Stories are incredibly powerful – their ability to teach, inspire, and create understanding is why we are so in love with storytelling. Most stories have a defining moment and so we’ve asked some of the most talented, insightful folks across a broad range of industries and markets to tell us about a defining moment in their story.

Janmetra Waddell

I am the ONLY Live Past Crazy Specialist- and I share my 18 year healing journey with women to help them R.I.SE. (Revitalizing Individual Sacred Energy). A defining moment for me was one I published my first book. I am a survivor of domestic violence and lived in fear for years. I was always looking over my shoulder and careful of my surroundings and I just did not trust anyone. Read more>>

Jennifer Manning Plassnig

My defining moment which changed the way I conducted therapy as well as changed my personal practices came from a continuing education class I took about 10 years into my career. Social workers are required to take continuing education seminars to maintain one’s professional license. I was always on the lookout for topics that I did not know a lot about or that stretched my thinking and understanding of the world and of people. Read more>>

Amy Tripp

The defining moment in my career came when I decided to move to New York City. Prior to moving I was living in eastern North Carolina. Since I had never lived outside of North Carolina it was a big move for me but it was the best thing I ever did because a lot of opportunities came my way I never would have gotten in North Carolina. Opportunities to write articles, be on podcasts, and network with other astrologers propelled me forward to be able to make astrology my full-time job. Read more>>

Nassiah Saaneah

I would say one of the most defining moments in my career was when I realized I had a desire or passion to do something I feared. When I realized it, I couldn’t understand it. I had an desire to talk with others opening a safe for a healing discussion. Meanwhile I was terrified to talk in front of others let alone share my experiences on similar issues. I thought to myself why would the Lord gift me with something I feared my whole life. Read more>>

Kelly Albuquerque DaRosa

There were 2 defining moments for me. I moved to Florida in 2012 with my dreams of pursuing my social work career. In 2014 I decided to go back to school and obtain my second bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. On the first day of class, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. During my pregnancy we found out we would have a son and he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Read more>>

Candra Spears

One day a friend of mine told me she had signed up for a three hour class introducing life coaching. I had vaguely heard of it and was interested so I signed up to take the class with her. I will never forget that day! The woman giving the class shared her information with us some of that was a list of ‘tools’ she uses to coach: confidentiality, everyone gets to be right, ask for what you want, bottom lining. Then she proceeded to discuss coaching skills: active listening, the big agenda, intuition… Wait, What? Intuition! I asked her, “You mean you get paid to use your intuition? Where did you learn this so I can sign up?” Read more>>

Vianca Armstrong-Jordan

Absolutely! The defining moment happened in 2016 as I realized that in my corporate career, I was in a position of lateral advancements unless I waited for a slim opportunity of leveling up into a higher leadership position. As I began to navigate my future, I realized that I needed to truly connect back to the root of whom I was as a person. Read more>>

Asia Smith

In 2018, I found myself struggling with my work/life balance, completing my Master’s program, and desire to enhance and essentially pivot in my professional career. Discovering the benefits of yoga in college, I founded Pearled Buddha, LLC in 2019 and in the midst of the pandemic, began offering virtual classes and outdoor sessions to assist others with mental and physical self-care. Read more>>

Christopher Moreno

The defining moment in my professional career definitely has to be when I made the decision to quit my last job and go all in with my business. During the last month prior to quitting my job, I had a routine where I would wake up at 2:45am to be at the gym by 3:30am and get a workout in prior to starting a 5am shift. Read more>>

Thamara Jean

Great stories from inspirational figures have usually stemmed from devastating events. 5 years in the field of nursing and from the beginning, I noticed the shift from service based to more of a business mindset. As a hard worker and compassionate caregiver, the pandemic was its own Pandora’s box. It taught us valuable lessons and having experience burnout motivated me to find another avenue of passion so I went into critical care. Read more>>

Angela Locashio

I have had many defining moments in my life. Of course, the personal ones intersect with the professional ones and vice versa. But this most recent on has been, by far, the most life changing thing that has ever happened to me. Read more>>

Candia Lea Cole

I would say that my professional career represents the fertile outgrowth of my self-learning/self-healing journey that began during my teenage years, when I was dealing with a mystery illness that allopathic doctors were not trained to diagnose or treat. I missed my high school graduation due to illness, which for me, was a real wake-up call that I needed to adopt a new and healthier lifestyle. Read more>>

Shalisa Chamberlain

Hi, I’m Shalisa Chamberlain, CBD expert and owner of Furry Faces CBD, I’m proud to share my personal journey and the defining moment that led me to a drastic career change and the creation of my company dedicated to helping pets naturally with CBD. Read more>>

Mutsumi Adams

Yes, taking a risk, going against what the society believes, and doing things that nobody is doing was one of my defining moments of my career. Launching my business was probably one of the scariest thing I’ve ever done. I come from nothing and if anything, I grew up with many self limiting beliefs that I had to overcome and constantly challenge. Being a first generation immigrant, and having struggled with mental health, struggling with racial identity and micro aggression, and you name it. Read more>>