We asked some of the most inspiring folks in the community to tell us where they want to be professionally by the end of their careers.

Jodie Bliss | Artist Blacksmith & Metalworker

Throughout my career my goals, short term and long term have continually changed. Short term goals are often guided by demand of the moment and long term goals more by what I feel I am missing in my life. When I started my business ten years ago my goal was to make a living making my art. As my business evolved into one with employees (about 5 years after I started it) my goal became to build my team into a family that was as fulfilled by the work as I am. This is more complicated than it seems on paper, as everyone of my team has different skills, desires, struggles and ways of communicating. Everyday I learn more about how to communicate and work with each of them individually, balancing what I need from them as an employee with what I can contribute to ensure they are being fulfilled. 5 years ago I began to feel it was important to contribute to and bring my community together through the arts. Read more>>

Athena Ryals | Fiction Author & Paramedic

Currently, I am working on my dystopian fiction series Honor Bound, which follows a found family doing their best to take down the powerful crime families that terrorize the region. I am preparing book 3 of the series for publication on April 16th. I am working on writing book 5 and have plans for book 6, which will be the last in the series. I decided to go the self-publishing route for these books. I researched traditional publishing and found that it is incredibly difficult to break into and even if your book does ultimately get selected for publishing, the average length of time from finishing a book to having it published is 11 years. To me, it was more important to get my books out and into the hands of the readers than it was to seek the prestige of traditional publishing. In addition, self-publishing allows me control over the story that is not available in traditional publishing. Read more>>

Kyle Tobar | KYLEROCKSOUT – Concert Show Creator & Podcaster

I wanna be successful by the end of my career. I hope to inspire others and make new connections along the way. I’m hoping to be somewhere in the music industry by owning my own venue, working at a record label or touring with artists and groups and helping them achieving their goal. I also want to live a life I’m dreaming of. Read more>>

Angela Carabetta | Artist

I have always just wanted to be happy and enjoy my work. Art is that happy place for me, so ultimately that is my end goal. Although when I extensively look at this, I realize being happy would mean creating and being immersed in art full time. I want my artwork to be shared and loved by many. I want people to hear my name and be able to think of a piece of artwork they saw and loved. I want my artwork to make an impact. I rarely call myself and artist, and so just being acknowledged and known as one would be a part of that happy place. I don’t want to see the end of my career. This means I want to create art until I die. This isn’t just a job I go to, or an income. This is my passion, my heart, my life. So my end goal doesn’t come with a retirement date and that means every day I will be striving to be happy and enjoying my art, that sounds exciting and exhilarating. Read more>>

Molly Waters | Marine Biologist, Aquaculture Technician

As a marine biologist stuck land locked all I can do is hope to instill a sense of wonder and curiosity for those seeking information about the ocean. The end goal is inspiring others to learn about , connect and protect the oceans. I hope that people who are curious can help solve some of the greatest problems we face as a species, climate change, sea level rise and ocean acidification. The end goal for me and my career is a moving target which requires constant adjustment and has almost nothing to do with money, just hope. Read more>>