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.

Kristi McLeod

The defining moment so far in my career was the moment when I started to learn about the nervous system, and the impact of living in survival. All of a sudden all of the questions I had been asking professionals for all of these years about the diagnoses I had received- it all started making sense. Read More>>

Dr. Tangela Stoot

Yes, there was a defining moment that changed the trajectory of both my career and my life. For many years, I served others through ministry, mental health, crisis intervention, and community outreach. On the outside, I appeared strong, capable, and committed to helping people heal. However, behind the scenes, I was carrying my own pain. Read More>>

Courtney Burnett

There was a clear defining and dividing moment in my career: the day I went from physician to patient. In 2020, while studying medicine in Thailand, I diagnosed myself very unexpectedly with a brain tumor. At 29 years old, I learned I had a rare and incurable brain cancer called anaplastic astrocytoma. Overnight, my carefully crafted plans dissolved. Read More>>

Michael Fuller

I’ve had several defining moments through my several careers. Travel nursing during covid have me confidence. Being able to work in multiple states and adjusting on the fly. It’s also gave me the courage to be a man of many tools. Writing a children’s book gave me purpose. To know I am inspiring a ton of kids to pick up snowboarding means a lot. Read More>>

Brittney Goddard

For nearly 20 years, I worked as a registered nurse, caring for patients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. I believed I understood health, wellness, and resilience because I witnessed them every day at the bedside. That changed when I was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer. Read More>>

Sherri Braxton

There was a woman I worked with years ago who completely changed the way I looked at fitness. She was exactly the kind of woman I work with every day now. She had a career, a family, a schedule that never seemed to slow down, and like a lot of women, she was trying to fit herself into whatever time was left over. Read More>>

Tammy Duke-Feltz

For years, I had loved my work as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor. It was sacred, vital work, but it often felt like trying to catch people at the bottom of a jagged cliff. I was helping them piece their lives back together after the trauma had taken root, after the coping mechanisms had turned destructive, and after decades of internalized shame. Read More>>

Jasmine Naderi

Yes, and looking back it’s clear to me now even though it didn’t feel like a turning point in the moment. Early in my career I was working in a corporate dental environment. Read More>>

JP Saleeby

While working in the ER, I realized I was in the wrong medical Specialty. I learned up on Functional, Holistic and Integrative medicine, opened up my own private practice and retired from Emergency Medicine. Read More>>

Nasirah Mitchell

My defining moment wasn’t a single achievement—it was the realization that mental health care is most impactful when people are at their most vulnerable. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with individuals experiencing crises, and those moments have shaped me as both a therapist and behavioral health professional. Read More>>

Lucas MacMillan

Out of high school, my ultimate goal was to become a medical doctor. I decided to start with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing to build a solid foundation of hands-on, clinical experience. I genuinely loved being in the hospital! Read More>>

Crys Rivera

I worked in the beauty industry for several years before transitioning into a corporate role. A few years into that career, COVID hit, and I found myself flooded with texts, emails, and calls from people looking for esthetic services after so many businesses had closed. I bought a massage table and began seeing clients out of my apartment. One appointment changed everything for me. Read More>>

Cherezade Aanya

One of the most defining moments in my career was the decision to walk away from traditional clinical settings and build something outside of them. Working within insurance-based mental health systems, there wasn’t room for the dimensions of healing I knew mattered: the body, the nervous system, the deeper layers that don’t fit neatly into a treatment plan or a billing code.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ So I left. Read More>>

Tracy Milgram

Absolutely. The defining moment in my career happened long before I ever imagined becoming the President and Founder of BRCAStrong. At 21 years old, I learned that I carried a BRCA2 genetic mutation. At the time, there were very few resources, limited awareness, and almost no support for young women facing hereditary cancer risk. Read More>>

Hermes Makeup

I always knew I wanted to follow my passion of becoming a cosmetologist and helping people feel beautiful and confident. Moving to Miami felt like a fresh start—a chance to reinvent myself and pursue the dreams I had always carried with me. Starting over in a new city wasn’t easy. I didn’t know anyone, and there were times when the loneliness felt overwhelming. Read More>>

Molly McNamee

In 2018, I hit a breaking point with my own health. At that point, I had already spent five years working in the fitness industry. I had the education, certifications, and experience to help clients build muscle, lose body fat, and improve their health. From the outside, I looked like someone who should have had it all figured out. Read More>>

Allyson Jackson

The defining moment that changed the trajectory of my career wasn’t when I had bariatric surgery in 2014. It happened years later. After surgery, I lost a significant amount of weight and maintained that success for years. Like many people, I assumed the hard part was behind me. But over time, some of the weight started to come back. Read More>>

Jessica Michel

The day I began working with artists. I have always attracted natural Sensitives into my nutritional work, but when performing artists and creatives, I quickly realized how much I valued restoring and nourishing those who were creating beauty and giving art to the world. My background is actually in performing arts, so it holds a special place in my heart. Read More>>

Kenya Grant

My defining moment was in 2025 when I was Diagnosed with Cancer. One of the most meaningful chapters of my life/career was turning my Triple Negative Breast Cancer diagnosis into a purpose-driven mission. My experience deepened my faith and inspired me to create a faith-based financial planning practice to help others find peace and confidence through life’s uncertainties. Read More>>

Seneca Williams

Yes, there was a defining moment that completely changed the trajectory of my career, and it almost never happened because I nearly talked myself out of showing up. In 2017, I purchased a VIP ticket to a women’s business conference in New York City. Read More>>

Jordan Matthew

One defining moment in my career came through my own journey into motherhood. My husband and I experienced three pregnancy losses before welcoming our son, Lachlan. While those experiences were incredibly difficult personally, they also changed me professionally. Read More>>

Victoria Fonseca

There wasn’t one dramatic overnight shift, but there was a clear moment where everything I thought I knew about fitness started to feel incomplete. Early in my career I did what most trainers are taught to do: focus on programming, intensity, and aesthetic outcomes. Clients were seeing results on the surface, but I kept running into the same deeper issues. Recurring pain. Movement limitations. Read More>>

Tara Jamison

If I had to identify one defining moment that changed the trajectory of my career, it would be the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Ironically, it happened during a time when the world appeared to be standing still. I had started my aesthetics business as a side hustle in 2019 while continuing to work as a nurse. Read More>>