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.

Gabrielle Juliano-Villani

I remember clearly on a summer day in 2021, waking up with dread and a pit in my stomach, thinking “I don’t want to do this anymore”. I was definitely at the darkest point in my burnout from running my group practice and seeing clients. I realized how draining managing a team and doing sessions was for me but I didn’t know how to move forward because I felt like being a therapist and running my group practice had become my identity. Read more>>

Meghan Nally

When I was beginning my internship experience in my creative arts therapy counseling graduate program, I found myself constantly in a dichotomy of feeling tied to portraying myself a “certain way” to my clients, but also longing to stand in my truest energy and version of Self. Thoughts that were always humming around my mind when I first entered the field of mental health: Don’t be too loud, or too quiet. Read more>>

Priscilla Hsu

While there is one significant moment that opened up the world of doulas to me, there are actually 2 defining (missed!) moments that could have been my career pivot but because they weren’t, also make me reflect on how our society values the labor of care. Read more>>

Michelle Roy

A defining moment of my teaching career happened recently when I led a yoga class of about 80 people in a beautiful garden setting. One of my students from a yoga teacher training that I had co-taught many years ago (now a successful teacher in her own right) came up to me after class and introduced me to a half dozen of her students who had just graduated from *her* teacher training. Read more>>

Jen Libby

I am a therapist for teens and young people and can say confidently that I love my job. However, when I moved to NJ 20 years ago, there were 3 teen suicides on 6 years in the general geographic area where I treat kids. Then in 2009, I started to see a major increase of approximately 6-9 teen suicides every year, with 15 in just one year in 2020 in the same exact geographic area. Read more>>

Nikita Grove

It was the heat of the COVID 19 pandemic and my husband just finished his cancer treatments. I just got home from work and we both made our way up to the rooftop to recap on our day. I worked as a supermarket dietitian, which was not only my first job as a licensed and registered dietitian, but a job I loved and was approaching my fifth year with this company. As relaxed and sipped on our sparkling waters, my husband shares that he couldn’t go back to his firm to work that it was too much for him post chemotherapy and radiation. Read more>>

Laura Volpe

With a passion for hair aesthetics rooted in a career as a Goldwell Master Colorist in a Hair Salon spanning over 15 years I’d say my defining moment was when I realized I finally found a proven, effective Hair Loss Solution to offer women who suffer from Hair Loss. This Non Surgical Hair Loss Procedure is called Scalp Micropigmentation. Once I learned of this procedure, I just knew this was my new path. Read more>>

Kathryn Greenberg

I had been there for nine months. On my last day, I crossed the threshold into the sun, and I awoke. I began to choose life on life’s terms. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew I must choose to evolve so deeply that my life would transform completely. I made a decision to embrace it all, and work with what is, rather than what I wish were. A tall and necessary order. Read more>>

Alton Weekes

Several years ago, I was overweight, out-of-control, battling high cholesterol, inflammation, sleep apnea, asthma, chronic pain, borderline diabetes and a host of other issues. I knew I was obese, but I was not aware that I had these other health challenges until I had a health event (heart attack) that changed my life. After my cardiologist put me on several medications, I knew that wasn’t the life I wanted to live. Read more>>

Devaney Cole

The defining moment in my professional career happened in my personal life, outside the lab. As a medical laboratory scientist, working in hospitals and various healthcare settings, I became very familiar with how healthcare is typically approached. I also grew up with a sibling who had cancer early in our childhood. My sibling did all the treatments and procedures prescribed and although they were effective in the moment, the cancer kept finding its way back. Read more>>

Alli Lebowitz

I spent the last 10+ years of my career working as a clinical social worker in hospital settings. While I always loved the work, I started to feel stuck facing no growth opportunities in that environment. In 2021, to advance my career and to help provide access to care for individuals wanting telehealth therapy, I started working part -time in private practice. I quickly learned I loved this role, and I continued part-time until my life drastically changed in the fall of 2022. Read more>>

Nicole Kerr

When my memory came back of the car crash 19 years after the accident. My life started to make sense. I then changed my focus to the emotional and spiriutal dimensions of wellness. I realized I was given a message to tell people not to be afraid of death. Read more>>

Lynn Green

I recall in 2021 my husband was hospitalized for 18 days due to the virus, we were unable to work for a period of time at his chiropractic business and that is when I prayed and asked for direction. What showed up for me strong was posing clients and my business has grown ever since. I had the most incredible 2022 and moving into 2023 with great momentum and a team of amazing coaches. I will never forget those scary moments and the uncertainty, I will forever be grateful. Read more>>