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.

Julia Samersova

I became a Casting Director in 2004 following 12 years as a talent manager. My focus was always on casting high fashion models for runway, print, and commercials. In 2009, after I gave birth to my first child and the economy crashed, I found myself struggling to find the kind of work that always had come pretty easily to me. I decided to pivot to casting children after I had an epiphany that the global kid’s market was extremely recession-proof and always thriving. Read more>>

Yozmit The DogStar

When I was struggling financially transitioning from fashion business to become a performance artist, one of my friend offered me a free space for me to continue exploring my new direction as an artist. This was the time that I had to spend a lot of time training under masters of theater and performance as an apprentice, so it was hard for me to pay my bills. It takes long time to hone your skill as an artist and it is a long journey to find your direction as an artist that one has to commit and sacrifice a lot of personal stuff to serve the vision. A lot of people doesn’t understand this side of artist’s life. Especially in this time of history, there are not much financial or space support for the artist. This is quite sad and also dangerous in the society to underestimate the power and impact of art. When we lose the art, we lose the humanity. Read more>>

Sophie Auger

I am a graphic design educator and one of the first things I tell my college students is that there’s a difference between a “kind” critique and a “nice” critique. A “nice” crit is telling someone their work is pretty good to avoid hurting their feelings. A “kind” crit is telling someone their design is not working so they can improve it. So students are encouraged to practice constructive criticism, both giving and taking. The kindest thing someone has ever done for me is probably to care and be generous enough to give me a kind crit. Read more>>

AJ Reyes

There are multiple parts and multiple people to this part of the story. Last year in November I got very sick with Covid and ended up in a coma for about a month and a half. After waking up, I had to relearn how to use my whole body and go through extensive rehab. During that time, many of my customers who had placed orders were waiting on the completion of their orders, while My Wife was updating them on the status of my health. Many of those customers actually told me to go ahead and not refund them the money and just be able to get with them whenever I was feeling better. That was a huge kindness to me because I had to relearn how to do my whole life while rebuilding my business from scratch again. Read more>>

Violette Meier

Like most writers, when I started writing books I wanted to be signed by a major publisher. I sent out letters and synopses to literary agents only to be rejected over and over again because they had no idea how to market a black female science fantasy writer. These were the days before “Black Panther” showed the world that black folks had an imagination. Over time, I began to count small wins because I progressed from generic rejection letters to personalized letters telling me that my writing was good but they didn’t see a market for it. Read more>>

Sarah Lyons

Feeding myself and my family. As a home birth midwife I am in the space of my patients and their families in an intimate way. Not only during labor and birth, but for all prenatal visits at thirty five weeks gestation and beyond. When a new grandma brings me a hot cup of coffee at 2am, or a family sends me home with a bag of peaches for my children, I haven’t felt a more genuine form of loving on someone. Read more>>

Bibi Lorenzetti

Shala means Home. I own and run a Yoga Shala. I find myself in this position because of many consequential acts of kindness. Yoga has been my life for many years now, over a decade. A beautiful empty space came to find me. I had no initial interest in having a yoga Shala, in fact I was looking for someone else. Growing up as a young yoga teacher I was very observant of how my teachers ran their Shala, and for as much as I admired their dedication and love, I always promised myself I wouldnt do it, I didn’t want to care so much. I did not want that responsibility. But this space would not leave my consciousness. Within a few days, less then a week two total strangers (my now business partner and I) found each other, and because of kindness a Shala, for a community ready for one, happened. Read more>>

Erin Cullin

I run a small business, as a fitness coach, and I’m a full-time single mom to a toddler. While this has been best of the best; I can be my own boss, set my own hours, and more flexibility to raise my daughter, it can also be “lonely” at times. There’s no other boss or co-workers, or anyone coming in to evaluate my work, or give me that attaboy. My clients are the fruits of my labor, though. Their success is how I measure my own success. Their wins are my wins, and subsequently, I feel their losses, deeply. These people have helped shape me into the Coach and mentor I’ve always wanted to become in life. They are more than just my clients: they are like family to me, especially the ones who have been with me since day 1 and provided their unconditional support. Read more>>

Delaney Hawley

I’m a concert photographer, and in that world there can be a lot of competition. Just the other day I shot a show for a venue, and afterwards the bands tour photographer came up to me and gave me a setlist he had the band sign. It was very sweet. Even though we’re all out there to do the same job, sometimes people don’t want you to succeed in the music industry. So when people extend you an olive branch, it’s very comforting. Read more>>

Kathy Curto

I suppose if I find it impossible to narrow my answer down to one person and one kind thing, then I guess that’s a good problem to have. “A pretty lovely state of affairs,” one might say. In other words, in terms of my life as a writer and a maker, there is not one thing or one individual I can single out here. There have been many mentors, colleagues, classmates, students and comrades in artistic spaces who have been kind. And then some! There have also been people on the street, in subways, on hiking trails, at loud protests and in silent libraries who have offered something kind to me, whether they knew it at the time is another story. Read more>>

Zhaklina Spencer

There isn’t just one person who fits this answer for me. There have been several people who have supported my dreams through their time, energy, money, gifts, skills and so much more. That support has felt like honey to my soul, reminders that other people value what I’m doing and want to see me continue to grow. One memory in particular is when my family and close friends all pitched in to help me get a really great keyboard for Christmas a few years ago. Read more>>