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.

Madison Shorthill | Surface designer & Illustrator

Success is defined differently by everyone. As someone early in my career, I define success as gaining new skills, experiences, and joy in my work. I measure my success by how much I learn and the quality of work I deliver. As an artist, I have been challenged not only in the corporate fashion world to gain success but also to make strides to learn new art forms such as metal smithing. Read more>>

Vira Aguirre | Product Photographer

Risk, for me, is why I am here today. I was born and raised in Ukraine, and nine years ago, I decided to start my life from scratch. I applied for a work visa in the U.S., and in late 2015, I went to the embassy to get it. If you’re not familiar, the odds of approval were very slim, and several factors suggested I might not get it. But I knew deep in my heart I had to at least try, so I kept telling myself, “If it’s meant to be, it will be.” I was stressed—because who doesn’t feel stressed when taking a risk, right? I answered all the questions they asked, and when I heard them say, “Congratulations,” I had to ask them to repeat it, as I could not believe my ears! Read more>>

Lilian Wren Kurkinen | Artist & Educator

I have never seen as much growth and opportunity come my way as it has when I religiously practice taking risk. Risk in my art may not be high-stakes, but it always feels revolutionary. I practice risk in the painting over of a favorite moment in a piece because I *think* something might come to fill it, in competing blindly in an entrepreneurship competition because one day I hoped to have an art business, in sharing my art (my soul!) online and not know its reception, in quitting my job and going to teach art in Italy despite a language barrier, in my refusal to use erasers, in taking an exacto knife to a piece I *think* is done because what if it could be bigger than I can comprehend? Read more>>

Julie Wismann | Food Artist, Advocate & Mom

Savory Snackables helps the community by providing an outlet to adults with intellectual disabilities to practice kitchen skills and food art. We go into day programs and work with the adults on cutting skills and using their creativity to create charcuterie platters. We also provide a tasting board in each group class so they get the opportunity to try cheeses and pairings that they may not normally get. Read more>>

Lloyd Ross | Author. International Speaker & Investor

I used to think mistakenly that working harder made more money. But after learning about “leverage” I was able to work less and earn 10 times more. This was a pivotal shift in beliefs. Read more>>

Lydia Knight | Speaker, Executive Coach, Leadership Trainer

We celebrate being in the top 2% of women-owned businesses globally. The core factors for success are integrity and the willingness to evolve as we learn more. But outside of the core values of a business, what I attribute our success to most is the same thing that we teach our clients. Read more>>

Megan Trail | Heating, Plumbing and Air

The most important factor to the success of To the T Plumbing, Heating, and Air… I’d have to say being relentless and pertinacious, I don’t mean it in a bad way either. When on the road to success you will always come across hard times. A lot of people let those situations dissuade them and stop them from continuing. I have always pushed through no matter what. Seeing the bigger picture, learning from those hard times, and improving with each stone that gets thrown your way. Each thing getting thrown your way is a lesson to be learned to keep growing not letting that stop you and push back. Because you can’t have a successful company if you don’t keep growing. Not just growing the company but yourself, your mind, and the way you choose to see life. The success of your company starts with you and your mindset. Read more>>