We asked rising stars from the community to tell us about a book they’ve read and the impact it had on them. We’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Latrice Dailey | World Renowned Motivational Speaker & Licensed Professional Counselor

The Purpose Driven Life: by Rick Warren . I received “The Purpose Driven Life” as a graduation gift after completing high School. I gave the book my serious intention when I found myself at at crossroads my junior year in college. I became perplexed regarding choosing a career that I was passionate about or choosing a career that was financially more appealing. Taking the 40 day spiritual journey allowed me to realize “Nothing matters more than knowing God ‘s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them — not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. It was through the reading of this book I learned the the reciprocal value of Purpose and Passion. In addition, God spoke to me and said you are ” Called To Encourage” to which I replied ” God encouraging people does not make money” . Over 15 years later, I would have a private practice named ” Called2EncourageInc”. Read more>>

Warn Wilson Jr. | Engineer, Author, & Creator

A great book that I attribute some of my success to is the ’10x Rule’ by Grant Cardone. In this book, Grant Cardone teaches great strategies for goal setting, execution, and maintaining momentum. He teaches that basically to achieve your goals you must exert 10x as much effort as you think it will take to ensure progress. And he explains how this philosophy will allow you to continue to excel and not fixate only on easily obtainable goals but instead toward ones that seem almost unreachable. Read more>>

Daniella Munoz | Creative and Floral artist.

There is a book that definitely changed me: Just Kids by Patti Smith. What impacted me the most about this book is that while I was reading it, I finally felt understood. Being born in a traditional country like Costa Rica is easy to feel like you don´t belong, especially if you have a thirst for art, adventures, and spiritual quest. The way in which Patti and Robert pursued art and love despite the struggles of life ignited in me the fire of strength and braveness to do exactly that. To be a witness of the possibility to authentically love in a non-normative way felt also like breathing fresh air for the first time. As well as dismantling the myth of arts equals drugs. Read more>>