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.

Michael Carini | Artist, Art Teacher, Mental Health Advocate

Deciding not to have a back up plan. I knew that if I had a back up plan, I would ultimately fail. It’s too easy to lean into a safety net when you have one. The only way to guarantee success was to get rid of it. People often look at safety nets as something that prevents you from falling. What they really do is prevent you from flying. Read more>>

Keilani Yanagihara | Founder and CEO

Tim Grover’s Relentless deeply resonated with me as a female entrepreneur. It shifted my mindset, showing me the power of relentless drive and unwavering self-belief. The lessons on resilience and pushing past limits have helped me navigate challenges with confidence, transforming how I approach both success and failure. This book has been a personal guide in embracing my inner strength and staying focused on my vision, no matter the hurdles. Read more>>

Destin Cramer | Artist

As a kid, I grew up drawing characters and the people I saw, i drew everything I could see constantly. I failed all my math tests because instead of doing my algebra classwork I would draw in the margins. I’m constantly inspired to create by my need to be understood in a way that I’ve been unable to verbalize throughout my life. I’m a childhood trauma survivor, as well as being neurodivergent. Growing up I was misunderstood and even demonized for my “strange” behavior and I felt as though I would never belong. Read more>>

Angel Karolyi | Athlete

I want people to remember me for several reasons. The way I truly see life and how I believe it should be lived. Since I was a young boy, I have always been a very passionate person and have always followed my heart regarding my decisions. Certainly unique and “my way”, I feel blessed to say I have had a beautiful journey and feel like the best is yet to come. Read more>>

Joyce Kim | Product Designer

My industry is tech, I’m a product designer (I design the experience usually app or web). One things that outsiders are usually unaware of is that technology can sometimes have a gap between what’s useful for people, and what’s the technology can enable and do. Tech moves so fast that sometimes it’s ahead of real work application and it’s found later. Read more>>

Sitoë Thiam | Fiber Artist & Engineer

I’d love to have influenced the macrame art scene with my bright, playful designs! And I’d loooove to have introduced more people to macrame as a medium. I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me and mistaken my macrame bag for crochet. Occasionally, they’ll recognize it’s macrame, only to follow up with “I haven’t seen that since the 70’s!” Read more>>

Rebekah Kamauu | Entrepreneur, Bakery Owner, & Cookie Artist

I often get asked, “How do you balance it all?” As a single mother, entrepreneur, bakery owner, and athlete, alongside my personal life and my health and life coaching certifications nearing completion, my days are packed from the moment I wake up until I climb into bed. In fact, I recently published a yearly planner called Elevate, where I dedicated a section to “balance.” Read more>>

Jeffrey Carr | Artist/Painter

As an art student, I could focus most of my attention on art and art making. As I moved into a series of positions as an art professor, got married, and helped raise a daughter, I thought of my life as containing four compartments: My family, my teaching career, my studio artwork, and my spiritual life. I spent about the same amount of time and energy on these four. When I became the Dean of an art school, and my daughter went away to college, I found that my studio life slowly drained away in favor of my academic and spiritual practice. Read more>>