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.

Johanna Facada

After college I joined a dance company called Phunk Phenomenon and that was my first time booking jobs. I even got to do a season with the Boston Celtics with them. This was the start to something bigger. Read more>>

David Tossie

My name is David Tossie, and I am the founder of Tossie Advisory Group (TAG). My journey into financial literacy wasn’t born in a classroom or on Wall Street—it was forged through lived experience, decades of earning and spending without guidance, and the awakening that came when I realized how much wealth-building knowledge was withheld from working-class families like mine. Read more>>

Kaley Satterfield

I grew up traveling around due to my father being in the Navy till I was 18 years old. During the traveling I was able to collect skills and knowledge, also with the help of being born in my Family that is a line of Creative & talented people soon encouraged what I do and who I am today. Read more>>

Boyd Melson

While a Cadet at West Point, I entered an environment that purposely overwhelmed me with responsibilities during the Academic Year, all four years. Our mandatory Academic-Year schedule was based on an engineering undergraduate curriculum that consisted of 20 credit-hours on average, participation in a sport (either Division 1, Club, or Intramural), and a peer leadership position. Read more>>

John Edward McGraw

In my work with businesses and international professionals, I’ve learned that inclusion doesn’t just happen because people have good intentions. It happens when communication is adapted to reflect cultural differences and varied communication styles. Read more>>

Lesa Fenwick

Flowers and plants are 95% of our sales, and we take great pride in the quality we offer. We source as much of our products locally, not only for freshness but also for the best pricing available to us. We are happy to say we are here to serve for all occasions – birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, holidays, new babies, weddings and more. Funerals are becoming our specialty; those orders are more meaningful than any others to me. Read more>>

Carol Carimi Acutt

Oftentimes my most creative inspirations happen on a hike or a walk on the beach. These quiet moments are opportunities where we can expand our minds and our creativity, and that’s good for business. I believe everyone should have time to decompress and reset so when they return back to their work, hopefully refreshed, they can bring new insights into their work. Read more>>

Andrew Såulf

In the middle of the pandemic, I had felt like I had fully exhausted the reach of my network in terms of the type and scale of work that I was landing. As a colorist and finishing artist, you meet less people on each project compared to someone working on-set or on location where at times you are surrounded by hundreds of colleagues. Read more>>

Hadas Teuscher

For me, finding my makers oftentimes feels like searching for a ‘pot of gold’ at the end of a rainbow. Read more>>

Haley Payne

Hospitality has always been my passion—it’s where I thrive. I started out as a General Manager for a franchise organization that owned and operated hotels. They placed me at a property that was… let’s just say, “well-loved” and in desperate need of renovation. The location was fantastic, but the product? Not so much. Every day was a new adventure in guest complaints. Read more>>

Zoe Allocco Finn

I was not sure where to begin once I received my certification. I was sitting at my computer trying to decide what to post to instagram and realized I needed help, local help because the program I completed was fully virtual and included people from all over the world. I found a facebook group of doulas in NYC and started scrolling through the posts. Read more>>

Carter Wynne

I don’t regret my journey because it allowed me to accumulate invaluable skills and build strong networks. Before pivoting to art full time, I worked as a civil rights paralegal and was preparing for law school. That experience honed my writing and research skills. It also helped me save money to fund my graduate degree in the arts. Read more>>

Mercedes Harris and Carla White (two owners)

We noticed a gap in the industry for medium to small sized events. Consumers who only had a guest count of 100 or less seemed to be left with two options; rent a space that can hold up to 200-300 people or rent a smaller space that doesn’t give the same type of luxury that the larger spaces do. Read more>>

Michelle

I manage my social media myself because I feel like I know my mission best and can portray it in the most authentic way. So far, we’ve been growing slowly but surely, and I’m confident that staying true to the vision will continue to pay off over time. My biggest advice to other business owners is to really sit down and map out your intentions. Read more>>

Aaliyah McMullen

I currently manage my own social media with support from my Fall intern. In the past, I’ve had someone manage it for me, but I strongly believe in paying people what they’re worth. Because I study and manage social media for other businesses, I fully understand the time, strategy, and investment that goes into doing it well. That’s why I’m intentional about making the right choice for myself and my brand when it comes to delegating this work. Read more>>

Nathalie Dortonne

At the time, walking away felt like failure. But in hindsight, it was the start of a new chapter. That pivot opened doors I never expected: motherhood, entrepreneurship, winning The Mamie & Jimmie Collier Writing Fellowship, and even seeing one of my scripts “La Sirene” produced off-Off Broadway. I also had the chance to meet with an executive/producer from Atomic Monster—the team behind The Conjuring and Annabelle—who showed interest in my psychological horror thriller rooted in Haitian Vodou and real-life history Read more>>

Brandy White

So, I began to create. As a child, I always loved fashion, design, and beauty. I feel the most authentic when I’m in a beautiful, inspiring space with close family and friends, having meaningful conversation over light bites and candlelight. My human design is a Generator, I’m designed to take action and do what I love. Once I find what lights me up, I can do it over and over again—it gives me energy. Things that don’t light me up will drain me, <i>quickly</i>. Read more>>

Chiany Dri

I built my business, The Inclusion School, on the belief that healthy workplaces matter. That working alongside people you trust and know matters. Many of the lessons that inspired me to create The Inclusion School came from difficult experiences with bosses who struggled to lead, to honor identity, and to foster environments that welcomed staff instead of pushing them away. Read more>>

Amber Patterson

Family business just feels natural to me. Having homeschooled all 4 of our children we started several hobby businesses together including starting a farm that we raised dairy goats, angus cows, heritage pigs etc, which lead into a soap business and then continued on into making Artisian cheeses. Read more>>

Alexander Loveyko

One of the biggest trends I’m seeing in the entertainment industry is the explosion of independent creators. With platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and direct-to-fan distribution tools, artists now have unprecedented control over their work and are often the initial rights holders of valuable intellectual property. This shift creates both tremendous opportunities and significant risks. Read more>>

Michael Suen

She would wake up at 5:30AM every day to go to Chinatown, pick up groceries, take kids to school, prep the food, clean everything, cook food, and log everything down. It’s not enough to explain what her daily life, but she was a super woman behind the scenes of the operation. I would just cook the food and drive around the east side of Oahu to sell to kids and workers when they were hungry. It was not an easy job, but it was fulfilling to make the community happy with good food. Read more>>

Steve Haddadin

This is a great question, and I have been actively working on it and have seen success in its implementation. Read more>>

Peter Hansen

I think something that I believe in that most people disagree with, is get comfortable with conflict. I’ve had a 20+ year career in hospitality and hotel operations and have developed a mindset of being solutions driven. Read more>>

Marta Ali

Innovation has never been a buzzword for me—it’s been the compass guiding every pivot across disciplines. This summer, a promising collaboration with a major innovation institute took an unexpected turn. The external team we anticipated working with didn’t materialize as planned. But instead of abandoning the vision, I took a different route: I built the capability in-house. Read more>>