Every once in a while, something happens that really matters. Something that will define at least the next chapter of your journey – perhaps it’s a conversation with a client, a meeting with a visionary or a major event in your personal life. Below, you’ll find some very insightful folks sharing defining moments from their journeys.

Nadim Sammur

A defining moment in my career happened during the very first week of my first job after college. I remember logging in and thinking, “Is this really what I’m going to do for the next 40+ years?” That moment sparked something in me — I knew I wanted more, and I had to do something different. Read more>>

Trudy Joseph

If anyone ever told me that I would have become an author, I never would have believed them! I was no more than a B-average writer throughout high school and college. My first book was born of pain and disappointment. How did I, a beautiful, educated, hard-working young woman, find myself in the position I was in 2019? After working for more than twenty years as a teacher in the public school system, I craved a change of careers. In 2018 I enrolled and was accepted into one of the top architectural programs in Canada. However, before I the course started, I found out that I was pregnant. I was not the type of person to let something so small as a baby deter me from pursuing a dream. Read more>>

Kiran Dintyala

One of the most defining moments in my life occurred on March 13, 2007. I vividly remember sitting in my tiny dorm room, overwhelmed by a wave of despair. My hands were trembling, my heart was racing, and my mind was consumed with anxiety. I had just received devastating news that threatened to derail my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. It felt like everything I had worked so hard for—years of effort, confidence, and hope—was crumbling before my eyes. The financial strain, the fear of failure, and the thought of letting down my family and friends were suffocating. Read more>>

Kelsey Mora

When I was 16, I lost a close friend to leukemia. I happened to be by his bedside visiting when he died—a moment I’ll never forget. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but that experience cracked something open in me. I began volunteering at the same hospital where he was treated. That’s where I first learned about child life specialists—the people helping children and families navigate illness, fear, and grief through play, preparation, and emotional support. I knew instantly: this was the work I wanted to do. Read more>>

Amanda Harpell-Franz

Being a 6th generation pastor’s kid, it is in my DNA, as well as how God has made me, to care about God hearing the cries of the poor and vulnerable. Though initially I started going to University to “help people” possibly through nursing or psychology (part of my human plans), I quickly found that God had the beginning of his first and best plan for me. Read more>>

Jessica Weimer-Harvey

After stepping away from my first career, wedding planning, which I had done for about five years, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do next. I knew I didn’t want to go back to traditional school, but I also didn’t want to just take any job to pass the time — I wanted to find something I actually cared about. One day, my mom suggested I look into becoming an esthetician. At the time, I honestly didn’t even know what that was. But she pointed out how much I had always loved skincare, beauty, and helping people feel good about themselves — things I had never really thought could turn into a career. Read more>>

Carol Miller

In 2008, I watched a YouTube video about Free Hugs, and something inside me told me I had to try it. I wasn’t a natural hugger, but I felt deeply compelled to step out of my comfort zone and experience the power of connection that the video showcased. Although terrified, I knew it was something I needed to do. At the time, I had just started creating events through Positive Focus, an initiative I founded to help people see the good in their lives. Offering Free Hugs felt like an extension of that work. Read more>>

Teri Cabrera

My story—and the story of The Mind Field, Inc.—begins with a simple but powerful belief: every person’s feelings matter. I wanted to create a world where it’s okay to be upset, to feel depressed, and, most importantly, to seek support without shame. I envisioned a community where emotional expression was not just accepted but celebrated—a space where generational healing could begin, honoring the pain of our ancestors, uplifting our elders, and empowering our children and theirs. Read more>>

Dr Marla Johnson

January 21. 2002 was the change to the trajectory in my life. I was in my final stages of completing my dissertation then that day happened. I stop writing. I stopped thinking . I stopped pushing. Because my No.1 cheerleader and mentor was now with God. I felt the passing of the mantle on that day. Mentoring is my passion., a Biblical metaphor , if you please. Read more>>

Victoria Byrd

A defining moment in my career emerged unexpectedly, not within the traditional confines of a pharmacy, but during a deeply personal and transformative period of my life. Having stepped away from my role as a community pharmacist to focus fully on raising my family, I found myself navigating an entirely new set of challenges. My identity, so closely intertwined with pharmacy practice since my teenage years when my father drove me around town at sixteen to find my first job at Eckerd Drugstore, was now shifting. Read more>>

Irma “Elisheva” Diaz

The defining moment that led me to where I am today as President of Soul Synergy Network Wellness Solutions wasn’t a single event, but a series of deeply human experiences that converged at the intersection of grief, service, and sacred calling. Read more>>

Jnana Lewis

Truthfully, every opportunity I get to offer yoga or flow within community are defining moments for me. Being able to connect with myself and others on a spiritual level is very humbling. Yoga is a sacred act of movement, meditation, and connection; to be able to share that amongst others drives me to pursue teaching yoga. I define yoga as a gift that harmonizes souls in pure love and unity. My ability to adorn yoga in my own fashion inspired me to go beyond traditional yoga and step into children’s yoga. My own life’s journey has contributed to my desire to expand children’s yoga amongst community spaces. Becoming a mother has taught me so much about myself, it has reignited my child-like flame as well as strengthen my connection with my inner child. Read more>>

Sherry Irvin

I started my first job in the healthcare field in River Falls, Wisconsin, I was newly married, and my husband was obtaining his B.S degree in Biology and I knew that I needed to gain employment in order to pay the rent, so, I applied to the only nursing home facility within the town, Read more>>

Delaney Viau

Absolutely! I believe that vacations are essential. However, as a business owner, I’ve also learned to reframe what a “vacation” means to me. My most valuable moments of rest and renewed inspiration came from small, intentional pauses that I took to recharge my mind. Too often we envision a vacation as an all-expenses-paid escape to a different country, but getting away from it all isn’t always about distance or luxury. Read more>>