We love asking the folks that inspire and excite us about what inspires and excites them. Check out their responses below.

Courtney Connelly

Inspiration surrounds me as I am a very curious and empathetic person. I will meet someone or see something that sparks interest and my imagination will run away with me, creating images or scenarios where I experience the world through another set of eyes. I think this is the purpose of art, whether written, painted, or filmed. It gives form to the thoughts and feelings we all experience and even though thousands of people may see the same image or read the same lines, each person will find their own unique meaning. I find inspiration in personal stories, history, fantasy, anything bittersweet or dark and moody, and in the imperfect perfection of nature. Read more>>

Abbie VandenEinde | Photographer

I am inspired by STORIES. Honestly, I believe everyone has a story worth sharing, worth telling, worth capturing. That is the whole point of photography, the point of what I get to do, is tell stories, capture memories. My job is so special in that I get to enter some of the most intimate and beautiful parts of peoples’ lives. I get to walk into hotel rooms right before a couple says “I do”, I get to enter homes that just welcomed in a new life, I get to spend the biggest days of people’s lives right by their side. I never get tired of learning new stories, meeting new people, hearing about their highs and lows, because that’s what inspires me to keep doing what I do, to capture a story beautifully. You have to know a story to capture it. I will never take for granted the fact that people let me into their stories. Read more>>

John Carter | Law Enforcement Officer & Actor

Everything negative! People have always told me I wasn’t going to be where I am today and I have far exceeded their doubts Read more>>

J.T. Rath | Author & Healthcare Leader

In the most simplistic and pure sense, I’m inspired by stories. They’ve always been around in human history, but right now there are so many mediums to ingest stories and so many people telling them, that it’s exciting to have so much inspiration at your fingertips. Between books, movies, videogames, and others, there are exciting things happening, particularly in the fiction space (though plenty of inspiration comes from real life too!). Read more>>