We have had the good fortunate of connecting with Nobel Laureates, titans of industry, rockstars and rising stars across dozens of industries and we have always found their stories about who they were early on to be most fascinating. Below, you’ll find members of the community sharing their responses to this key aspect of their stories.
Vanessa Barcus
I have an interesting relationship with the word ‘artist.’ When I was really young, I created all day… drawings, collage, dance, sculpture and various things. I remember those projects more than any sport I ever played. Read more>>
Amy Schamberg
This is an interesting question because we are born into cultures, societies, and families that have already set rules and expectations for us. Even when they aren’t explicit, they shape us. Yet before I realized what the world expected of me… I was endlessly curious, creative, and courageous. As far back as I can remember, I can hear my mother exclaiming, “Amy! Read more>>
Laura Baukol
I was a sparkly, imaginative girl who loved to perform, create, and connect. I was always putting on plays, dressing up in costumes, and dreaming about a life filled with storytelling, magic, and meaning. Acting was my first love. It gave me a way to express big emotions, step into other worlds, and make people feel something. Read more>>
Gracey Ripa
I have always been an artist. It’s not something I chose, it’s simply who I am. I couldn’t imagine a life where I wasn’t creating. My dad told me when I was a child he had to take colored pencils from my hands because I wouldn’t stop drawing for hours on end. I’m fine with the stereotypes people have about artists. Read more>>
Gregory Mayse
My father worked at an auto plant for nearly 40 years. When I was 19 I started working at the same plant. I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do for 40 years. After working there for a year and a half there was a big layout. Fortunately the union had added a Training Readjustment Allowance for the benefit of laid off workers. Read more>>
Anne Liebman
I was the responsible one. The achiever. The girl who took on a lot early, who stayed focused, followed the rules, and worked hard to do things “right.” I wanted to make people proud, to succeed, to be seen as capable—because I was. But underneath all that, I was also someone with a deep inner drive. A creative spark. A vision for something more. Read more>>
Kelly Bader
I was such a free spirit! Growing up in Ohio in the country surrounded by forests, apple orchards, rivers, old barns, which were very magical to me! I explored my grandparents barn almost everyday in my early childhood. They lived next door and I saw them every single day! Read more>>
Terra Necessary & Be Necessary & Sarah Hughes
I think a lot of our success is giving the finger to who the world told us we had to be. We often say ‘My 13 year old self would be so proud of me.’ and I think keeping that part of ourselves intacted, no matter what the world throws at us, has been very important. Read more>>
Krysta Klinzmann
This is a complex question to answer. I think the first time I truly felt like the world was trying to tell me to be something that I questioned was during covid. That significantly impacted reasoning to relocate from Colorado to SD. Read more>>
Stan Yan
I was always a comic artist. My earliest memories of holding a pencil were of me drawing the same stick figure character over and over again doing different things in boxes that I later found out were called ‘panel borders.’ I was drawing comics before I knew what they were. Clearly comics were always my muse. Read more>>
Jeremiah Meizis
I think climbing is such a unique human experience. The planning, anxiety, struggle, focus, success, for anyone who really gets into the sport it changes who you are. Read more>>
