Kindness begets kindness. So, wanted to create a space to share and amplify stories of kindness with the hope that it inspires a chain reaction.

Laurie Batter

A few years ago, I met a new friend, Becca, at the pool where I swim daily. When she discovered I was an artist, she visited my website and immediately connected with a drawing of a hummingbird in my hand—it reminded her of the time she had rescued one in her yard. She not only purchased the piece but also generously shared swim training tips with me, as she is a personal trainer. Read more>>

Daniel Talbott

My whole life has been an exploration of how you get back up after failure and loss, and moving through the world with hard work and kindness. I owe so much to so many folks, but the person I want to shout out here is Amy Potozkin. She was the brilliant casting director at Berkeley Rep. On a casting trip to New York she had a premonition that I was going to go to Juilliard. To me, Juilliard was for rich kids and way out of my reach. I couldn’t even afford the application fee. She paid for it, wrote me my main recommendation, and she is the reason I had the courage to audition. I got in and was given a full scholarship, and going there and living in New York with my sister Sam changed my life in every way. I owe Amy, the Bay Area theater community, and that school everything. Read more>>

Kelly Janke

One of my Founding Members who joined the studio very early on brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She was a college student at ASU with her sights set on law school, and for the next year and a half, she was a dedicated member. Even after she graduated and moved across the country for law school, we stayed in touch on social media. Read more>>

Jana Hujcikova

In my journey as a spa professional, I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse clientele, one of whom has had a significant impact on my career. Early on, I had a client who regularly visited my spa and consistently encouraged me in my work. As time went on, I discovered that she is actually one of the most renowned massage therapists in the industry, known for her work with numerous celebrities. Read more>>

Leah Michaels

I am very lucky to have had many kind and generous moments shared with me on my journey to becoming a filmmaker and artist, but the following story is a wonderful memory that was from early on in my career. I was an undergraduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. My friend and I were starting the pre-production for our first feature documentary film, Rock, Rage & Self-Defense: An Oral History of Seattle’s Home Alive, and we were both humanities majors. There wasn’t a major film department on campus, so we really had to teach ourselves how to produce a feature documentary on our own. Read more>>

Katherine Heldstab

When we first started, sourcing ingredients was really hard. It wasn’t cost effective to buy at a big box store, we needed suppliers. But suppliers have minimums and they were WAY outside our budget at the time. We were making 80 ice cream sandwiches a week (now we make 2-3,000). Read more>>

Anne Rajoo

I started my business because of the pandemic. Just before the pandemic, I was made redundant because the travel agency I was working for at the time was struggling financially. I thought I’d find a new job in the new year, but then the pandemic came and there were no jobs. By chance, I discovered the role of a Virtual Assistant and got hired by a company that coached people to host virtual summits, and I became a VA specialised in summits. Eventually, I hosted my own summit. Because of my unexpected job loss and the pandemic that caused my husband to have to take a 50% pay cut, we struggled financially. Read more>>