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.

Luke Maas | Scientific Curiosities Dealer

When I was younger, I collected everything I needed to live on my own. I had kitchen utensils, laundry baskets, bathroom towels, and power tools. I thought I had everything I needed. Until the day I actually moved out. I had overlooked a crucial part of living on my own: The home decor. My walls and my shelves were pathetically empty. So I went on another buying spree. I decorated my first place like a Nature & Science Museum. I bought monkey skulls and meteorites. I had a woolly mammoth tooth and Kapton foil from the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission. Read more>>

Taylor Smith | Disaster Recovery Specialist, Forest Therapy Guide and Death Doula for Animals

I am deeply inspired by the evolution of human consciousness and the spiritual awakenings unfolding within the collective. My own awakening occurred in the year preceding the pandemic, prompted by a series of health challenges that compelled me to reassess my life, priorities, and perspective on reality. Read more>>

Abby Shepard | Wedding and Elopement Photographer

One of the principles I value most in my work is creating a truly client-centered experience. As a wedding and elopement photographer, my role goes far beyond simply taking photos. Yes, I take photos, but more than that, I do everything I can to help my couples have a meaningful, memorable, and genuinely fun wedding day.
I make an intentional effort to get to personally know my couples and build a relationship with them. Before a wedding or elopement day, I’m often providing location recommendations, planning when to be at each place for the best light, creating timelines, sharing advice on weather, giving couples a list of what to bring and how to prepare for their specific location/time of year, talking through photo lists and family dynamics, and creating detailed day-of docs with logistic information. Read more>>

Leilani Derr | Visual Artist, Illustrator, & Designer

Interdependence and the value of community.
I grew up thinking that independence and bootstrapping was the most honorable way to achieve anything in life. Asking for help was a sign of weakness or made you into a burden to those around you. The only thing I achieved with this belief in fierce independence was making my life significantly harder and lonelier. Community activist Mia Birdsong refers to independence as a “form of self-hatred.” The more I grow, the more I find joy and purpose in cultivating my sense of community. It’s hard work, don’t get me wrong, but the reciprocity, love, and sense of place are well worth the effort. Read more>>

Rachel Duncan | Financial Therapist & Art Therapist

I’m simply obsessed by the topic of money and how we all perceive it and interact with it. Financial Therapy isn’t only super practical (sometimes life saving), but it also uncovers psychological healing that traditional forms of therapy aren’t able to bring in. I’d like to have my work and my business fundamentally help many people finally interact with money authentically, without triggers, without shutting down or spending it all. Form what I can tell, using art therapy within financial therapy is unique to my work, and I’d like to train other therapists in this powerful blended modality. Read more>>

Abby Cerne | Artist & Art Therapist

My mom hated my dad, but she always kept his quilts. I remember feeling confused about this as she destroyed any pictures of him. I cringe as the frames hit the wall and shatter. My mom screams and leaves the room. I desperately pull the family photo out of the newest wreckage, cutting my little hands. My parents took turns destroying the house. My sister and I watched. My mom hated my dad, but she always kept his quilts. Now, I can understand she kept them because he was a damn good quilter—less so husband and parent.
Sometimes I look back on my childhood, and I recall the best memories. Read more>> 

Tracy Marroquin | Leanna Organics founder

Leanna Organics was born out of a passion for natural healing and beauty. Tracy, one of our founders, grew up in a Salvadorian-American family, where her mom shared traditional knowledge about natural remedies and self-care. This early exposure to holistic approaches shaped Tracy’s belief in gentle, plant-based solutions. After experiencing negative effects from chemical beauty products, she began crafting her own natural mixes over a decade ago—building the foundation for Leanna Organics’ commitment to organic, high-quality skincare. Read more>>

Trog | ARTIST

Because it was inside my head, I always wanted to draw stoned out crazy comix, something about that artwork and the iconic comic artists who created that, just clicked with something inside me.

So, it wasn’t so much like pursuing a creative career, as there was no career that catered to that, imaging being a kid sitting on a couch smoking weed in the 90’s going im going to be a famous weed artist ( take into account weed was at that time illegal everywhere around the world ) so i was getting ready for a career that actually didn’t exist yet.. at the start for years, I had to work other jobs then in my spare time would continue to draw my own comics and that evolved into its own. (looking back I wouldnt of wanted it any other way ) Read more>>

Amy Wadlington | Christian Life Coach

One of the best books I’ve read as a creative entrepreneur is *The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles* by Steven Pressfield. It’s a straightforward and powerful read— (Bonus) I finished it in one day—and each chapter serves as a clear and direct challenge to overcome resistance – the battle of the mind. Read more>>