Over the past decade we have had the chance to learn about so many incredible folks from a wide range of industries and backgrounds and our highlighter series is designed to give us an opportunity to go deeper into their stories with to goal of understanding them, their thought process, how their values formed and the foundations of their stories. Check out some incredible folks below – many of whom you may have read about already and a few new names as well.
Justus Storm
Recently I found out that a song I wrote with Gary Frost, Landon Wall, and Ethan Anderson actually won the Country category in the USA Songwriter Competition, which was a pretty awesome surprise. We’re still in the running for the overall Grand Prize, so fingers crossed — they announce that on December 2nd. Read more>>
Hannah B. Johnson
One of my daughters asked me recently if I was still writing books or songs. I told her I am and she just quietly said, ‘Good.’ We both smiled, continuing our individual activities on the sofa. I felt proud that my creative endeavors were on her radar at all, let alone something she wanted me to continue. Read more>>
Rebekah Ragland
The public version of me is real, but it’s not the whole story. What people see is my strength, my creativity, my work ethic, my humor, and the way I carry myself. All of that is true. Merely based off asthetics. Read more>>
Quinna Water
Sacrifice is necessary for large success. There’s this pervasive narrative in the entrepreneurial world that in order to “make it,” you have to give up everything else that matters…your health, your peace…your joy. Hustle until you’re empty. There’s this mentality all about proving your worth by how exhausted you are. And I simply don’t believe that’s true. In fact, I’ve seen the opposite. Read more>>
Alayna Carroll
For quite a few years now, there’s been a narrative in country music where female artists are not as ‘needed’ as male artists. That women don’t want to hear fellow females – they want to hear men who will sing love songs to them. There are only a few women on the country charts and to me, this is a serious problem. Read more>>
Vince Romanelli
The architecture of the show itself. When you watch a performance, you see the energy, the visuals, the skill. What you don’t see is how it’s designed. I’ve spent 28 years learning to think about a moment the way a director thinks about a film. Read more>>
Gabriel Abrams
Before Elite Mobile IV, I experienced one of my greatest failures while running a game studio startup. We had a lot of easy success in the beginning and when times got hard, I was completely unprepared and the company collapsed. Read more>>
Carla René
This one is a sad one, and I feel very vulnerable in answering it, but I get the feeling that a LOT of people may be struggling with the same thing, so for their sake, I’ll forego a little privacy. I did not have any kind of good relationship with my mother. Read more>>
Marty Falle
I think the part of me that needs to be released is the habit of carrying every responsibility like it’s life-or-death. For years—whether in music, business, or everyday life—I’ve pushed myself to control every detail, fix every problem, and shoulder more than I probably needed to. Read more>>
Mary Smiley Ford
I’m committed to a belief that has shaped everything I build: courage, consistency, and kindness will outlast every shortcut. I apply this to my work, my leadership, and the way I show up in my community. Courage pushes me to take risks, grow new arms of my business, and step into roles that once felt intimidating. Read more>>
Cassia Dawn
That’s a difficult question, I lost 3 family memebers before I was 6, so in many ways I’ve lived my life as if anything could be taken away at any time. It’s only recently that I’ve been working on grieving those people and reminding myself that it’s okay to live even though they are not on this earth. Read more>>
Ostarè Dubois
If I had to choose between intelligence, energy, and integrity, I would choose integrity—every time. Intelligence can be developed, and energy can be renewed. But integrity is the foundation that makes both of those qualities meaningful. Without it, everything eventually falls apart. When I speak about integrity, I don’t just mean moral correctness. Read more>>
XOË MILES
To be completely honest, I’ve always been 100% authentically myself! Growing up in Texas, I always have had people try to get me to sing country music (or even judge my goals and my dreams), and even as I’ve gotten older I’ve had some people in the industry tell me more extreme things like how I should dye my hair blonde and show more skin. Read more>>
