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.

Christine Gibson

I gave birth to my first child at home with a wonderful midwife and birth assistant. The birth assistant had also just had a baby that year, and hearing my newborn child cry was making her milk “let down” as she taught me how to breastfeed. That birth (and my second homebirth a few years later) made me want to be a doula or midwife or breastfeeding counselor but we could not afford the cost of the training. Read more>>

Cassandra Clariett

I have had several defining moments in my career, for example, embracing an ideology of only remaining where I am valued and can grow! Secondly, the COIVD-19 Pandemic opened my eyes to traveling social work. Being able to travel as a social worker showed me that I could make almost 220k a year in this field because more and more people in this country were in dyer need of mental health services after they watched their loved ones suffer and die. Read more>>

Emilene Heiderscheit

Follow your passion and lead from your heart. Read more>>

Katie Moseley

One of my defining moments as a human was to claim absolute sovereignty over my Being. This type of declaration of Self can take place before what people refer to as an “ego death” or after. For me, it happened after. I had to completely clear the slate before I could reclaim my soul and its expression here on Earth. This dramatically changed the trajectory of my life and career. Read more>>

Justin Janoska

When I finished obtaining my Master’s degree in 2017, I moved to Los Angeles a place I have dreamt of living in since I was in high school. I finally felt ready to leave the east coast and live on my own; however, I my business was still just getting off the ground. Even though I had about $5,000 in my bank, I signed a lease in West Hollywood. I had about 3 months to make it work, but I was determined. For about a year and a half I lived in this small studio apartment with nothing but cardboard boxes and an air mattress. Read more>>

Yulander Taylor

There was and will always be defining moments. However, one of the defining moments that changed the trajectory was the moment I encountered patients/clients who had certain health issues and was not properly educated nor even given a plan for overall wellness and health. Instead was given a pill that caused them other issues that they did not have before. This lead me to offer Holistic Consulting. Read more>>

Domanet Divine

A defining moment in my career happened days before the grand opening of my business Pure Divine Connection Meditation Spa. As an entrepreneur you’re always on GO and I was under more stressed than I realized and was ultimately burn out, as a result in July of 2022 I was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. Bell’s palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from dysfunction of the 7th cranial nerve (or facial nerve) that results in the sudden weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face. Read more>>

Tammy Berman

It has been a long journey for me to arrive at this spot in my career and it is only a result of all the amazing relationships and mentorship I have found through the relationships built in the Collaborative Divorce community. Currently, I am the President of the Collaborative Family Law Professionals of South Florida-a Collaborative practice group in Broward County. Read more>>

Helen Fritsch

At age 56, I started competing in bodybuilding shows. I loved seeing how my body could transform through diet and exercise as I approached the age of 60. On my 60th birthday, I competed in a big national bodybuilding show and won! I went from amateur status to Pro status. So many women reached out to me asking me how I did it. I told them “age is irrelevant” in anything that you do! Read more>>

Kristen McIntyre

I graduated from college with my Bachelor’s during the housing market crash of 2008-2009. There is now official evidence of this, but like many others who graduated then, that job-less market left me feeling despair and hopeless for years to come. I experienced the trauma of not being able to find the “perfect job”, in said-career that I had strived so hard to achieve. Read more>>

Shawnti Refuge

I never planned on making a career in Mental Health until after my own mental health was threatened. It’s funny how we as humans don’t acknowledge or pay attention to mental health until it effects us or someone close to us. Read more>>

Monica Le Baron

A few years ago, I was anxious, chronically stressed, and suffering from insomnia and pain. Read more>>

Claudia Alcantara

While working in hospitals as a Medical interpreter (English-Spanish), I saw how patients and families struggled to make changes to improve their health. Read more>>

Janet Bentley

I can see in my mind exactly where I was sitting, and I can feel exactly what I felt at the moment I knew where my passion was for the future. Read more>>

Zihan Wang

I was always into art and drawing as a kid. It wasn’t like I was obsessed with it, but I would spend my free time at home drawing for fun. My mom took notice of my hobby, and took me to a drawing class, where I first learned drawing techniques and a sense of artistic taste. I was never a good student in the academic sense. Read more>>

Caitlin Lowry

Truth be told, I never planned to become a therapist. In fact, I started college pursuing a degree in business with the full intention of starting either a wedding venue or a doggy-daycare. Read more>>

Ashley Kitchens

I grew up on an Angus cattle farm in small-town Indiana. As you might guess, meat and dairy were a big part of daily life. Unfortunately, so were a host of GI issues. For years, I was told to manage my issues with medication instead of considering the food I was putting into my body. Read more>>

Lauren Gerlaine Reliford

That time I was screaming, crying, pulling my hair, standing by the door, and feeling horrified. Although, nothing happened. There was no trigger. Just me feeling afraid of nothing. That is the life of a person with General Anxiety Disorder. Read more>>

Fanshen Thompson

In 2020 as the pandemic began, I was working as a Behavioral Health Care manager for a large medical company. This was my dream job. I was overseeing 2 large programs, Both were critical programs in our department in that they represented the entryway to behavioral health care for our clients. Read more>>