One of our favorite things to do is to ask the folks we are inspired by what they are inspired by. We’ve shared some of their responses below.

Francisnelli Santos | Embroidery Artist

I am inspired by my love of animals. My Pretty Babi is dedicated to my late cat Blossom. She was an immense inspiration to me since the day I adopted her from an animal shelter in China. My whole life, animals were the biggest part of my life and my best friends. So it made sense to me, after 30 years being a costume maker, to open my own small business and have it be centered around these incredible beings. When I was a costume maker, the hand finishing touches were always my favourites, and I always wanted to learn to embroider, so I combined my passions of hand sewing and animals to create the custom embroidery animals I embroider today. Read more>>

T’neel Mohan | Writer & Director

Every child has a favorite movie, then at fourteen it changes, then again at twenty-two, and maybe once more by the time we’re fifty-five, but you never forget them. The films that have aged alongside you. The characters you know better than you know yourself and the ones you covered in your walls as a teenager. That’s what inspires me. All of the feelings, moments, and connections cinema or television can cultivate. People think it’s odd that I enjoy going to the movie theaters alone, but that’s exactly why I love it, because you’re not alone. You’re sitting next to someone who’s sitting next to someone, and you’re all experiencing something for the first time together. Read more>>

Asahi Hardy | Chef & Aspiring Holistic Health Practitioner

I am inspired by love. I am inspired by the invisible tethers that hold together the hearts of people. I am inspired by the love it takes for the Great Spirit to continue the blowing of winds and the rising of the sun. My own company, Twin Sun, is inspired by the concept and eventual scientific acknowledgement of binary star systems. The idea is that a large proportion of the stars in the Milky Way are actually partnered with a companion star, and they share an orbit that takes them far away from each other and back to each other. So I see the mark, the sign, of love and connection even in the heavens above. Read more>>

Agustina Royo | Painter & Tattoo Artist

Nature plays a central role in my artistic inspiration. Growing up in Patagonia, I was immersed in vast landscapes—rugged mountains, open skies, and raw, untouched wilderness. What fascinates me most is how nature can be both serene and psychedelic, with its unique, intricate details and unexpected forms. The patterns and colors found in the natural world are endlessly interesting, and they constantly challenge the way I see and create. Read more>>

Judah Lourde | Songwriter

I try and keep an open mind and stay inspired by every little detail of my lived experience, but that’s become relatively disruptive and unreasonable after all this time. There are two main things that have remained very inspiring to my creative process, one being the casual and conversational way in which humans interact with one another. Slang, mannerisms, expressions, and different regional vernaculars. Secondly, Christian theology is very appealing to me in a writing setting as well. My father did all of his schooling at a Catholic missionary boarding school in Nepal, then raised me in small-town Colorado, so the language and the stories were a present influence in my upbringing. Read more>>