We asked some fantastic entrepreneurs and creatives to tell us about their first job in their field. Check out their stories below.

Denise Baker

In 1998, I started helping other parents navigate the special education process to ensure their child’s needs were being met in school, which can be an intimidating and tedious process for parents and caregivers. Parenting our own son who has unique challenges gave me the experience and confidence to help others in their parenting journey. In 2001, I left a career in the financial services industry to begin a job as a Case Manager Aid in Arizona’s public behavioral health system. Read more>>

Kaitlyn Begnaud Terro

My first job in the mental health field was unexpected. I was in college, majoring in speech pathology, and I needed a part-time job. I found an ad on Craigslist for a private therapy practice. I wasn’t aware at the time that counselors and mental health professionals existed outside of school settings and I was excited to learn more about it. I ended up getting the job as a receptionist and learning about the education that was required, how therapy worked in practice and the business side of clinical work. Read more>>

Rodolfo Roman

I freelanced for a local newspaper in Miami covering local government.. However, I was always interested in covering mixed martial arts. There was an event in Miami. I went, showed my media pass and wrote a story for free. Once promoters read it, they started to get to know me. At one event, which I was scheduled to cover, the promoter called me last minute stating his ring announcer called out sick. He offered me the job and the rest is history. That was in 2010. Read more>>

Alyssa Pannozzi

Indoor cycling has always been a passion of mine. I found spin when I was personally in a dark place. I was overweight, depressed, and really unhappy with the decisions I was making in my own life. My younger sister “dragged” me to my first spin class and I instantly fell in love. I knew that there was something special about a place where you could completely let go, get lost in the movement and the music, and continuously grow. I found a studio I loved in California, and was devastated to leave it when I moved back home to the Boston area. Read more>>

Meghna Thacker

In the last 2 years of medical school when I was doing clinical rotations, I tried to get as many off sites (meaning clinical sites outside of our school clinic). The reason was to gain actual first hand experience to observe how different practices run. I would take notes on what I thought was a successful model, so that I could incorporate that in my own practice some day. There is so much that goes behind setting up a good practice. Besides all the clinical essentials, medical supplies, admin help, marketing, customer service, user-friendly EMR system & much more. Read more>>