Everyday we meet business owners, professionals, artists and creatives. Photographers, florists, realtors and more. They might come from different backgrounds, work in different industries, have varying personalities, and have vastly different income and educational profiles, but the one thing we’ve seen over and over again is that most people have a unique and special reason for why they do what they do. From a realtor helping families afford the first home he always wished for as a kid to a photographer using her skills to give a voice and face to victims who feel voiceless, we have been blown away by what happens when you just ask people a simple question – why do you do what you do?

Daresha Kyi

I was born in 1962, a year before the Voting Rights Act passed, and grew up during some of the wildest, most turbulent years our country has ever seen. As the pendulum swung back and forth from love, peace and a progressive, counter-cultural revolution that permanently changed America to the Vietnam War, Kent State and other college massacres, and Watergate, it was alternately exhilarating, excruciating, exhausting, and truly eye opening. As a little Black girl living in Dayton, Ohio, America was a scary place to me. I watched as people who looked like me, including children, were beaten with batons, hosed and viciously attacked by dogs regularly on the nightly news. But I didn’t need those images to know that African Americans didn’t have the same rights as whites. I’d seen the grown folks in my family treated poorly in public places and had experienced the humiliation of racism first-hand when I had to wait at the back door for my white playmate because her parents didn’t allow black people in their house.  Read more>>

Vicki Goldston

I publish Garden Spices Magazine, and our mission is to provide an online space to share our thoughts, stories, and experiences. We are every race, gender, age, spiritual tradition, and physical/mental ability, celebrating our differences, and we are one garden. I live in Floence, AL. Ten years ago, photographers provided images for a tourism pamphlet highlighting the city of Florence. I noticed only two Black citizens in a cameo shot. I was one of them.  I know the skilled photographers, who are nice young folks with liberal views. However, in this effort, they were blind to the diversity of our community. At that time, we had citizens of every hue and an influx of international students – invisible to the photographers. I was inspired to produce a magazine that captured every aspect of diversity, every spice of a global garden. Read more>>

Kim Marsh

I believe you don’t need a major book deal, a spot on a global stage or a PhD in English Literature to have a story worth telling. There is a huge grey area between becoming a New York Times Bestselling author and never picking up a pen to write one word. I love to play with people in that grey area. Read more>>

Elaine Acker

I was nine years old when I “published” my first book. I used orange cardboard and tape to create a cover and pages from my daddy’s notepad from work to showcase my poetry. I was passionate about my book collection, and obviously eager to see my own name on a cover. By 1995, I was able to hold my very own “real” published book in my hands. It was called, Life in a Rock Shelter, and I’ve written others since. Even as my marketing business grew, I felt the tug of publishing. More important, I began to realize how many business owners and leaders wanted to publish a book but doubted their writing skills. Or didn’t know how to get started. Or didn’t understand the options available with modern publishing.  Read more>>

Jennifer Garufi

In my mid-thirties, I was chronically ill and told that I would end up in a wheelchair. I was diagnosed with several chronic diseases, had been in constant pain for seven years, and was told there was no way I could get better. Instead, I healed myself in three weeks. This experience led me on a journey of self-discovery and ignited my passion to help others. I realized that I had been struggling with self-love, unhealed trauma, and a tendency to be a people pleaser. Over the past 18 years, I have gathered and created tools to help others live the lives of their dreams. I manifested and created the opportunity to publish my book, found my dream relationship (now my husband – we got married after10 years together), built healthy relationships with my kids and many friends, established a consistent meditation and spirituality practice, and built a career doing what I love. I am passionate about helping others discover their own inner power and gifts. I love offering people tools and practices that help them move past blocks and restrictions so they can step into their best lives. Read more>>

Brenton Wright