One of the most important lessons we learned is that our lives and our businesses will teach us along the way. We don’t need to know everything on day one because the challenges we face on day will likely be ones we are already equipped to handle. As we overcome challenges we get better and better and as the challenges increase in difficulty so too does our ability to tackle them.

We asked members of the community that we admire to share important lessons their business or career has taught them and have shared some of those responses below.

 Branch Harper

I’m from a small town in northwest, Georgia called Summerville. One of those towns where everyone knows each other, the population is around 5,000 people. Life in a town like that doesn’t offer a wealth of opportunities, so you have to look beyond its borders to find success. Read more>>

Chrystal Taylor

I’m from Hampton, Ga, where my upbringing was rich with experiences that shaped my love for fashion and creativity. My mom signed me up for modeling classes when I was 14 to boost my confidence, which had a profound impact on me. She also had a talent for altering all of my clothes, adding a personal touch that deepened my appreciation for design. Combined with weekends spent shopping with family and friends, these experiences fueled my passion for self-expression and honed my eye for detail. Read more>>

Phirada Kanjanangkulpunt | Artist & World Traveller

I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand.

In comparison to a Southeast Asian family in the early 2000s, I was brought up in a very open-minded and forward-thinking environment. I was able to choose and experiment on what I enjoy doing and what I did not. I went through language courses, film courses, drawing classes and even science camp during school breaks, I wasn’t sure on what I wanted to pursue in life, but one thing that was always on the back of my mind is that I wanted to see the world outside of Thailand. It could be from my family’s love for travel. The first flight of my life was when I was one year old. We kept organizing trips each year and I kept seeing a glimpse of the world growing up. Not only because of travel experience, my household is also a big factor for me to understand and embrace societal differences. Despite my parents being married for more than twenty years, they hold their different faith; my mother is Christian and my dad is a Buddhist. I grew up learning both without a pressure on taking on one or the other. The freedom of learning and choosing on my own led me to be very cautious on my decision but also understand how differences came together peacefully. Read more>>

Wes Wells | Plus Size Cosplayer

I grew up in a small town in Heard County, Georgia called Franklin. When my parents divorced, I threw myself into the arts. Music, art, and creating were all I ever wanted to do. When I moved in with my mom before middle school started, I was so scared of having to start over and make new friends but the arts helped me get through it. This was when the whole “Bullying isn’t tolerated” spread around my school. I have always been overweight but no one bullied me about it until middle school; one time I told my choir teacher I was being bullied for my weight and he transferred me out of my chorus class and into gym class instead of addressing the issue that I was being bullied. I became broken, I didn’t want to do anything anymore, didn’t want to live anymore, but so many people my friends, my family, my loving partner of eleven years that I had just met, my mom, and the arts saved me. I learned to stand up for myself and knew I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way I did ever again. I wanted to create again, becoming a fashion designer seemed like too much of a stretch for me at the time until my partner asked me if I wanted to go to my first anime convention, Momo Con 2016. I fell in love the instant I walked through those doors and I haven’t looked back since. Now I use my platforms to keep speaking up for plus-size people in general because no one deserves to feel how I felt. Read more>>

Cyprina | Cyprina The Actress

I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia. I was a young girl, that grew up with no parents. My father passed when I was just four years old and my mother was absent. My paternal grandmother raised me by herself as a single parent. With that, I learned how to take care of myself at an early age. I was what you call a loner and still am to this day. The only thing that made me feel full and happy was art. Being an artist and performing on school stages and auditoriums. I did some singing, playing the violin, stepping and stage plays. I also spent most of my days in my room listening to music and reading books. I developed a form of independence at an early age and have been ever since. I always make a way for myself, even during the hardest, darkest times. At the age of seventeen, I had my first child. When I was twenty-two, I had my second. So, everything I do today, isn’t just for myself, it’s for them as well. With that, I work extremely hard at accomplishing all of my goals so I can give my daughters everything I never had. Read more>>

Jarratt Damn | Host of It’s About DAMN Time Podcast

I was born and raised in Shreveport, LA (Shout Out to Shreveport)

For me, Shreveport was always this blend of the amenities of things you would find in a bigger city but small town values. Growing up there made me appreciate what I had but created this hunger to want more and see the world from a broader perspective. Read more>>

Jessica Louty-scarborough | Hairstylist

I was born in Ohio, but I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life! I come from a family of artisans. I worked in a salon & attended cosmetology school with my aunt. She was an artist and hairstylist for over 12 years until her recent passing. My mom taught art classes for my elementary school. I have an uncle who is a woodworker for Walt Disney. My upbringing was a huge part of finding my career path; growing up, I was always encouraged to express myself in whichever way I chose. Read more>>