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.

Sarah Wilson

Absolutely. There was a defining moment—but it didn’t start with clarity. It started with chaos. Years of it, actually.
When I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 15, the story in my head became, “I’ve just been handed a life sentence.” The support was minimal. Doctors told me to “stay on top of your blood sugar,” but no one showed me how. No one talked about food, hormones, stress, or the emotional toll. And hope? That was nowhere to be found. One doctor even told me I shouldn’t have children—that my body wouldn’t survive it. At 15, most of us are barely figuring out how to handle high school, let alone a chronic illness and the idea that motherhood might not be possible. Read more>>

Walt Fritz

Having 15 years of my physical therapy career focused on a relatively narrow set of perspectives, of which those beliefs defined my practice, and having a line drawn in the sand to control my professional life by a now former mentor forced me to reframe how I view my world. Had this not happened, I would have never found the niche I now thrive in. Through adversity, there is growth. Read more>>

Nicola Ranson

I have had an auto-immune disorder (ulcerative colitis) since I was 10 and was told I could never lead a normal life. This made me determined to thwart the doctors and have as full and healthy a life as possible. As stress significantly impacts my health, I was motivated to address my own anxiety and learn all I could about relaxation which has greatly influenced my professional life. Read more>>

John Winlock Jr

I used to weigh almost 300 lbs. and spent most of my fitness journey seeking weight loss.

My desire to weigh less led me down an unhealthy path to beating my body into injury, constant plateaus, and mental fatigue.

On my last injury, I took time away from physically abusing my body through exercise and educated myself on why I keep getting injured.

This is how I became a trainer. I learned that I was doing physical movement wrong, and I wanted to help others like me who weren’t being led correctly do it right. Read more>>

Samantha Beckton

Once upon a time, I was an aerial acrobat—flying high, flipping upside down, and making impossible things look effortless. Until the day my shoulder gave out.

I couldn’t lift my arm past 90 degrees for a year and a half. Try brushing your hair like that. Try doing life like that. My career? Over. My identity? Shattered. I spiraled—physically, emotionally, professionally. Depression hit hard.

So I did what anyone in pain and desperate for answers would do: I went to school for physical therapy and while in school went to actual physical therapy. Read more>>

Micah Haas

The moment I knew I wanted to pursue helping people through personal training was when I had the opportunity to help a friend therapy his broken back. He had broken it paragliding and after two years, was not experiencing any progress. Having blown two disks in my back. I knew how hard the process could be. Watching my workout and physical therapy program work so well for him. And the happiness it brought him to become healthy enough to once again pursue his passions of flying showed me this is what I want meant to do. Read more>>

Dr. Arianna Becker

One of the biggest turning points in my career was when I became a mom. Suddenly, my perspective on health shifted—not just for my patients, but for myself. I wanted to do everything in my power to live as long, strong, and healthy as possible for my kids. That’s what led me to pursue certification in Lifestyle Medicine. Read more>>

Shane Creado

One was to get into the healthcare field, as I saw my maternal grandfather (who was a public official, lawyer, judge, stage actor) get struck down by a stroke, and the physical therapist worked on getting his life back.
Another was in the course of my physical therapy training, realizing my training was inadequate, and did not provide me the skills I needed to also help my patients with their motivation and depression that were severely impacted by their injuries and disabilities, which spurred my trajectory toward medical school and psychiatry. Read more>>

Kimberly Bonner

One afternoon I was talking to my friend and told him I wanted to start a business. He had several businesses open at that time. He told me open a business people need and repeat business. I went home and prayed What business would be right for me. I woke up went to my jewelry box and pulled out a piece of paper that had been in there for 3 years that a lady had given me about a BLS INSTRUCTOR COURSE I called the number spoke with the representative and went back to school to become a BLS instructor for the American Heart Association to this day I cannot remember what I went to get out of that jewelry box I said to myself LOOK AT GOD my business has been up and running for 17yrs with great success. Read more>>

Morgan Martin

It’s been 10 years, and I’ll never forget the day my younger brother, Marcus Martin, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 25 from a pulmonary embolism. That moment shattered me. It was one of the darkest seasons of my life..one that brought deep grief, depression, and a pain I didn’t know how to carry. Read more>>

Nafis Ricks

A defining moment in my career occurred in 2018 when I became a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri at the age of 30. My initial goal was to build a coaching career at the Division I level, aspiring to one day coach in a Power Five conference under the mentorship of Coach Cuonzo Martin. However, as I immersed myself in the role, my trajectory began to shift in an unexpected and profound way. Read more>>

Rachel Gossett

Yes — there was a defining moment that completely shifted the trajectory of my life and career. In truth, it was more than a moment — it was a reckoning, a release, a rebirth. And it came after thirty-three years of struggling with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Read more>>

Starr Day

I don’t have a specific defining moment in my career that I can really pin point. However, since being opened and transparent about my own personal journey with health and fitness, i constantly receive uplifting messages from women who let me know they started their fitness journey because of me or how they look up to me etc. I’m very big on transparency regarding my journey with health and fitness ; and how I started because I was getting out of an abusive relationship. This was a way I found myself again. I never went into this field thinking I would be able to help other women similar to me. So when I receive these messages it really makes me happy and lets me know that I’m doing something right. Read more>>

Flourish Healing And Wellness Space

Flourish’s Defining Moment was in discovering the Power of the Collective. For years, the vision for Flourish Healing and Wellness was in motion—an idea rooted in the belief that true wellness encompasses mind, body, and spirit. We knew that healing wasn’t just about one practice or one approach; it required a holistic, integrated experience. But something was missing. Read more>>

Marcia

I’ve had a few defining moments in my career, which have often arrived completely unexpectedly. The first happened in my twenties, when I was in between careers. In my previous corporate marketing job, I had written a market assessment for the use of satellite communications on tribal lands, which led me to work with an individual who suggested I turn this assessment into a report for a foundation in Washington DC. I got permission from the company I had worked with to do so, the report was published and it eventually led me to my next career in Native American policy and advocacy as both a senior policy advisor, and later, running my own non-profit organization. Years later, when I had left that career and decided to go back to school to become a counselor, I had a similar experience. Read more>>

Breona Byers

Every passionate artist or creative has a defining moment. In this moment, there’s a realization that shifts the perspective and elevates one’s craft. For me, that moment came when I learned to embrace my unique journey as a nail technician, grow at my own pace and thrive in my why. Read more>>

Joni (Rajashree Maa) Dittrich

Even as successful psychologist and psychotherapist, I always knew there was more to “feeling better” than talk therapy: that there was an untapped energetic force within each of us that is already and always “whole” and “healed.” So I began practicing and teaching yoga, meditation, and reiki energetic healing to my clients and students. Then, in 2008, I began experiencing a series of mystical encounters with a goddess energy who appeared to me a Mother Kali, the goddess of transformation. She introduced me to certain energy signatures, or forms of light, which were presented as symbols to be used as a means to unblock stuck energy and create physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing for all willing clients. Read more>>

Danielle Pitre

I’ve had a few different careers in my life, and event planning in the hotel industry was my last attempt to find something that suited me. After years of working in this way—planning and coordinating large events, weddings, and corporate meetings—I felt like I had been following a path that many people take: get a job, work hard, and live in a way that aligns with what is expected and more acceptable by society. While I loved creating memorable experiences for others, something in me felt like I wasn’t truly living out my own unique talents. I had all these seemingly random traits—creativity, deep insightfulness, a need for connection—that were incredibly useful in this career, but they didn’t have a space to be expressed fully. Read more>>

Trina Zaragoza

Absolutely. For me, the defining moment came when I realized that nursing while rewarding, was just one part of how I wanted to empower others toward their best health. I had been struggling with migraines that no traditional treatment could fix. Through exploring energy work and holistic health practices, I experienced a profound shift. I realized that my migraines were tied to blocked energy, a reflection of how I had been suppressing my intuitive abilities and personal truths. Read more>>