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.

Celeste Mccarthy

I had scoliosis, and as a kid was a dancer but didn’t do any sports beyond that. My spine was curved and the muscles surrounding it were weak, so I was in consistent back pain. You learn to live with it but it definitely wasn’t ideal for functioning well in life. I planned to be a teacher and earned both a BA and MA in English. In my mid 20s I discovered Bikram yoga, and after consistently practicing for about six months I started noticing my back pain lessening and my body feeling stronger. I started to realize the real impact of yoga on the physical body, and also started to feel less anxious and more calm. A few years later I had my first baby who was born with a rare kidney disorder and spent a month in the hospital while the doctors tried to figure out what was wrong. Having this traumatic experience defined me as I went through survival and coping mode keeping him thriving and alive. I wasn’t able to go back to work as a copywriter or fulfill what I thought was my calling to be a teacher as I pivoted to full time caregiver. During this time, I revisited my yoga practice and cried many healing tears in studio as my nervous system restored and my heart healed. I came to a deep understanding of yoga being a healing modality that connects you to your breath and self, well beyond the physical part of the practice. I received my first YTT-200 hour certification from SWIHA in 2004, with a heart-felt calling to share this practice with people suffering through both physical and emotional pain. Read more>>

Allison Carver

I believe that there have been many defining moments for me over the years but the most beautiful has been to see how my career has unfolded. While I was formally trained in a field I never exactly loved doing, I still used those skills and natural gifts I have in helping others to become an entrepreneur and define what my own business looks like! One defining moment was when I decided I could make therapy look and feel like how I liked it and it would help my clients love their best lives! It was magic! Read more>>

Bridget Danielle Sisney

My journey into the world as a wellness professional and entrepreneur truly began in the classroom as a middle school science teacher. It was my students and fellow teachers who showed me the positive impact yoga and mindfulness meditation can have. One particular moment stands out: during our end-of-year meeting, the principal and I sat down to discuss my plans for the next school year. I had just completed my yoga teacher certification a few months earlier and was eager to share my idea of incorporating mindfulness and yoga into the school day—something I envisioned as an enrichment class alongside PE or band. Read more>>

Tommy Adanalian

One major defining moment for me was when I joined a mental health disaster response/recovery team after I had started my private practice. I had been on disaster teams before, but this one was different because I was flown out of state to assist the state of Florida after a hurricane in 2022. We were the first ever state funded mental health team to respond to a disaster and the work we did was really great. We did a lot of mental health work, we had massage therapists, we had nurses, and we connected community members to necessary resources. It was an incredible experience and really motivated me to want to get more involved in helping to create teams of therapists responding to disasters. After that I became the Denver/Boulder Colorado TRN coordinator with Trauma Recovery HAP and have since left that team to join an international disaster response team that responds to disasters throughout the country and abroad. I really like doing disaster work and leading teams of therapists into disaster zones to help the community and first responders heal their trauma so that it does not turn to PTSD. One thing that really sticks out to me doing disaster work is how kind, caring, and resourceful people are when disaster hits. We might think that people are only looking out for themselves and their own families, but in reality everyone is looking out for everyone else. All differences get set aside and people really come together to help each other out. It is a beautiful thing to see that despite all of the loss/grief/trauma that people really do care about others and will share what little resources they have to support someone else and even complete strangers. Read more>>

Dr. Jennifer Blossom

There was a season in my life when I realized I had been wearing multiple masks… for DECADES—showing the world only what I thought was acceptable while tucking away the truest parts of myself. On the surface, I was achieving success, but inside, I felt disconnected and small, numb, and irrelevant. That awareness cracked something open in me. Slowly, I began unmasking—letting go of the perfection I thought was necessary and embracing the vulnerability of showing up fully as myself. This process reshaped everything: how I lead, how I love, how I live. I’ve learned that true leadership comes from authenticity, not performance, and that unmasking isn’t just freeing—it’s transformational. Read more>>

Kaita Mrazek

I was working as a Pilates instructor, dancing with local companies, and teaching Yoga. While I often felt deeply inspired in other classes, I longed to bring that same richness and depth to my own teaching. Then, a pivotal opportunity came along: a Pilates client asked me to consult for a startup she was creating—an activewear brand inspired by Chinese medicine. This marked the beginning of a multi-year journey that transformed my career and opened my mind to new possibilities. Not only did this experience teach me to think bigger, but it also immersed me in the practice and philosophy of Chinese medicine. I eventually became a co-founder of the brand, collaborating with incredible people and embracing a holistic perspective that reshaped my work. As we realized the need to educate our audience about Chinese medicine, a new movement practice began to take form. I found myself drawing connections between the development of our bodies, the role of fascia, our energy systems, and the natural world. This led me to pursue further education to synthesize and express this evolving vision. Read more>>

Mark Overstreet

My defining moment in my career path was when I had to choose between becoming a UPS driver or finishing my college degree and receive a diploma. I made the choice to pursue my college degree. Months and months went by as I thought everyday what I should do in life. As a kid growing up, my father passed at an early age. Without him, I did not really have a male role model in my life. Then my neighbor next door Gerald took me under his wing, and he was a man of many trades. He went to Georgia Tech but never graduated because he got married at an early age. He might not have earned a college degree, but in my eyes, he was by far the smartest person I had ever met in my life. Read more>>

Mike Kelleher

There is absolutely one defining moment that altered the trajectory of my career that culminated in me being where I am today. Over a decade ago when I first began in the subspecialty of Aesthetic Medicine (prior to Aesthetics even being considered as a subspecialty of medicine), specifically very early in my days of injecting Botox, Dermal Filler. A very prominent, highly regarded, world renown Brazilian Plastic Surgeon and pioneer in the Injectable field held a day long training event. Due to unforeseen circumstances I was lucky enough to be invited to inject along side of him for the day. Five providers in total were to train under his watch this day and 20+ attendees would observe. The entire group consisted of experienced, excellent Dermatologists, Surgeons, etc from the Atlanta area. At the end of the day, our Mentor looked into the crowd of attendees and asked, “Raise your hand if you purely inject botox, dermal filler, practice soley Aesthetic medicine in your practice.” Read more>>

Megan Wienhold

I’ve had a passion for health, wellness, and strength training since middle school and more seriously in high school. Like everyone, as I got more into the career I questioned and had second thoughts. Nothing truly ignited me to question myself, other than being young and successful. That part seemed almost surreal. I struggled with the entrepreneurial aspect, not so much the training aspect. During Covid, gyms shut down. My best friend (also a trainer) and I packed up his trailer with equipment and set up in public parking lots and parks all over the county in order to stay in business and keep people healthy during a global pandemic. That was truly a defining moment for me. I proved to myself that I had what it took to be a successful entrepreneur with the right people in my corner. I could have filed unemployment like the rest of the world, but I was so passionate about health that I followed in his footsteps and created a full book in a global pandemic. Both of us had full books with next to no breaks throughout each day. Read more>>