We asked some of the city’s most brilliant and creative minds to tell us about the most difficult decision they’ve had to make.

Nathaniel Allenby | Circus Entertainer, Entrepreneur & Visual Artist

In 2011 I was living in Mexico, my best friend Tyger was in Florida, my brother Dan was in San Diego; both of them were asking me to support them and a lover wanted to see me again but couldn’t fly to Mexico. She offered to fly to Florida and buying me a ticket there, meeting up with my best friend simultaneously; I accepted. Once there, Tyger told me how lonely he felt and how he would really appreciate if I simply stayed, and that he would cover my living expenses. Meanwhile my brother made a similar offer for me to come to San Diego. My friends in Mexico were asking when I was coming back, and it was very difficult to choose where to go. Read more>>

Adelia Carrillo | CMO of EventHi, Advisory Board Member of International Cannabis Business Women’s Association, Board Member of San Diego Americans for Safe Access

The most difficult decision I ever had to make was deciding to close my first startup. The first company I started was a cannabis digital media news network called Direct Cannabis Network. DCN highlighted the startups, entrepreneurs and innovation in the cannabis industry. With DCN I was able to give a global voice to entrepreneurs and startups, highlighting their mission, their why and their businesses. I also successfully raised capital for this company and DCN become a well-known industry platform and resource. However, building a media company was hard and my goal was to not build a pay to play media platform, I also didn’t have strength in financials or building a stable revenue model. So as we hit our 5 years in business, I was working myself so much, trying to do everything I could to scale the company and finally hit my wall as an entrepreneur, and although DCN was my baby, I no longer was able to give it 110% and I knew it was no longer fair to keep moving forward to our team, for myself and for the community. Read more>>

Eugeniya Lomeyko | Makeup and Hair Artist

The most difficult decision in my life so far was the decision to move to USA. I would have never thought I will live in a different country other than the one I was born in (Ukraine). I moved here with my husband and it supposed to be a temporary move at that time, just for two years. And if I had known I stayed here, probably I would have been too scared to try! And I am proud of myself that I did it , because I did not speak English well when we moved here and I did not know what I am going to do in a new country. It was long and difficult process for me. I am not a person who easily moves from town to town and from one county to another, so it was a huge challenge for me. I have two favorite quotes: “ Never say never!” and “Things that don’t kill us make us stronger “. And both quotes became real for me in USA. Also I am very proud of myself because I started my business third time in a row in a new place. Read more>>