Defining moments aren’t just exciting – they are thought-provoking and fertile ground for learning. These inflection points often are the result of an illuminating moment where some truth of the universe presents itself in an easier to recognize form. Below, you’ll find talented and successful entrepreneurs and artists sharing the stories of defining moments in their lives.

Karleena Tuggle-McDaniel

When people refer to defining moments in their life or career, I believe that it is more common than not to assume that there was some extraordinary event or encounter that causes their world to shift and spin on its axis. I used to think that it would be obvious like a thunderous clap followed by a Morgan Freeman-like voice bringing clarity or direction to your existence. For me, it was almost the opposite. I felt nothing… but it was an obvious sign none the less. I have been a doctor for 17 years, and a practicing bariatric (weight loss) surgeon for the last 12. Read more>>

Valerie Carmel Dorsainvil

My defining moment actually came about 2 years before starting my practice. In 2018, I started having panic attacks. They started on the heels of releasing my self-published book, Evolve Your MVP and taking on a new role at work. I thought things were going great! Yet, my mental health was on a major decline. I was working too much, up late hours working or due to insomnia, my hair was falling out and I barely ate due to constant nausea. Then one day at work I started to feel tingling throughout my body and what felt like wild horses running through my chest. Read more>>

Carla Carlisle

The defining moment in my professional career occurred when I became the legal parent of my former foster, now adoptive son. It took eight years for my prayers to be answered. Here’s what happened…After infertility, infidelity and divorce, I became a foster parent. The first and only child that came into my life was JC, a 10-day old, two-month premature baby boy. For six months, we lived together as mother and son with all the bonding one experiences in the early life of a child. The exception was that we had weekly visits with the birth parents. I got to know them well and learned so much about intergenerational trauma and its impact on families. Read more>>

Takiya Arevalo

The defining moment in my career was in June when I decided to be fearless. I decided that I could no longer live just a bare minimum life however I was called to a higher purpose. I was called to change lives. This moment came after being publicly humiliated. From living at effect of my childhood traumas I could not properly process rejection. Yet this moment came just like the others. Yet it was still the defining moment. The moment I released anything that was holding me back. Dove deeper into mindset work and begin to see God transform my world. Read more>>

Michael Sudbury.

Math and science were easy for me, and I loved them! But as I pursued a degree in Electrical Engineering, something in me just knew I didn’t want to go that way after all. I had no clue what I did want, but for maybe the first time in my life, I stopped following the track I was on just because I was on it. It took me some time to find what I was going to pursue next. It was about six years before I stumbled across the thing that was going to consume me from then on. I had a vague thought that I’d like to do something that helped people. “How about you become a doctor?” Read more>>

Molly Schmidt.

A defining moment in my yoga career was at a park in Kansas City. I had just returned from a yoga training on Hawaii to receive my 200 hr yoga certification and invited friends to join me for a class. A handful showed up and joined me for the outdoor yoga flow. It was the feeling in the air, the smiles, and the gratitude afterwards that sparked a defining moment for me. That feeling led me to the certainty that I wanted to create outdoor yoga opportunities and expand that opportunity in the Kansas City area. Read more>>

Dalia Kinsey

In my mid-twenties I became severely ill. Fighting through the process of getting to the root of what was causing my hair to fall out in clumps, excessive sweating, hand tremors so severe that I couldn’t hold a pen, and fatigue that made me fall asleep behind the wheel after 10+ hours of sleep, taught me unforgettable lessons about how deeply inadequate health care can be when it comes to supporting folks of color in a health crisis. Read more>>

Daphney Askew

When I first began my wellness business I was afraid to niche down because I wanted to help everyone. I soon discovered that by speaking to everyone, I was literally speaking to no one because I wasn’t clear about who I helped. I decided that my niche would be Gut & Hormone as a way around not speaking my truth that could really help others. Overcoming fear is tough but a few months ago I decided to change my niche for the final time to Autoimmune & Digestive Health because I felt I was ready to talk about my experience with Sarcoidosis and help women like myself reduce autoimmune flares, beat fatigue, reduce inflammation, and teach the importance of digestive health and how it affects our overall health. Read more>>

MJ Gonzalez

Growing up I started becoming aware that I was different. These are just a couple of items that made me think as a child just that: My imaginary friends weren’t imaginery (It confused me as a child why people around me couldn’t see them.). The colors around folks meant something. Deep pressure in belly when something seemed to not be right, thinking retaliation images and something bad happened,And Susquenook Indians down by the creek and river were not truly living in the same time frame as me. Read more>>

Michelle Worley

It was 2014 and I was working at a therapeutic boarding school in the KC Metro. I had a surgery coming up and the doctor informed me that there would be a 2 week recovery following the procedure. My immediate thought was, “That’s great! I get a vacation!” Then I paused. The fact that recovery from a major surgery seemed like a vacation to me sent a very strong message: that I was burnt out and needed something to change. Read more>>

Vittoria Antionette

Being a teen mom was one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my life. Giving birth to my son changed the trajectory of my entire life, not just my career. Many of the good and bad experiences I encountered would have never occurred if I was not a parent. At 17 years old, I was a freshman in college at Howard University. Because I was pregnant, I opted out of the full college lifestyle and commuted to school and work for the duration of my pregnancy. Sometimes, I used to sleep in the office of Cramton Auditorium in between classes as some days would just completely exhaust me. Read more>>

Alesia Alexander

Back in 2012 I almost lost my life due to another reckless driver. With that accident came unbearable pain which resulted in me not being able to work. The idea of not being able to pay my bills, indulge in my self-care rituals, or just simply live my day-to-day regularly sent me spiraling into a deep depression. Not being able to indulge in things that were important to me and my mental health drove me to research ways to meet my needs by creating products on my own. Read more>>

Emily Sadri

The first five years of my career I worked as a Nurse Midwife and NP in a busy, Cleveland based midwifery practice. We attended births in of the large hospital systems. I loved the work, but the lifestyle, specially the hospital overnights, and expectation to see 20+ patients in one day in the office, really wore on me. I considered myself a healthy person, and yet it felt impossible to stay well. I wanted to be a model for my patients, and yet I constantly battled overwhelm and fatigue.  Read more>>

Chris Shanks

My story is messy for sure. To pickup at the beginning of my career, it starts at the end of my last. My last career came to an end when meeting a client at a gas station. We were about to go to a hotel to do business when a horn sounded, and all these people appeared with guns screaming at me to get on the ground. My drug dealing career was over, and so was my drug addiction. My bond was set to that of a murdered (700k) the state of Texas wanted me locked up for a long time, as I was caught selling a lot of drugs. My original sentence was 32 years and 9 months. Read more>>

Carolyn Williams.

The defining moment in my career was actually before my career even started. This was the point where others seen something in me that I did not even see in myself yet. My previous manager’s wife asked me to train her after seeing my fitness journey and transformation. I originally told her that I had no idea what I was doing, as far as training someone else, but she bet on me anyway. She had this amazing transformation, which brought so many new clients to me. That was the point that set my career in motion. Read more>>

Shana Trimble.

As I reflect on my journey, where I have been, where I am now, and where I want to be, I can think of many defining moments. However, the moment that sticks out the most is when I decided to go for it. I recall sitting at my corporate office job; looking at my recently conferred master’s in science degree, thinking to myself wow!… now what? I had a ton of unanswered emails and voicemails that needed my response as well as a long list of meeting invitations to go over the status of multiple reports, with staff and customers, updates for my boss, needed to plan date night with my husband, juggling my kids’ calendars, Read more>>

Sh’nai Simmons

I had always wanted to have my own counseling practice. However, as the first person in my family to obtain an advanced degree or owned a business I had no examples to show me how to do that. So, like many people after completing my education, I pursued employment. Once I got my license I started to look for an office space but within the week of that process my family was faced with a relocation from Virginia to Tampa. Within 6 months of getting to Tampa, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Read more>>