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.

Joseph Garcia

Growing up, my parents recorded almost all of my basketball games—from elementary school through high school at Garfield and Roosevelt. With all that footage, I would edit my best clips into highlight tapes to post and send to college coaches in hopes of getting recruited. Over time, teammates and even opponents started asking if I could create highlight clips for them too. That’s when it clicked for me that I could do something with video & photos. Read More>>

Tyler Wasson

I think my definition of success could be summed up as simply as this: success is being true to yourself no matter what.

It sounds simple, right? But in practice, it can be surprisingly difficult. Many of us, at one point or another, have felt the pull to compromise our integrity in pursuit of a goal—whether it’s landing the role, getting the promotion, or closing the deal. And while external rewards like wealth and status can be markers of achievement, they don’t necessarily indicate true success. Read More>> 

ELZA

Success is an individual measure. For me, success is being able to work for myself, create my own schedule, and invest my time for the best return. As a full time creative, I have had many trials that have made me wiser. Taking risks and studying myself are what led to my success. Read More>>

Mary Rose Branick

Oof. As someone who’s sometimes an actor, sometimes a director, sometimes an editor, songwriter, spin instructor, general side-hustler—I often feel like I flip-flop between big joy about creative momentum and big grief over what I’m not accomplishing. The creative people I admire most are always moving towards what feels fun and aren’t overly precious about anything. I’m learning to trust the evolution of both the industry and my own gut instincts as I move between mediums. Read More>>

Jana Bunge

This is a power-packed question! Yes, I am a parent – and a grandmother of 7, so I’ve had years of parenting experience ha-ha! Filled with wise choices and not so wise choices – I’ve learned over the last 40 years that children thrive in an environment characterized by love, acceptance, and security. We as parents can create a nurturing home where our kids feel valued, heard and supported. This involves demonstrating love, extending grace, and practicing forgiveness. When children experience unconditional love and acceptance at home, they are more likely to grow in confidence, develop healthy relationships and flourish in their own life and faith journey. Read More>>

Mark Stehrenberger

I wanted to become a car designer since very early childhood. But growing up in Switzerland, without a car industry to speak of, gave no other option but to emigrate. Since I loved American cars, I decided to emigrate to America in 1964. Read More>>

Pooja Proach

I feel inspired by the flow of life. Anytime you slow down and drop into the present moment, you realise life really is like an immersive installation experience and every moment is special and rich with so much depth and details, its just too much fun to pause and find clues about what’s going on. When I get in this state, it generally uncovers something overlooked—perhaps a forgotten object that suddenly feels significant, a shadow weaving through the texture on a wall, or a random light flare glancing off a car’s rear mirror onto the café table you are sitting at, as if the world is quietly speaking in whispers. Read More>>

Keri Larson

As a creative I am inspired by everything from fashion, music, art, food, and home decor. I have always said if I hadn’t pursued a music career, I would have loved to be a creative director for brand and fashion campaigns. Grace Coddington is my ultimate inspiration for all things visual. I believe creatives are storytellers in general no matter what creative space they live in predominately. From a singers perspective I find that it’s so important to get the story right through vocal tone, agility, and melodic choices. Read More>>

Darra Baker

One thing outsiders are probably unaware of is the super schleppy-ness and physical labor of styling a photo shoot. I often joke we are glorified house-keepers, and furniture movers, as there can be some on-the-spot glass cleaning, and major furniture re-arranging to make a room work for the two-dimensional camera’s view, (vs. 3-D real life). A second thing they may not be aware of are the years, weeks, and days of preparation and true editing it takes to bring a space into that realm of timelessness so that the picture has no expiration date; so it won’t look dated in a couple years. Read More>>

Erika Alverdi

In 2009 I was led to start helping my community by servicing the aged out foster youth. The Antelope Valley was being inundated with this population and the resources were few.

Not only was I an ear and shoulder for these young adults but a resource that would connect them to their future selves.
I knew coming into the nonprofit world that this would not be easy but I never imagined how complex and life changing it would be for me personally. Read More>>

 Larry Deeds

Like most of us, I’ve made a LOT of difficult decisions over my lifetime, so it’s hard to pick one. That said, I’d probably say the hardest was the decision to retire. After having worked on-and-off since I was 16, it’s hard to decide to purposefully be “unemployed” after 50+ years! On the run-up to that decision, I had made a list of “Things To Do When I Retire” and it was about 25 items. I’ve done most of them: I started to paint again, after an 8 year break. Read More>>

Mallory Everton

Balance is something I didn’t learn until my body and soul demanded it. In 2022, I was 32, and I had burnt out completely. I had worked through my 20s like I was being chased by the Babadook Read More>>

Scott Walker

My answer has changed countless times over the years, but it changes less frequently the older I get (maybe I’m getting closer to figuring it out?). Earlier in my life, it was probably something related to building a company or creating something worth telling others about or possibly becoming a creative of some note.

Today, my answer is simple: I want people to remember how I made them feel. If I interact with someone – family, friend, stranger – and make them feel seen, listened to, and appreciated, well, that’s an awesome day for me. Read More>>