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.

Kristine Glein

In March of 2020, I was fired for the first time in my career. I was devastated, as my husband was undergoing a biopsy for prostate cancer the moment I received that fateful call. Read more>>

Lisa Conners

A defining moment in my career was when I was passed over for a promotion that I had worked hard to achieve. My team was excited when the job opening was announced and congratulated me on being recognized for all that I had accomplished as a leader and manager!  Read more>>

Cassandra Love Lambert

Yes, there were two pivotal moments. The first was when I founded C-Love while three months pregnant and facing the prospect of being a single mom. Read more>>

Jessica Sanchez

In 2017, I was halfway through my graduate school program, and I saw a quote that said, “Be who you needed when you were younger” by New York Times best selling author, Brad Montagu Read more>>

Stacy Reuille-Dupont

My first career was in exercise science and health club management. I have always been someone who physically moves, a lot. I need movement to clear my head, facilitate my many ideas, and filter my action steps. Read more>>

Edmonia Doe

I was born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia. I spent my teenage years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, experiencing a blend of Liberian heritage and American culture. At 17, I relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, for college, marking my first significant time away from my home and community. Read more>>

Lisa Feder

I can’t say that there is one defining moment in my career, or careers, really, as there have been several over the past nearly 40 years. What I can tell you is that there is a defining theme, which is to “try again”. Read more>>

Caleb Coe

A defining moment in my career was while I pursued my doctorate of physical therapy. I was burned out of PT schools and I had barely scratched the surface of my education. Read more>>

Susan Grau

Absolutely, there was a defining moment in my career that not only altered my professional path but also began to transform my personal perspective on life. This pivotal experience was my near-death experience. Read more>>

Deja Alexandrino

There were two major moments that changed the trajectory of my professional career. The first one was during the years of 2001 to 2002, I was employed as an RN in the Amazon Rainforest through a contract facilitated by the Brazilian Federal Government when my so American boyfriend proposed, Read more>>

Jonathan Niziol

Yes, there was a defining moment in my professional career that changed its trajectory completely. It was the sudden passing of my mother just before my 21st birthday. Read more>>

Kristina Cabanez-Winner

You can have it all. This phrase always came off as very intimidating to me, especially as someone who was very laser-focused on achieving a lifelong goal of practicing as a doctor at the cost of sacrificing quality time with family, my health, wellness and at one point my happiness. Read more>>

Melissa Brunetti

One of my earliest memories, at the age of four, was wanting to be a nurse. Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, that was my response. I had an innate calling to help people heal. Read more>>

Brynn Barale

It was the fall of 2019, I was working as a nurse for a small hospital. This literally was my dream job for about 1 year or so and my department restructured and I was assigned a new manager who micro-managed me to a fault. Read more>>