We were fortunate to catch up with some brilliant artists, creatives and entrepreneurs from throughout the Houston area and they share the wisdom with us below.

Shahin Khani | Inspirational Leader

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?” – Lance Armstrong Read more>>

Elizabeth Maccarrig Dunn | Writer & Director

One of my favorite quotes is by my favorite composer, Frederic Chopin: “Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on.” As a classically trained pianist, I find I can not only relate to it as I’m mastering a piano piece, but the quote relates to directing a lot as well. Read more>>

Alyssa Austin | Actress, Screenwriter

Success for me is knowing when my head hits my pillow at night I can sleep sound knowing I showed up, did my best, was prepared, and continue to try even if I fail in the beginning. I see success as a mindset. Self-mastery is a key to success. Once you know yourself it becomes a funny joke when other people try to tell you who they think you are. Read more>>

Matt Hartman | Writer, Director & Producer

Success isn’t just about hitting a milestone or getting recognition. When my fiance and I produced our independent comedy series, Open to It, of course we wanted it to be watched, but what was more important than numbers was its impact with those who watched it. For me, it’s about creating something that sticks with people—something that makes them feel seen, understood, or just makes them laugh when they need it most. When someone watches Open to It and says, “Wow, that’s my life,” or when they just laugh so hard they forget their problems for a minute, that’s success. Read more>>

Diana Flynn | Artist

I have two teenage boys and feel it’s crucial to talk to them about the importance of gender equality. Growing up I thought that closing the gender gap was not only possible but that it was just around the corner. Unfortunately, while we have continued to see change and progression, we are not yet where we should be. Read more>>

Nova Hollie | Entrepreneur/Musician/Financial Educator

From The Go-Giver, I learned that real success isn’t about what I can take but about what I can give. It taught me that by adding value to others’ lives, opportunities naturally flow back to me. This mindset shift helped me move away from selfish pursuits and become more focused on collaboration and service. Read more>>

Ms. Kash | Musical Artist

The habit that has helped me succeed, is staying consistent. I’m a firm believer that anytime you work hard and stay consistent at anything, you’ll eventually accomplish whatever goals you’ve set for yourself. Read more>>

Valeryia Tret’yak | Ballroom dancer & entrepreneur

In my opinion, behind every success there is hard work, without which nothing would have happened. Even having talent and abilities, you still need to work every day and develop yourself. You should never stop. Personally, what helped me was that I persistently went towards my goal no matter what. The most important thing is discipline. In any sport or business you can’t do without discipline. I believe that it is discipline that leads people to success. Discipline is what will lead anyone to success. Read more>>

Dr. Noah H. Kersey, Ph,d. | Retired licensed psychologist

What gives me pleasure or happiness is sharing my life experiences with others to help them grow as well as to prevent them from making the same mistakes I made early in my life while I was an undergraduate in college. I wrote a 120 page screenplay about my life story and hope a filmmaker will option it for a theatrical run or be seen on Netflix or Amazon Prime. It’s a relatively low budget film project with strong ROI potential at the box office.
Here is the information about my script: Read more>>

Jc ( Kickzster ) | Content Creator | Music Festivals | Travel

Authenticity. When doing my content I always want to show my authenticity and show my true personality. I’ve tried to follow trends or try to do “aesthetically” videos that just didn’t resonate with me and those videos felt so forced. Sometimes I’ll have a video idea or content concept and will do it and it feels more true to me and fun. I want my content to be me, be JC, be Kickzster. I want my videos to be stuff I would wanna watch and stuff I enjoy, not something that is “viral”. Read more>>

Elizabeth Lopez | Content Creator

My career goal is to creatively collaborate with the brands I admire. I aspire to travel internationally with these brands to develop impactful campaigns. It would be amazing to see my work featured in a Sephora store or on a billboard. Read more>>