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 Perez-Gray

I remember my “Defining Moment” as if it were yesterday. I was hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains and boom!! God channeled via the cold flowing waters for me to serve the people of the land by leading them to freedom. Freedom you might ask? Yes! freedom from mental slavery!! This was the pivotal turning point that the mission for me was stronger, more meaningful, more profound. I must GO…I then redirected my energy from apparel into Yoga & Wellness Retreats. Giving people a safe space to heal, a platform
to step into their power and build a like minded community full of love. Read more>>

Tammy Pahel

The defining moment in my career was during my tenure at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in Pennsylvania, where I transitioned from Retail Buyer & Director to Spa Director. As my first job in hospitality, I was hired as Retail Buyer & Director of three of the resort’s retail stores. The Spa Boutique was high-end and very successful due to the fact that we were just 3 hours away from big cities like Washington DC and Baltimore with clothing taxes. After a few years, the owners, Mrs. Dotty Hardy and her daughter Maggie Hardy, believed I should be their next spa director – but I didn’t even know what spa director did! Read more>>

Katie Beecher

I still vividly remember the day I started to release my fear and allow my authentic self to emerge, with the help of what I am convinced is divine intervention. This was the first time I felt truly connected to my intuition and decided to trust it, though I had no idea that was what I was doing at the time. It was winter during my senior year in high school, and I was struggling with bulimia. I had also recently found out that I received a scholarship to George Washington University. Read more>>

Jasmin Thomas (Rahman)

My undergrad experiences led me to both of my career and business paths respectively. I was working at Macys in the cosmetics section as a beauty advisor when I realized I could make money to survive if I did makeup for people independently. For my career as a therapist, I was actually applying to Masters in Public Health programs when I landed an internship with a school counselor who was also pursuing clinical counseling. I loved being able to help people be their best selves which is the motto of both of my businesses. Read more>>

Michael Prigmore

My worst day at work, but finding where God really lives, defining moment happened 11 years ago, 2/24/2011, my crew and I at HFD District 83 responded to a house fire. Only this one was converted into a daycare. 7 kids were trapped in the home when the call was dispatched. I was on Squad 83, we jumped on the call when we heard what was happening. Fortunately for us being in a Squad we were able to quickly clear the call we were on so that we could be in position to respond to a call like this one. It was a nightmare just as it sounded on the radio, the scene was surreal, something like being dropped in the middle of a Rob Zombie movie, you couldn’t make up a story that bad. Read more>>

Dr. Shiarnice Taylor

Mental health has always been something I’ve been passionate about. It was right after I had gotten married that I realized my own mental health needed some checks and balances before I could help anyone else. I struggled after obtaining my Ph.D. in psychology and being a newly wed wife and not soon after almost a year and 1/2 later becoming divorced I understood the necessity of obtaining and maintaining the right counselors. Read more>>

Jodi Paige AND Anthony Guitron

A defining moment and the trajectory of Virgin Cheese ~ The decision to bring Virgin Cheese to the Verde Valley (central Arizona, between Jerome and Sedona) was not an easy one. Making organic cashew cream based cheeses for 6 years solo in Las Vegas and relocating a home AND a business at the same time might seem ludicrous but it was all possible because of the partnership struck up between Jodi Paige and Anthony Guitron. Read more>>

Shaniece Benson

Back in 2015 I started working out with a friend and felt myself becoming nearly addicted to how good it made me feel. Around that time I had also became more aware of my family’s history of high blood pressure, diabetes, and other food-related health issues. The reality that I was high-risk for these same issues ignited a spark to become proactive in changing the narrative for myself. Read more>>

Susan Hansen

Life is full of defining moments; it’s about choosing these opportunities to help write the. narrative. I didn’t always think this way. In fact, I never wanted to own my own practice. I had no idea how or where to start a business, let alone a nonprofit organization in the healthcare industry. It was a moment, insignificant to some, but career-changing for me, that created a defining perspective shift. This moment presented one evening at an indoor soccer facility when one of my teammates on this co-ed team was tackled by an opposing player and escorted off of the field. Read more>>

Laura Dunn

The defining decision moment of my professional career was when I was in India, dancing in Bollywood movies, they offered to make me a star, and asked me to stay out there for another year after my 6 month contract finished. It was there I saw an advert for a showgirl job touring the United States with a Hispanic circus which I applied for and got. When I joined the circus I had my eyes open to a completely new world and suddenly dancing on the floor became uninteresting compared to what magic was happening in that tent. I also have a fear of heights and my defining moment came the 2nd year I joined the circus, the 2nd year, Read more>>