grew up pretty quickly. My aim was to find a way to tell other people about flags, symbols and their meanings. I knew I could find some people who are interested in these around the world.

Dream Gray

I was born and raised in the South Bronx to a single mom who showed me from young you want something you gotta go get it for yourself and you can do anything you want to do if you try. Everything my mother taught me even the hard lessons have shaped me to be an amazing mother and great person if I say so myself. Read more>>

Jarrod Schulz

I still had a full time job as an electrician when I started my business. That only lasted a few months though and I found myself basically unemployed when they let me go soon after. I now know that I need to schedule at least four or five structural inspections a week to be comfortable. During that time, I was lucky to get five a month. I’ve always been a quiet guy that sticks myself for the most part, but I realized I’d need to make some noise to get noticed and hopefully keep food on the table. I decided to always leave the house daily to go market wherever I could when I wasn’t booked. It was pretty much basic survival at that point, so I had choke down all of my inhibitions, fears, and insecurities and start putting myself front and center in the free market, and hope for the best. Read more>>

Patrick Coyle

I love comics. I’ve loved them since I was a kid and you could buy them off a spinner rack at the local corner store. I started making my own comics at the age of 8, and even started a publishing company with some friends in middle school. We put out four quarterly issues of a superhero anthology featuring original characters called Andromeda Comics, each issue about one hundred pages. We “printed” them using the photocopier at my father’s office. We even got a few newspaper articles written about us in the local paper! It was a ton of fun. And it was all I wanted to do. Read more>>

Aaron Brodeur

The idea of becoming a professional artist first entered my mind in the late 1980s. Reading the comic strips in the Sunday funnies from the weekend newspapers inspired me, so I started coming up with my own characters. After each drawing was completed, I would proudly show my parents. They always found the drawings to be humorous, and they encouraged me to continue making them. On one occasion, I remember my dad telling me to keep all the drawings, because one day I could be a famous artist and the drawings could end up being worth a lot of money. My response was something like, “Yeah, right. That’ll never happen.” Read more>>

Joseph Anthony Marcello

From a young age, I was captivated by the magic of filmmaking and the allure of adventure. My first camera sparked a lifelong passion for storytelling, and I honed my skills at a local access station before diving deep into film studies. Read more>>

Willa Lucille

My name is Willa Lucille. I am a 21 year old singer-songwriter originally from Nebraska. Right now, I live on the road with my partner, Colin. I’m traveling in a converted short school bus, playing my songs wherever I can. Music solidified its importance to me early in my life. It is a way to convey and communicate my emotions when I truly would have no other way to grasp them. I started dreaming up lyrics and melodies when I was a child. Always introspective, always creating, always with her head somewhere else. I’m sure there are some entertaining – albeit embarrassing – videos of 8 year old Willa’s original songs somewhere on the Cloud. Read more>>

Elliot Belokostolsky

Starting is always the hardest part. I never really had much space to create. I decided to take matters into my
Own hands and lay out plastic drop cloths all over my bedroom. This was my main creating space for years. Fast forward to now, I do have a little studio space but, still covered in the same plastic drop cloths. My style of work can be frantic and messy but, that is what makes it what it is. I wish I could say that between this time was linear and easy going.. Art and creating was the catalyst that got me sober from. Read more>>

Daniel Zambrano

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a director. My family worked in production in Bogotá – my aunt and cousins were in commercial production, so I grew up around film sets. I remember being on sets as a child, sometimes as an extra, and it felt like magic to me. Read more>>

Jake Beck

Alright, so here’s the deal. I started out just like any other kid with a guitar—writing songs in my bedroom, dreaming big, and not having a clue how to actually make it happen. But I wasn’t the type to wait around for someone to “discover” me. I learned how to produce my own music, market it, and build a brand from the ground up. Read more>>

Knocka P. Rochi

I am Andrew Powell AKA Knocka P. Rochi. My Father gave me my AKA, so I feel like its legit, not just a stage name. People have been calling me knocka for many years. Andrew Powell is also my Father, he put a Basketball, and a mic in my hand, Music is my Passion, Growing up stability wasn’t familiar. Family was! Even though my Farther and Mother did not raise me, I was always surrounded by my family didn’t matter witch side. In my upbringing I lived with both grandmothers, and 2 Aunties, but I haven’t sat at a table and ate a meal with both my parents at the same time. Read more>>

Josh Lumsden

I am a multidisciplinary artist who focuses on music. I started off writing classical music and had transitioned into producing more experimental pop/dance production with singing. All of my music is 100% self-produced, which was something I had learned to do when I was 15. I never really wanted to bother other people with my ideas so learning to do it myself seemed like the best route at the time. I’m grateful for it though as I can remain self-sufficient and have full creative control over my ideas. I focus now on creating genre-blending pop music that finds space in nightlife, parties, and pregames. :)  Read more>>

Boyona Graham

When we’re little, our moms and dads are our entire world, and it’s hard to accept that they have flaws. I, too, struggled with this, especially when it came to my mom. I loved her deeply, but I often wished she could be stronger, more assertive, and able to free herself from situations where her independence and voice were overshadowed. I promised myself that I would never allow the same to happen to me, striving to be fiercely independent.  Read more>>

Kent Bond

I was originally trained in watercolor by a family friend Fran Hubbard. She had a painting published on the cover of Readers Digest in the 1950’s. I realized looking at one of her paintings at the age of 9 that someone had to have made it. I was fascinated to say the least. My mother arranged for lessons in watercolor. I loved Disney, comic books, I copied Michelangelo and Da Vinci drawings. Howard Pyle and N C Wyeth were my gods. Taught myself oil painting in high school, attended CCAC in Oakland now the College of the Arts. Graduated in 1975. Continued painting. Read more>>

D Dave

I’m a Clothing Designer nd Music Producer. I started my entrepreneur journey back in 2019 nd haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Lanny Markasky

My creative journey was made possible with the support of my family. My mother was an artist of various mediums, and my dad was a guitar builder. From birth there was nothing strange to me about pursuing a creative career. The support I received in whatever I tried to become, whether it was a break dancer, magician, tattoo artist, or whatever, I was fully confident I could do anything I set my mind to. Read more>>

Emmanuel Gray

I started off young as an artist. During my early childhood I was in love with drawing and sketching. I gained inspiration from some of my family members, such as my aunt and my uncles. I was always surrounded by art and artists and I had the passion and curiosity needed to learn and make it my own. My interests in art led me to summer programs. It also provided me with a safe space as I grew up in and outside of school. I am the artist I am today because of the family members and teachers who took the time to invest in my craft and encourage me as I developed. I have since been able to take the lessons that I have learned throughout my life and make them my own. Read more>>

Joe Kelley

A lifelong music lover, my journey began as the frontman of a high school emo band before graduating from UMASS Amherst and heading to New York City to pursue my passion for the music industry. In 2010, I launched the U.S. leg of BalconyTV, showcasing emerging talent in unique settings. By 2016, I was leading Billboard’s Artist Relations Department, where I worked with top-tier talent and industry leaders until the pandemic reshaped the landscape. Read more>>

Nick Sears & Justin Fife

We started this venture, the Disc Golf Show, in 2013 and through the past dozen years have had a blast being able to share with others our appreciation for our favorite sport… disc golf! We started this as a passion project that could help others in the industry, and we still have that same drive and purpose! Read more>>

Curdy King

Well I used to be in the facebook group and the owner asked if I wanted to work on her show. It was on blogtalk and I worked the background music, getting people to interview and show segments. Things happened and that end. Few years later I was talking to my family about the experience and she said why don’t you make your own show. So lol that what I did we went thru different hosts, different platforms, different producer to get to that Everyvoiceradio is today. Read more>>

Curtis Paige Jr.

In my younger years I lived a life of mistakes and bad decisions When I chose to change my life I just used my experiences and pain to motivate and inspire others. Read more>>

Timothy Roman

Timothy Roman’s journey began when he moved to the United States as a child with his Russian immigrant parents. Struggling in school, he dropped out in tenth grade and started his entrepreneurial journey.

Within a few years, Timothy started his own kitchen and bath specialty contracting company. He leveraged his computer skills to create effective marketing strategies, engaging with potential clients through social media and other online platforms. His hard work and dedication paid off, and his company grew rapidly, crossing the million-dollar sales mark within two years. Read more>>

Torrey Purvey

My creative journey started in middle school with being in the band. From there to the band in college and a band director. I guess you could say that I’ve been a creative for a while. Then ventured into photos and video. Read more>>

Randell Rosario

Started as a teen in a school band making our own rock songs. Sadly we never did anything with it. So fast forward to moving to Puerto Rico meet a good pal which did Reggaeton he know i sang and wrote songs so there everything started. Later in life i had the chance to study acting and work with a tv station and there my career as a tv host began. Read more>>

Dylan Healy

It’s been important to me to embrace a bunch of different roles in music, in art, and in education. Call it restlessness or the eternal pursuit of happiness, but my curiosities to create, connect and learn are literally never satiated.

I am a composer, performer, curator, and record producer. I’m also the frontperson of a band called Stadia, which is named after my formative Dungeons & Dragons character (don’t judge). I’m also a member of bands with my best friends, including Figurine, Carey, Changeling, Tinker, Dream Songs, and more. We make records and tour together. Read more>>

Tempra Board

Like many of us, I sought approval from my elders at an early age. Since I was told I was good at writing, I followed that path, becoming an English major in college, and ultimately obtaining a Master of Arts in Communication Development. I was also naturally competitive (or if not naturally, I learned to be in a competitive household with an older brother who seemed to derive pleasure from putting his siblings down and winning at any game, even if that required cheating). I saw right away that striving for a career in publishing was going to be extremely competitive, and I didn’t want to be a teacher—the two main paths for English majors. Read more>>

Birgit DeVae

Photography has always been a part of who I am. I started modeling and acting when I was a child and have always loved fashion. After launching my first business, a children’s clothing brand called Johnny Banana Co, I completely immersed myself in the world of photography. I always dreamed of doing my own product shoots, but somewhere along the way, I realized how much I loved capturing people, memories and moments. My passion lies in showing my client’s the beauty of their lives and how perfect all of the little details are! Read more>>

 Jay Fields

My journey started in high school around my junior year when I actually started to care more about my appearance. I noticed that most of what I wore were Polo shirts and button fronts in a school where most of the other guys wore t-shirts and sweatpants. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but didn’t necessarily have the confidence to naturally embrace it. Throughout the rest of high school and the first part of college, I continued to dress the same way and tried practicing being confident. Looking back now, I was definitely overcompensating for the confidence I didn’t have. In 2022, fortunately a shift happened when I was approached to walk in a local fashion show. Read more>>