We asked some of the brightest folks in the community to open up to us about the most important lesson their business or career has taught them. We’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Joanna Revel | Fashion Entrepreneur and Creative director

I grew up in Sunny Southern California, in the suburbs outside of Los Angeles. The solid foundation of loving, reliable parents and a very creative older brother in music, most certainly inspired and shaped alot of my work ethic mixed with highly visual, creative inclinations, as the quote goes, we are a sum of everything and everyone we have ever met. Read more>> 

Marialejandra Gutierrez | Mental Health Therapist & Entrepeneur

I am a first-generation American and proud daughter of immigrant parents. I am a Latina with Ecuadorian and Mexican roots. My experience as a first-generation Latina and daughter of immigrants has and continues to impact the person that I am and continue to become. Growing up navigating different cultural identities, family expectations, and generational conflict all while trying to discover myself created unique challenges that steered me toward a path of service, community, and creativity. Read more>>

Meet Eli Bry | Director Actor and Creative Producer

I was born in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is in the northern part of Russia. To be honest, it’s very far away and extremely cold. But I don’t remember it at all because my parents moved me to another small town in Russia, Vladimir, when I was just one year old, and that’s where I grew up. Read more>>

Girlish Figure | Singer-Songwriter & Producer

My father is a musician (a huge fan of the band Rush) and has a real talent for inventing his own guitar tunings. He was constantly writing songs around me, asking for my thoughts on their musical direction. My mother was always listening to either R&B, Joni Mitchell, or Kate Bush. Read more>>

Nyingv Jae

I was born in Oakland, CA to young, teenage parents. My roots run deep in the Bay as it’s home to all four generations of my family since the moment they stepped foot on American soil as indigenous Khmu and Iu Mien refugees from the U.S. Secret War in Laos. Throughout the first two decades of my upbringing, I was raised in the East Bay and lived in Richmond, CA until my very first move from home at 21 as the first in my family to attend university. Read more>>

Shuyi Chen

I’ve often been asked where I’m from and have struggled to answer this question many times. Specifically, I’m from Chaoshan, China, grew up in Foshan, China, and studied in Guangzhou, China before college. These three cities are located in the Canton area, which is known for being hot, humid, and laid-back. I can say that my work has been significantly influenced by the Canton vibe—humid, mysterious, and somewhat fragile. Read more>>

Minka Robinson Stevens L.Ac.

I was born and raised on Mountain Drive in Santa Barbara, California. My grandmother was a botanist and taught classes and led walks identifying edible and medicinal native plants. My grandfather was an architect and creative. Both of my parents were are artists, my mother in garden design and my father is a plain air painter. After school I would hike up in the foothills and forage for herbs and native plants.  Read more>>

Mulang Zhu

Growing up, I always found myself living in cities surrounded by rivers and various bodies of water. I was born in Tianjin, China. After graduating from elementary school at 12 years old, I moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia, which truly became a second home to me. After that, I moved to Baltimore for college, and now I have just made the move to New York! Read more>>