Phoenix 03.29.2018

Calvin Richards

As long as I could remember, I always wanted to be a scientist and doctor. After studying biology in college, I went to grad school and received my masters in biomedical science. This was the moment I knew for sure I wanted to become a physician. Read more>>

Veronique Benoit

My story began in September 2015. I was working fulltime as a mental coach and mindfulness trainer with adults and children at that time. Out of the blue my husband got a job offer bringing him back to the Arizona desert where his career started. Read more>>

Rhonda LaBatt

I started Redemption Market in response to a plea from a group of women in Cambodia, who having been rescued from sex-trafficking, were now looking for a place to sell the handbags they made in their rehabilitation program. The commitment was simple- just sell a small box of goods to friends and family. Read more>>

Scott Gates

I like to tell people that Western Window Systems is a 60-year old start up. The company has been around for a long time, started as an insulated glass manufacturer, and really started making windows and doors in the early 1980’s. Read more>>

Bill Dambrova

I really had no real plans going into college other than to do something leading to a job in the arts like graphic design, illustration, or some other commercial art type job. My first year into community college I took a painting class and immediately knew that I wanted to be an artist. Read more>>

Arnold Guerrero

The Idealistic was started in 2016 by Arnold Guerrero and Steve Remenap. Arnold had spent years leading creative and strategy for both local and national ad campaigns within a number of Phoenix advertising agencies. Steve, having years of marketing and interactive experience as well, is the founder of Ideal-Networks, a thriving local IT company. Read more>>

Skyler Irvine

I was laid off from a corporate job I hated in 2008. At this point I realized that I could do everything I thought I was supposed to do, like go to college, get a job, get health benefits and a 401(k), and still fail. This gave me the courage to go after what I wanted to do, instead of what I thought I was supposed to do, since neither one guaranteed success. Read more>>

Jasmine Afshar

About 6 years ago I was in the military and it damaged my body greatly. What began as a simple pelvic stress fracture, spiraled into endometriosis, herniated spinal discs, arthritis in my spine, and more. I had spent 4 years suffering to a huge extent with no foreseeable end before my sister reached out to me with sources explaining the benefits a plant-based diet has on chronic illness. Read more>>

Lori Fenn

I created LUA skincare with the philosophy that nature has the power to heal, protect, & rejuvenate skin. I am also an artist & use my artwork as the design inspiration behind the brand. After using oils on my skin for over 15 years, I wanted to create something that would appeal to my teenage daughter that was both clean, green, & aesthetic. Read more>>

Katharine Halpin

I’m a 5th generation business owner. I had to overcome some early challenges in my family in Mississippi. I took the methods I developed on my own journey with my family and my Dad’s CPA firm and after an unsatisfactory career as a CPA, I built my consulting firm. Read more>>

Todd Shuler

I sort of fell into fitness. Although I wrestled and served as the school mascot (high school and college), I was a brainiac and went to college on an academic scholarship. There I studied and became an elementary school teacher. I quickly realized that it was very hard to juggle a party life and teaching, so I changed my profession and began a telemarketing career for EDS. Read more>>

Eden Fine

I started photography kind of by accident, about five years ago I was working as a youth pastor in Farmington, NM and, some friends ask me to photograph their wedding. At the time my only camera was my iPhone 4s and my photography skills were limited to pictures of my food and kids. Read more>>

Alejandra Vidal

My path to video and visual storytelling started when I was young.. I went to a performing arts high school for theater and was incredibly passionate about directing and playwriting. And though a lot of my high school experience shaped me as a director, I resonated so much more with video and decided to pursue film in college.  Read more>>

Tamisha Hill

For starters, I want to say thank you for thank you for providing me the opportunity to speak with you today. Honestly, my peer group has always insinuated that the magnanimity of my personality was bigger than life. Since I can remember, I have never shied away from being the center of attention. Read more>>

Ocean

I picked up a camera seriously after I got out of the military in April 2015. I started photographing downtown San Diego and its inhabitants until I found a great liking to capturing people. I then set forth on the journey to contacting different models(mostly friends, or friends of friends) at the start. Read more>>

Catherine McKenna

I got my start as a horse crazy child. I was later able to merge my love for art and “all things equine” by finding my niche in graphic design with an emphasis on meeting the needs of the equine community. However, this profession was not what I had prepared myself for during college, where I was a business major with an equine science minor. Read more>>

Amisha Klawonn

Oneness Physical Therapy was started as a way to provide high quality care for clients without worrying about insurance requirements or wondering if they would cover services. As a fellowship trained manual therapist, I wanted the time and space to spend time with clients and really educate them and teach ways to connect with their bodies and prevent future injuries. Read more>>

Stuart Lindsay

Molecular Imaging was founded on the basis of some of my ASU patents to make a new kind of microscope that would image at atomic resolution in water – a new tool for imaging biological molecules or chemical reactions. We started in a back bedroom of my house in 1996, and were financed by my credit card. Read more>>

Tara Ijai

The Love Glasses Revolution came to fruition at the end of 2015 during a time of despair. As an American Muslim woman you could hardly turn on the news without hearing the rhetoric about Muslims and other minority groups and it seemed there was no elected leader that was defending people and preaching unity and inclusion. Read more>>

Kathy Rowe

It all started with my grandfather singing to me! While he was not a trained musician, he sang all the time! When I got old enough, we would sing together; we could sing continuously while driving from Yuma to Phoenix (back then a 4 + hour drive) without ever repeating a song!! Read more>>

Jessica Zaneis

They call me Jes the CCC — aka Chronic Climber Chick. I am a lover of adventure and began this project by chronicling the stories from my experiences on the blog Chronic Climber Chick. A multitude of challenges led me to finding ways to connect with my natural state of being. Read more>>

Katie Jensen

1MISSION was started in 2008 by Jason & Tina Law. Jason had been on several mission trips to Puerto Penasco, Mexico in the previous decade and grew to love the community. After doing almost 30 house building trips he stepped back and really took a look at the community. Was it changed at all for the better? Read more>>

Tom Sanfilippo

About 3 years ago I had acquired an interested in the technology behind drones and the photography aspect of the devices. I was also about 4 years out from retiring and had an interest in photography since before I started by present job over 28 years ago. I purchased my first drone, which was basically a toy compared to what I fly now. Read more>>

Lori Cairns

My son (James) was diagnosed with autism in 1995. There were no services in the state of AZ that directly served children with autism, so James’ father and I decided to open a agency with state funding (DDD) to have a place that would serve children with autism, and the specific challenges they face. Read more>>

Adam Thomason

I started a record company 10 years ago called Collision Records. The was to put high-quality music and visuals in the general market culture that were strong and did not objectify women. We started with $150 to become legal and God gave us favor and it became a success. Read more>>

Amanda Long, Stephanie Long

Hot Air Expeditions was founded in 1991 when Margie and Randy Long, a married couple living in Illinois, got the ballooning bug one day, after seeing the gentle giants floating in the sky. Their first endeavor was a move to Arizona, which has the most flyable days per year of anywhere in the country, and the purchase of a small balloon. Read more>>

John Scappatura

I started with American Golf 16 years ago, then in 1994 worked for ClubCorp in London, managing four courses in the United Kingdom. I returned to the U.S. to work at The Woodlands golf club in Houston and then in September of 2017, I joined Arcis Golf. Read more>>

Ruben Gonzales

11th Monk3y started as a little bboy/breakdance clothing line and quickly evolved in to a full on retail/gallery/workshop business. It got started when I moved back from Santa Cruz, Ca, had nothing to do no motivation until one day I was browsing the interwebs and looked up printing equipment. Read more>>

Carrie Marill

I started my business as an artist after graduate school in 2004. Since that time I have continued to make work and share how I see the world thru color and pattern. It’s been a busy head down keep going kind of journey, there have been speed bumps and sharp turns – but I haven’t let them throw me off course. I love what I do, it is my life – it’s who I am. Read more>>

Donovan Reese, Ryan Muzzarelli

Ryan and Donovan met through Entrepreneurs Organization while they were both running their previous businesses in the real estate field. After both leaving their respective companies, they decided to partner up to start The UnFlippers, with the intention of disrupting the flipping industry. Read more>>

Jennifer Boonlorn

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am the lead soul behind Soul Carrier. Soul Carrier is the answer to a question my mother posed to me the summer before my senior year at ASU. That summer, my entire family was involved in a car accident that took the lives of both of my parents. Read more>>

Rob Reid

I’ve always loved stories and the creative arts. After high-school it was either drama or video production for me. I thought by choosing video production I was opting for an education that would provide more opportunities for employment, only to find out, a bachelors degree later, that education counts for very little in the world of production! It is in fact the driving force behind my decision to start my own company. Read more>>

Shawn Berry

Music has always been a part of my life. I remember having the old iPod shuffle in middle school, the one that looked like a USB stick with a lanyard attached to it. I used to raid my parents’ CD collections and import them into iTunes. Bands like Meat Puppets and Red Hot Chili Peppers formed my early musical tastes and got me interested in playing guitar. Read more>>

Katie Hess

After graduating college, I left the country to figure out what I was really here to do. I studied as many forms of natural medicine that I could get my hands on. I met an expert in flower essences from Madrid and fell in love with the profound and transformative effects of that healing modality. Read more>>