Winning often looks like a long trail of losses that were too weak to keep you down. We are beyond inspired by the stories below. Resilience cannot capture the true nature of what so many of these entrepreneurs, artists and creatives possess and there is so much to learn from the folks highlighted below.

Jason Childers

I came into natural products out of necessity. I developed skin issues, and my dermatologist told me I couldn’t use pretty much everything on the store shelves. Due to this, I took it upon myself to make soap that I could use… soap without any synthetic ingredients. This soap turned out fantastic and was great for my extremely sensitive skin. As I let others use this, they loved it and kept coming back for more. After a while, I realized I was spending a lot of money to keep people clean, so I started selling it. This has made leaps into other products, such as essential oil perfumes, beard products, natural bug sprays and more. The theme that has stayed constant is once someone tries our products, they come back. Read more>>

Azaria Symone of Beyond The Hair

Hello, I’m Azaria Symone, a cosmetologist and entrepreneur from Virginia. I am the proud owner of BeyondTheHair. My love for styling hair began in middle school at the age of 13, where I became known for my crochet braid styles. Throughout high school, I attended CCAP, a trade school, and chose to focus on the cosmetology program during my 11th and 12th grade years. After graduating, I began building my clientele and eventually set up a home salon space by purchasing my first chair, decorations, and hair essentials. Following a year of servicing clients at home, I decided to take my state board test. Although nervous, I was eager for this next step. Unfortunately, I failed one of the exams, which left me feeling discouraged and considering giving up. I shifted my focus to a regular 9-5 job, but after being wrongfully terminated a year later, I found myself in a deep depression, questioning my next move. Read more>>

Caroline Evans

My journey is being accepted into Rutgers College as an undeclared major. I was determined to be at the school for only four years. I came across a poster for a tattoo convention and decided to go with my sister and my boyfriend at the time. My sister diligently went through all the portfolios and chose Mike Siderio to her tattoo for her. While waiting to be tattooed, his young son asked me to draw on him. That put me on the path to tattooing. Read more>>

Amanda Marie Barr of Philly Food and Barrs

I started out doing mystery shopping. If you’re not familiar with it, mystery shopping is typically a third party hired by a restaurant group to go in and have a normal customer experience at a restaurant. I would need to take picture and document my experience in a very detailed manner. I did this for years, and I loved being able to go out with friends without worrying about money (mystery shoppers were reimbursed). Because I was trying so many restaurants, I started following other food accounts and influencers and I was like, “hey this doesn’t look too hard – I’m already kind of doing this!” So, I started my account in March of 2021, and I haven’t looked back. I gave up mystery shopping but I loved everything it taught me. Read more>>

L. M. Montes

I discovered my longing and fascination with writing when, as a preteen, I read a short story written by my older sister. The problem rested in that I didn’t know how to go about doing that. Then in high school I learned how to write stories in one of my literature classes. It was in that class I wrote my first short story. Now, because I enjoyed reading as well, I also longed to write books. As we all know, that process is more in depth, so writing a novel had to wait. However, the yearning for it planted itself inside me, and it never left. In my undergrad years in college I took a fiction writing course and expanded my skills. As a result, I wrote more short stories. Aha! The dancing carrot called writing a novel still dangled itself in front of me, so I set out to learn novel length fiction writing on my own. At the same time I created a story premise for a book and worked on writing it over the span of twenty years. Yes, you read that right. In that time I balanced raising a family, a career, and writing. I also put the writing of my novel away for a while off and on. At one point part of that manuscript had inadvertently been deleted, and I ended up putting the whole project down thinking I would never work on it again. But, through the support of a colleague, who wouldn’t allow me to quit, I picked up my manuscript once more and started over. I finished my first novel in August 2019 and haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Steven Kenny

I grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York State with three older brothers. For some reason, I turned out to be the only artist in the family. The amazing landscape and abundant wildlife of that area had a profound influence on me. When not attending the local Catholic grammar school or public high school much of my spare time was spent exploring the surrounding woods. Ironically, having been voted most artistic in my graduating class, I was not planning to pursue an arts education. However, a strange turn of events at the last minute led me to the Rhode Island School of Design where I studied illustration. My senior year was spent studying independently in Rome and it was there that I decided to become a painter. After graduation I moved to New York City but finding a gallery to represent me proved elusive. So, for the next 10 years or so I became a very successful commercial illustrator, providing a comfortable income. Eventually, I moved to Virginia and made the transition to fine art after joining a gallery in Washington, DC. From there, I never looked back and have been supporting myself through painting ever since. Read more>>

Megan Uhaze

Sure. After graduating Highschool I decided to pursue an art degree. I started at the local community college in the art department and after two years I transfered to Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. There I pursued a double Major in Art history and Painting. I graduated at a tough time for the economy in 2009 but was lucky enough that when I moved back home to New Jersey I saw an add for an artist wanted in a local news paper. I applied for the job and got it! I started working at the esteemed Johnson Atelier in October of 2009 and the rest is history. I have now been an artist (painter, art restorer and patinist) for the company for 15 years. In 2020 I was made the co head of the finishing department and I oversee all restoration projects and any projects dealing with classical patina. I really enjoy working with artists to help them achieve their vision, mentoring students and interns who are starting out in the art field, and helping galleries and museums and private clients maintain their collections. Read more>>

Matthew Hamilton

I originally started out shooting music videos for musicians I knew. Then I met my mentor Peter Hurley who got me interested in shooting headshots for actors and professionals in the corporate world. From that point on, I knew that was what I wanted to do professionally, and I have been doing that ever since. That was around 10 years ago at this point! Read more>>

Ashley Lucas

Four years ago, I was a new mom and navigating the pandemic with my family in a very loud and overwhelming city. I opened Zillow and found a rental on the Jersey Shore. Bang! Our lives changed immediately. From concrete to calm. I started to notice the local pastime of sea glass collecting and became fascinated with it. I’m an artist and illustrator that has spent most of my life teaching art to kids and illustrating children’s books. On a beach walk one day I asked the ocean how I can serve the most people with my art, and glass kept appearing at my feet. It was a sign! I created a few art pieces to sell over the holidays and they did so well I launched an online shop. Now my brand Sook & Hook is represented in 22 stores nationwide! Read more>>

Paul Benninghove’s Story

My story starts with parents who were willing to let me be a nerd as a kid. Live in my bedroom, build computers, learn software, and design cool shit. I’m a self-taught interactive agency leader who has a side hustle apparel brand that I use as a creative outlet. My first job in design was as a marketing admin at a local mall where I spent my days helping on logistics for events and designing posters for in the mall. From there I got my first interactive design job by basically bullshitting my way through an interview and convincing the software company that I knew Macromedia Flash and could do motion work for them on a national fantasy sports website. Needless to say, I learned Flash in 2 weeks enough to be dangerous, and turned that job into a nice portfolio builder. From there I bounced to one or two other software companies until given an opportunity by Dave Hickethier at AndCulture to help build a regional digital agency, MudBrick Creative. I had no idea how to do it but found a path of least resistance as a partner for other agencies where we had a consistent pipeline of work and did a lot of great stuff. Read more>>

Taylor Haines’s Story

My name is Taylor. I started my page in 2017 right before my Mom got sick as a fashion page as I went to school for fashion. Unfortunately people did not seem to take to it for some reason. I started sharing my food and restaurants and that quickly took off. I guess it’s because everyone likes to eat and not everyone loves fashion as much as I do. Some of the outfits I wear not everyone would wear! Once my mom passed away late 2017 I really took it seriously and restaurants started contacting me for collaborations and partnerships. During COVID I even helped small businesses and marketed them to help get word out there since no one was really dining out. There was a point recently where I felt like my content was lagging but now it’s starting to pick back up again and I am getting contacted again for partnerships/ect.! It’s the algorithm, always changing. Read more>>

Carrie Ashley’s Story

Growing up, expressing creativity was celebrated – whether in the form of making music (the piano, in my case), the written word, cooking, or photography. But I always felt the strongest pull towards creative writing. So going from journalism school graduate to account coordinator (/stand-in copywriter & editor) at a Kansas City ad agency obviously came as no surprise to those closest to me. In 2016, however, my husband got deployment orders. And that’s when my “best laid” plans started unraveling. I could no longer dodge the unpredictable nature of being a military spouse. Moving every 2-3 years and enduring extended time apart doesn’t really mesh with a long-term career doing what you love. Read more>>

Elizabeth Higgins

I love to be creative, and painting with watercolor brings me so much joy. I love simplifying the process for others, and introducing beginners to the magic of color and water. Painting and teaching have led me to embrace and share the act of creativity as an important tool for emotional well-being. Joy, belonging and healing are the results of making art in community. I am also a trained eco-therapist and enjoy bringing the healing properties of nature into my art and wellness classes and retreats. Read more>>

Brandon Bramley of Seller Finance Dream

I have over a decade of experience in negotiating multi-million dollar deals and am a visionary entrepreneur and skilled real estate investor passionate about helping professionals secure their retirement dream. Over the last eleven years, I have mentored individuals, cultivated long-term relationships, and managed rental properties in through innovative and creating property buying solutions. After gaining invaluable experience by working with some of the biggest organizations in the world, including Amazon and American Airlines, I now help career professionals earn more in their careers through my company, The Salary Negotiator, and aid individuals transitioning from property owner to passive investor by purchasing their properties with the Seller Finance Dream.  Read more>>

La’ondre Jones’s Story

First and foremost I want to say thank you for the opportunity to talk to you guys again!! Im a boxer based out of Washington State!! I started boxing in 2023 in seattle at Benavidez Sports. And from there gained alot of experience in the ring training and learning the craft and science of boxing. There is many levels and you really have to dedicate the time in order to see and feel progression. It was never in my plans to start boxing. As a young adult 23 years old at the time before I started boxing my mental health was suffering poorly. I was faced with many obstacles and challenges with life in general. It got to the point where I wanted to take my own life away. Luckily I found myself surrounded by the right people and made a very close friend out of it that got me to my feet. Including family and more. I wanted to stay productive so I researched boxing gyms which led me to seattle. From there my boxing career took off. Read more>>

Jeff Curry’s Story

My story began in high school when my mother taught me how to use a sewing machine. I was always creating something and selling my creations to friends. In my early 20s, I partnered with a friend to start my first business—a design studio where we crafted our own samples and sent them to manufacturers for production. I found great joy in creating functional products, and this eventually led me to working with leather. Through continuous practice and refinement of my techniques, I developed wallets I was truly proud of. After years of honing my craft, I finally took the leap to sell my wallets outside of friends and family turned it into a full time job. Read more>>

Paige Hulse of Paige Hulse Law, The Creative Law Shop

I was 10 when I asked my parents how to answer the question about “what they did”. As entrepreneurs, they laughed when I asked “who gave them that job”. My dad started his company with nothing but gumption. One investor recognized it, bet on him, and the rest is history. Gumption, and grit were my standard of normalcy. I learned firsthand the unpredictability of entrepreneurship in my family of entrepreneurs, as I watched my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles (and later, my in-laws) start, build, sell, rinse and repeat. My dad’s industry is one of the most historically litigious, but I cannot remember a single time that my parents were worried or distracted about the legal side of business. Just as I was taught that entrepreneurship requires faith, I watched my dad always invest in the best attorneys, so that he had advocates in his corner. Read more>>

Kimberly Beam

I have always been fascinated by spirituality. When I was little I was drawn to my sister’s tarot cards. She would never let me touch them, but I wanted to very much. I was raised in a Jewish home and had by Bat Mitzvah – and the studies for that brought to be synagogue often. Only, though joyful and intentional, I didn’t feel Presence there. I thought I found that presence in the church and converted to Christianity when I was 15. Inside the charismatic church, I learned how to use to energy to help heal and find words of encouragement for others. Now, I’ve moved beyond organized religions. I’m finding my center and my source in non-traditional ways. I meditate. I ground. I now use my intuition to find those words of encouragement and comfort people are looking for inside their difficult circumstances. I have made it a mission to continue to share healing and encouragement to anyone who wants it, relying on my source and guides to help me hear for others. Read more>>

Kennard Herring of Nostalgic Eye Care

The beginning of any journey is always inspiring and it typically turns into a caterpillar to butterfly story. One of the things that I find to be most compelling about someone’s journey is their why. I will begin my journey with what motivated me to pursue starting a private practice. I have three reasons that I decided to pursue private practice and they all simultaneously hit me at the same time. Reason number one I decided to pursue private practice was because I was tired of being a worker and wanted to be an owner. Reason number two, I would be able to leave something behind for my child. Reason number three, I possess the optometric background to operate a full service practice. My journey started as an optician in 2001. I worked for several opticals until 2004 when I landed a job at a corporate entity in Manhattan, Ny. Read more>>

Natalie Zacharias of Tending Your Spirit

If I’m being honest, my healing journey started when I was a teenager and I was first introduced to energy healing and ways to connect with Spirit. It was a time in my life when there were big changes happening within my family that were causing a lot of pain and suffering. I was feeling lost and alone and all of a sudden these teachers and healers started showing up in my life. I was in denial about my path for many years, it wasn’t until my mid-20s that I started to realize I couldn’t ignore my natural ability to hold space for healing to happen for people. I felt a big intuitive feeling that it was time to take a chance and forge my own path. I was interested in deepening my studies in the ways that psychology and spirituality wove together. What I was really searching for was the indigenous wisdom that resided within my DNA. I had a sense that there was more to healing then what I already knew and that led me to quitting my job and moving to San Francisco to get my Master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology and also learn from the many spiritual teachers who I would find while living there. The past ten years feels like it has been lifetimes lived already with the depth of the experiences and initiations I have gone through. In fact, I’m working on a book that will share a lot more depth of the lessons learned along my journey because to keep it brief does a disservice to everything I’ve learned, experienced and the old stories and wounds I have released and transformed. I’ve gone through the fire again and again and continue to be rebirthed through this experience we call life. Needless to say, it was through all those experiences that I now stand here today sharing my medicine in the way that feels true. Read more>>

Katlyn Paskorz of Katydid PGH

I always felt a bit lost when it came to choosing a career path. I didn’t have a clear passion or feel particularly good at any one thing. When I graduated college, it was right in the middle of a recession. The first full-time job with benefits that I could find was at a bank, where I ended up working for eight years. Although I wasn’t happy there, I didn’t know what else to pursue. After one particularly rough day at work, my husband, a software engineer, suggested I try learning web development. Initially, I had a litany of excuses: I wasn’t smart enough, didn’t have enough time or patience, and was already eight years into my career. Despite my reluctance, he continued to encourage me every time I had a bad day. Read more>>

Jill Reed

I’m from a very small town where pine forests stretch for days, peanuts grow like weeds, and hams cure the old fashioned way, in vintage smokehouses. There’s a paper mill that employs half the county and on any given day you can smell all the smells associated with these things. I had a fairly typical small town experience growing up, lots of fun, little supervision. There have been several moments that have changed my course. 1. Leave your comfort zone. While in undergrad, I lived in Australia for a semester, met a Scotsman who would become my best friend, and committed to global travel after graduation. I dropped the script and spent a year traveling with him, mostly Asia and South Pacific – lived and worked in New Zealand a bit and then moved back to Virginia. Read more>>

Louma El-khoury

I’ve been an artist ever since I can remember. I taught myself to draw from an early age, and got into fashion sketching during a trip to Paris with my family when I was about 8. After high school, I studied fashion design in Montreal, Canada, and specialized in fashion illustration, and I never stopped drawing fashion to this day. My career background includes fashion design for a private label company, product and packaging design in different industries, as well as graphic design. All of the experience I’ve gathered in these jobs helped me be successful in the different aspects of my own business today. Read more>>

 J-yo Of J-yo Productions

I started out at 16 as a freestyle battle rapper at House parties. I stopped doing that when I was about 20 years old due to fights and people punching me so I stopped battle rapping. Around 20 is when I started to work with other artists in my area my first producer would record me freestyling and mostly at this point I really didn’t know how to write a rap song or how it was structured. Around 24 years old I got with a second group in my area where I watched the producer do everything make beats, record us, perform live shows, and most importantly how a write and structure my poetry into a hip hop song. My group broke up around 28 years old when I got into a car accident and I was solo from that point out. It wasn’t until I was recovering from the car accident and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to be an electrician no more that I started studying how to market my music and I switched from Facebook to Instagram I’m doing really well with my music at this point. I’m excited on whats to come I’m currently building a team of people that specialize in the profession of marketing, mixing and mastering, and anything related to do with hip hop music in the creation of a song. Read more>>

Harley Eblen

Music has been the cornerstone of my entire life. I started studying classical cello when I was 10, found a love of Celtic and Bluegrass in my teens, and learned to write songs in my early 20s. From there I was excited to figure out how to put that all together by learning production, and finally that led me to string arranging and record which I do today. Read more>>

Rosie Cerquone’s Story

I grew up in Missoula, MT for my whole childhood. I was lucky to be born in a small city that really values music and the arts, so I was extremely active in primarily music programs (like school band, school choirs, and community choirs) but I was also part of plays and other community performance-centric events. In addition to my community having lots of opportunities for the arts, I was also lucky enough to have extremely supportive parents who paid for music lessons and encouraged me to explore any creative endeavor I thought was interesting–for me, that was mainly songwriting and recording music in Garageband. When it came time to go to college, I ended up staying in Missoula to attend the University of Montana, where I studied Percussion Performance. Because it was a smaller state school program, percussionists were expected to be in basically as many ensembles as they could handle. So I played in wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, jazz band, jazz combo, all of our World music ensembles like Balinese Gamelan, Brazilian percussion, salsa band, and West African drumming, as well as preparing and performing in new music ensembles and my own solo recitals. Throughout college, I began to play and perform my own music, and started combing my singing and songwriting with my mallet percussion skillset. Read more>>

Chelsey Luster

My journey as an artist and curator started in elementary school. My art teacher and mother encouraged my creativity and submitted my work to various art shows around Baltimore. This experience led me to apply and attend a visual and performing arts middle and high school and eventually study art in college. After studying painting at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, I began my career as an artist and curator. As an artist, I started showing my work through open-call pop-up exhibitions and worked my way to showing in galleries and museums and attended artist residencies and fellowships to build my craft. As a curator, I began my career by cold-emailing galleries with my exhibition ideas and showing up at openings around the city to network. Over time a built network of artists and curators who I collaborated with through various exhibitions. After four years of independent projects through fellowships, artists collectives, and open calls, I began curating full-time as the Exhibition Manager at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Read more>>

Jessica Tanselle

I started looking for new methods for healing during a very successful time in my life. I found myself unhappy, frustrated, and over stimulated. I wasn’t enjoying life as much as I should have been able to. In fact, I was stuck in a depression and I couldn’t even see it. I was helping others in many ways, but I couldn’t seem to find that joy in my life. I was listening to a spiritual podcast and they were talking about healing with plant medicine. It piqued my interest immediately. I contacted a couple of people over that year about sitting in ceremony with plant medicine but the timing wasn’t right. About a year later, I found myself in a ceremony with five other women. We went on a journey with sacred mushrooms and my life changed. Read more>>

Nicole Roberts Jones of Brilliance Mastery Academy

My most vivid childhood dream was working in the entertainment industry. For me, working in that industry represented a way out of the chaotic environment of my neighborhood and into a world that—in my mind—represented massive success. As a child and into my teenage years, I escaped the reality of the drugs, gangs, and drive-by shootings in my neighborhood by watching TV. I had many TV shows and movies that I loved, but the show, A Different World, was one of my favorites. Even though it was only a TV show, it allowed me to see that college was possible and helped me create aspirations beyond my neighborhood. Eventually, I graduated from college with a degree in TV and film, and in the early 1990’s, with determination and preparation meeting opportunity, my childhood dream of working in Hollywood became a reality. Read more>>

Susannah Lago

My kids and I started Killer Cotton Candy in the summer of 2023. After suffering an ankle injury that rendered me unable to do in person events with my ongoing event business (Style Up Group), we decided to take advantage of the downtime by coming up with a new business venture together! We brainstormed for weeks and finally settled on starting a cotton candy business. It gave us an opportunity to build something together and also learn about teamwork, marketing, and I got to teach my children about what goes into starting and running a business. Read more>>

Carlo Fiorletta

I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, New York, raised by Lucia my Teacher Mom and Ali my Electrical Engineer Dad. I was the oldest child, a sister and two brothers followed. My sister and I were. My dad did well professionally in the 1960s. The space program and the Vietnam War run my memory spectrum from positive to negative. In the 1970s the space program was over, Dad was laid off and teachers went on strike. I recall mom supervising my dumpster dive outside the market to supplement the family food she paid for. My fathers mother passed, Dad drove me Sundays to visit his father, Nonno, Italian for grandfather, I learned Italian by conversation and books My job was to cut Nonno’s hair and shave him while Dad got some food for the week and cook. Read more>>

Rachel D. Greenwell’s Story

I got here by messing up a lot. I know that sounds crazy to say…but it’s true. I have a sordid past and sure have been through my fair share of trials and tribulations. My story consists of a girl who came from a divorced household, lived on food stamps & other government programs, and began showing signs of mental illness at age 7 when I developed an OCD/anxiety disorder that was left untreated until I became an adult. I self medicated with substances since I was old enough to get my hands on things like alcohol and pills. The mental illness coupled with trauma and a lack of order in my home was the perfect combination of fuels to ignite a personal hell of inner turmoil that I lived in for about 12 years. Read more>>

Ariana Cotton

I started the Cookie MomStor Co. in Chesapeake, Virginia in my mom’s kitchen. It wasn’t until last year we hit the jackpot. Going viral on a local food bloggers platform we gained over 100 new customers. After shipping to over 15 states across the United States I knew in that moment. This was what I was destined for. Read more>>

Gabrielle Dobrzelewski

When I first encountered images of paintings in the art book my grandfather gave me, I was immediately in love. However the journey to becoming a painter myself wasn’t a clear path always. Painting wasn’t something I naturally took to. It’s something I’ve had to fight my way into. I feel like now I’m beginning to understand some of the strange, mystical qualities of paint that only time and experience can gift you. With that said, I still feel I have much much farther to go when it comes to truly understanding how oil paint operates. I had always felt a security and comfortability in drawing, however I had reached a point when I was about to enter art school where I could sense my dissatisfaction with the medium. I opted to major in painting despite having nearly never touched paint. Read more>>

Lea K. Tawd

My path as an artist has a lot of starting points that I could talk about and go as far back as childhood. But what feels most relevant to me at this point in my life and in my career are the compounded tragedies of the pandemic and losing my husband just as it started to feel like the pandemic might be over. In 2020, ironically, I had the most productive and the most profitable year in my art business I had ever had before. Being stuck at home with my kindergardener and my husband drastically restricted how many hours I was able to work. My side jobs all ended. But I had a couple of hours a day to myself and I think the limited time made me so hyper-focused on my work that I was able to accomplish way more than I had before. I also found a great network of people to help support my work. Read more>>

Rob Stangroom

A close friend died unexpectedly in 2012. The introspection – searching for answers to my feelings – started a cascade of choices and decisions that led to where I am today as a person and artist. I am not new, per se, to artwork and being creative – but my journey has been unconventional. My mom was very artistic – though I never saw her produce art, in the sense that a professional or even hobby artist might. It wasn’t until her passing away that I even learned she had worked summers at The Old Mill Studio in northern New York established and run by Wayman Adams, known for his portraiture of presidents and others. She worked there so she could sit in on classes and studio events. Read more>>

Ebonie Thornton

I am a military spouse, being a military family it’s not as easy as people may think to get a job. Moving from place to place and not being able to find work can take a toll on your family. I am also a licensed esthetician and I have a love for home fragrance and home decor. I could never find aesthetic candles at the time so I decided to do some research on the candle business market and Luxurious Ambience was created, I also thought this would be great for myself and my family because I could just bring my business where ever the military sends us. Read more>>

Taylor Carroll of The Stray Shop

After graduating with a BFA from Virginia Tech in 2019, I worked as a full-time graphic designer before transitioning to freelance motion design in 2020, just before the pandemic hit. While I enjoyed freelancing for a while, I wanted more creative freedom to make what I desired rather than fulfilling client requests. So, I started my art shop, The Stray Shop. Initially, I offered handmade stickers and prints of various subjects, primarily animals with an occasional cat thrown in. However, as more customers requested my cat artwork – the shop was originally named after my cats – I pivoted to focus exclusively on feline-themed collections. It’s been growing rapidly ever since! Read more>>

Amanda Thayer

I started making beaded earrings as a coping mechanism while I was going through a major health issue. Sometimes you just need to keep your mind busy with something new while your body does the hard work of healing. Turns out, I love making jewelry. I love the creative aspect. The wide range of colors, textures, and varying mediums that I can use make the process of creating a tangible object that can bring another person joy extremely satisfying. I started making only beaded earrings but over the years I have added bracelets, hats with beaded hat bands and jackets with beaded fringe to my repertoire. There are so many possibilities and I really enjoy exploring all of them.  Read more>>

Michael Will

I got into photography right out of college to help make ends meet. Initially, it was just a job to pay the bills, but I quickly fell in love with the craft and the opportunity to work with so many interesting people. I had aspirations of working in advertising and even landed my first job in that field, but unfortunately, I was laid off after just a few months. During this period of uncertainty, I sold internet subscriptions, was a motivational speaker in high schools, and took photos of friends while searching for a new job. Photography started to take off and it dawned on me as a potential “real job.” A pivotal moment came when I started second shooting weddings for a friend. The energy, emotions, and unique moments of weddings captivated me, and I knew I had found my next big thing. Read more>>

Dr. Tajanae Barnes’s Story

The Brilliance Brand, originally Brilliance by Tajanae, was birthed in Greensboro, NC as a way for a young college student to make some extra money by editing papers for fellow students. Now, the brand is a premiere stop for all individuals looking to work with a talented editor to fine tune their resume, cover letter, college assignments, website copy, and social media content. Over the years, I have put in a lot of hours taking classes to become a better writer and learning from others the most effective ways to help people mend their relationship with writing. Read more>>

Joya Santarelli

I stumbled into yoga in one of the most unlikely of ways. What was at first a devastating diagnosis turned into one of the biggest blessings of my life. Upon being told I had multiple sclerosis, my neurologist (world renowned) suggested I turn to yoga. I registered for my first class the very next day and as they say….the rest is history. I have been actively practicing yoga for over ten years. For the longest time, I enjoyed practicing and had no intention to lead classes. In 2019, I decided that I could picture myself leading fellow yogis and enrolled in my 200 hour yoga teacher training. I graduated in Feb 2020 just in time for the pandemic to hit the world. And just like that the perfect storm had formed which allowed me to bring my yoga teacher skills to a captive audience. Read more>>

Mychel Sullivan

Hi, my name is Mychel. I began my journey as an artist when I was 6 years old, tracing Dragonball Z characters and all my favorite superheroes. Fast forward 15 years and I’m starting to wonder what my purpose in life is, and what I have to offer the world. It was at that time I decided to jump all in and follow my true calling for art and creativity. I had no idea where that path would take me or how long it would take; I just knew I would be satisfied with whatever the outcome was because it meant I stayed true to myself. Looking back I think it was the best decision I ever made. Read more>>

Natasha Ewa of I-Thrive Therapy and Wellness

I started my career by obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology, and after taking 3 years off post-undergrad, returned for my Master of social work. I have worked in mental health since 2009, and over the years have worked in various settings (residential, group homes, community based, hospital, outpatient etc) and in a variety of positions. Read more>>

Laura Gethers of Love Harder Marriage Coaching

Love Harder is a compilation of all the things I enjoy doing: teaching, helping others, and having fun. It all started with an obstacle course focused on teamwork, trust, and communication. I created the obstacle course to help couples identify areas they need to grow within their relationship. Why? I found that couples were having difficulties and were not ready to go to counseling, but they wanted to improve their relationship. Therefore, hearing a need, I decided to create a solution and sought to create something interactive and non-threatening. Read more>>

Paul Ormsby’s Story

From an early age, I became very enthralled by movies, TV shows, and video work in general. College really made it clear that a visually creative degree was where I needed to be. UW-Stout helped me gain the necessary skills to turn a hobby into a career. I’ve been doing video related projects since 2012. It started as fun little skits and short films with a very good friend of mine and has evolved to me starting a freelance videography company, Orm Studios, in addition to working as Creative Producer for Chippewa Valley Music Festivals. As far as portfolio, I’ve worked on everything from short films, mini-docs, product videos, weddings, events, drone work and more. This year has been huge for music related projects, filming 14 bands’ performances so far as well as a music video and a couple band promos. I’ve also been pushing my drone work as well. I’m really excited to see what the remainder of this year will bring. Read more>>

Christine Pfister’s Story

Pentimenti Gallery was originally founded by my husband, Tom. After a few years, he passed the leadership to me, encouraging me to nurture the gallery’s development. Over time, this role has been extremely fulfilling, bringing me immense satisfaction and a sense of purpose. I’ve learned to distinguish between professional relationships and personal connections, and despite the business aspect of my role, I’ve formed wonderful friendships with artists, curators, and collectors. Working within the art community through Pentimenti Gallery, in Philadelphia, and wherever my work takes me around the world, has brought me great joy. Read more>>

Kymberlee Helmuth

Kymberlee Kaye Raya is a 30+ year dance and fitness veteran. She is a sought after fitness presenter and national speaker. She most recently spoke alongside Jillian Michaels and Deepak Chopra in Los Angeles at the MindBody National Conference. Kymberlee presented at the IDEA FIT World Convention in San Diego. ​She is a fitness presenter at the Chicago Fit Expo, the American Association of Diabetes Health Expo, Billy Blank’s Celebrity Sweat, and the BEE Fit Fitness event. Kymberlee is a former Reebok Performance Team member, dance choreographer and National Cheerleaders Association staff member and judge. From her trying out for the NBA Chicago Bulls LuvABulls to her competitive dance background – she brings her HIP HOP dance expertise to every class she teaches! Kymberlee was highlighted on WGN News for her fitness expertise. Read more>>

Vanessa Williams’s Story

I was sitting in my 4th grade English class when my teacher gave the assignment: “today we are going to write a poem describing what home means to you.” My grandmother had written poetry since I could remember so I was familiar with the craft yet never written anything myself. We went over some rules of poetry and then left to write. I feel in love. I created a PowerPoint for my one poem, printed it out and hung it on my bedroom wall where I looked at it and read it every day. It seemed as soon as pen hit paper, my soul found a new home. A place to release, explore and become. I haven’t stopped writing poetry since. Read more>>

Stephanie Oplinger

I grew up in the country, fairly isolated, but some of my earliest memories are drawing stories and yearning to be outdoors all the time. Fast forward to my adult years, I found myself just shy of 30 years old questioning what had happened, having worked a decade in jobs that were the farthest from anything I had dreamed (from a paralegal in a law firm to an NDE technician in nuclear power plants!) I harbored a lot of anger in my childhood and in my 20s: I raged at being born a woman. I often had to question myself: did I feel I wasn’t a woman or was I just angry that everyone and the world told me that a woman couldn’t achieve anything, that she was weak, that she was powerless? I found I couldn’t answer the former because the latter was an ever present reality. Who could love themselves in a female body when everybody seemed to hate, vilify, or weaken the power of the female body? I finally came to a point where I felt I was meant to learn something in this life, and that this go-around had to do with being a woman and the way women are treated.  Read more>>

Heidi Block

Like many ideas, Play-PKL was born out of my frustration with the existing options when I learned to play pickleball in the summer of 2021. I couldn’t find any relatable brands or good content about the sport, and the only apparel were goofy graphic t-shirts. A lot of the people I saw playing pickleball were wearing athleisure brands but nothing that was designed for pickleball. As a lifelong brand builder with a focus on innovation, I immediately saw the opportunity to create a great American brand with beautiful, high quality, functional apparel and accessories built for the sport. But my background was in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, not apparel, so it took awhile to understand the process of developing clothing and to find business partners who could bring my ideas to life.  Read more>>