Where you grew up and your background can often have surprising effects on our lives and careers. We’ve asked folks from the community to tell us about how their background has affected them.

Olivia Vannucci | Dancer, Choreographer, & Creator

I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and am so thankful for the entire community I had growing up. My mom put me in ballet class as soon as I could walk, and dance has been my entire life since. I spent the first seven years of my training at a classical Vaganova ballet academy, which in my opinion completely shaped the dancer I am today. Training exclusively ballet for 20+ hours a week taught me so much discipline and provided me with such a solid base of technique that serves me so well today. I have such a deep love and respect for ballet, as well as such a vast knowledge around the style and its history. Read more>>

Camden Moser | Touring Musician, Roadie

I grew up all over Ohio. The Cleveland/Akron area for the first half of my childhood, the Cincinnati suburbs for the second half. The common assumption of Ohio being a drab, stale mega-farm is super unfair (don’t get me started on the “flyover state” bullish*t), but I would be the first person to tell you it’s not a cultural bazaar. Oddly enough though, my hometown (Mason, Ohio) has two international mega-corp companies headquartered in it. By midwestern standards, my public school was enormous and very diverse. I had a lot of room as an adolescent to experiment with who I was and what kinds of people fueled my curiosity. Read more>>

Jessica Fishenfeld | Singer, Actor, Producer, Athlete

I was born in Great Neck, New York into a family of many artists and musicians and have been singing and dancing and making my own plays and home movies with my family and friends for as long as I can remember. At 11 years old, I started attending musical theater camp at USDAN on Long Island and was a staunch theater kid through high school, where I then discovered opera. Read more>>

Ammo Bankoff | Musician, Photographer, Filmmaker

I am from Southern California. I was born in Los Angeles but lived in Riverside until 7th grade. My family then moved us to San Clemente (a city in Orange County) to get away from a pretty rough area. Lot’s of gang shootings and not the best school system. It was a huge change for me. With one week left of 7th grade, I was shipped off into the throws of some foreign beach town with those who didn’t take lightly to a new kid in town. Read more>>

Joss Richard | Producer, Social Director, and Podcast Host

I was born and raised in Toronto. At 12 years old I joined a Julie Andrews Online Forum and was fangirling with other people around the world before social media was even really a thing. By 14, I was editing Three’s Company fan videos on Windows Movie Maker and posting them to YouTube . I’ve always been passionate about pop culture, film, and television, and combined with my love for creating content, I naturally went into producing. Read more>>

Duane Border | Landscape Architect

I was fortunate to grow up in a supportive family who always encouraged my artistic side. I couldn’t resist drawing in the margins of my Algebra notebook, building models, and completing as many paint-by-numbers sets as my mom could put in front of me. But our family had a strong connection to Central Indiana agricultural and I was one generation removed from living/working on a farm. The life of an artist was a foreign concept but I knew I wanted to find a way to be creative and problem solve, so a “traditional” office job wasn’t in the cards. Read more>>

Gabriela Alvarado | Queer Latina Leader | Classically Trained Flutist

I was born and raised in Venezuela. I am one of four children in a single-parent home. My mother introduced us to the world of music at an early age. In Venezuela, music education is widely accessible through El Sistema, which started with the idea that every child should have the right to music regardless of their socio-economic background. This belief planted seeds in how I wanted to develop my career. Read more>>

Lily Targett | Actress

I grew up in a small town called Little Egg Harbor in New Jersey. I grew up the oldest of 6 kids, and honestly they are the reason that I am working so hard to pursue my dream. Two of my siblings are super involved in the theater arts and make me so proud every day. My other siblings are the most supportive and love coming to watch our shows on stage! My mom has always been my inspiration. She grew up doing theater, performing at local theater companies and participating in her school shows. And once I was old enough, I got to to perform at the theater companies that made her who she is. When I was 12, we even started doing shows together!! Read more>>