We’ve been fortunate to connect with so many brilliant, thoughtful entrepreneurs and creatives and we regularly ask them about the most important lessons they’ve learned over the course of their careers. We’ve shared some highlights below.

Momo

I was born and raised in Japan to a Japanese mom and Ghanaian dad. My biracial background definitely had impact for me to be unique and different especially in Japanese society which loves to hammer down nails that stick out, I was obviously one of the nails at times, but as I became older I learnt to be brave and embrace who I was and stopped letting society hammer me down. And today, a lot of my art is about me expressing how great to be unique and different from the crowd and letting my true self out there for whoever came across my art. Read more>>

Henry Westbrooks | Entrepreneur & Life Coach

My name is Henry Aaron Westbrooks, but many know me by my online alias, WealthyWestbrooks. My journey through life has been a tapestry woven with threads of creativity, entrepreneurship, and a profound commitment to personal and community growth. Read more>>

Eugenia Chu | Children’s Book Author

I am Chinese American – born and raised in the US (East Coast). Growing up we were the only Asian family in our neighborhood and school. I always felt different from all my friends and even though they were amazing, I still always felt like the “other.” Back then there were no Asian Americans in the media – you never saw any on TV, movies, books, etc. All I wanted was to fit in and be like everyone else. This really affected my confidence and self esteem. Read more>>

Dorothy Luo | Illustrator & Picturebook Maker

I grew up in a seaside city in northeast China. From a young age, I began learning to draw with the goal of gaining admission to one of China’s prestigious art academies. During middle and high school, I underwent intensive training in realistic drawing, influenced by the Soviet-style art education system. This rigorous training sharpened my technical skills but did not fully cultivate my artistic expression. Read more>>

Sahar Ghorishi | Film Director, illustrator, production designer

My name is Sahar and I’m a British-Iranian Filmmaker studying Directing at Chapman university and creating Art between London and California. Majority of my work revolves around shedding light on the pain and beauty of the Middle East. Before attending Chapman University I created a platform to showcase short films and photography from the MENA / SWANA region known as Journey of/to Dawn whilst illustrating and creating art for my community. A lot of the work I create highlights themes such as displacement and nostalgia which is very much influenced by my upbringing and moving away from Iran. Read more>>

What Up Pitches | Music Licensing Company and Music Production House

Celia Rose is a folk-rock, singer-songwriter and mother of three, originally from Alabama, but currently based in Chicago. She studied Elementary Education and French and has taught songwriting to people of all ages. She’s performed in places as varied as Haiti and Rwanda, has toured Africa as a Cultural Ambassador and has written songs for NYTimes bestselling books, TV shows, movies, ads and promos, including a theme song for the Kraft Heinz campaign “Let’s Make Life Delicious”, a theme song for the TV show “Call Me Kat” on Fox and a recent placement of her song “Gimme More” on an MGM+ promo. Read more>>

Matthew Michael Ross | Filmmaker/Actor/Musician

I’m originally from New York. I moved to LA years ago to pursue acting, music, and filmmaking. I thought I had a pretty easy life growing up but looking back, there was a lot of trauma. I lost my birth father as a baby and my step father as a teen. My mother and my sister have always been strong influences in my life and I think it’s why I tend to write female protagonists in my stories. I understood abuse from an early age, not from anyone in my family, but from those outside. It lead me to be empathetic and always wanting to look deeper into people’s lives, to understand where their pain came from.  Read more>>

Bu Lu | Director of Cinematography

I’m from Harbin, China which is a place where storytelling is deeply rooted in the culture, which played a significant role in shaping who I am today. Growing up, I was surrounded by a rich tapestry of stories, whether they were told through family traditions, local folklore, or the vibrant film industry. This environment fostered my early fascination with narratives and how they could be visually represented. Read more>>

Dempsey Gibson | Film and Television Writer, Director, Producer and Musician

I was born in Atlanta, GA. and lived there until I was 10 years old. My parents divorced and I moved with my mother to her home state of North Carolina. I grew up in a small town there called Kannapolis ( home of George Clinton) 30 minutes north of Charlotte with a population of about 36,000 people. The impact that had on me as a 10 year old boy was profound. Put aside the stress of parents divorcing the culture shock of moving from an urban city like Atlanta to a small country town like Kannapolis was complete night and day. One minute I was in a world where everything was Black. All my friends, my school, my neighbored even the main shopping center where we all went, Greenbriar Mall, was African American. Moving to Kannapolis, everything was completely opposite. At first it manifested itself in me by making me extremely introverted. I was pretty outgoing in Atlanta but, I suppose as some sort of coping mechanism, I just got quiet and stayed to myself the first year or so in North Carolina. I eventually warmed up and made friends but it took a long time. The impact that has on me today is it gave me a realtime dose of race relationship. What I mean by that is even though I was comfortable in Atlanta my only knowledge of white people came from television so I was limited as to new experiences with people of a different background. Having that dramatic a change gave me the tools to engage more than just my culture. That gift has served me well. Read more>>

Bonnie Wong

I haven’t always been proud of my background. Earlier on in life I was embarrassed to call myself Chinese, I didn’t want to associate with the culture or the people. In my neighborhood there weren’t any kids who looked like me and there wasn’t the representation I was looking for. I tried to push it away and labeled myself as Asian American, simple and easy. But it wasn’t until I started college I did some reflecting about who I was as an illustrator and what I wanted to communicate. What makes me unique? What do I want to say with my work? In my junior year of college, I created an illustration of my family enjoying dim sum. It consisted of my family sitting around a round table and I scattered my favorite dishes across. This invited people who have shared this same experience with me but also new faces who wanted to know more. I felt this warm feeling being able to share a personal part of myself with everyone. During the remainder of my time studying illustration, I would continue to tap into my background and experiences growing up Chinese-American. I want to continue to share these stories for everyone to enjoy and feel seen. Read more>>