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.

Desza Chabrelle T. | Holistic Financial Planner

My daughter and siblings inspire me. I take pride in setting a positive example for them to follow.

As I continue on my growth path, I just hope to inspire them to do the similar. It’s all about leading by example. After all, until we’re introduced to something, we’ll never know how to identify it. Read more>>

Gifty Chopra | The Green Rasoi | Healthy Gluten Free Recipes

I have often heard the saying that “beauty is only skin deep”. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. People are diverse and I believe that true strength comes from inside of you where your beauty lies. Read more>>

Morgan Goheen | Vice President of Life Sales at Goheen Insurance

By the end of my career, I want to be nationally recognized as the top female leader within the premium finance life insurance industry and to be known for creating a women’s market in the premium finance life insurance space. Read more>>

Peter Szlivics | Entrepreneur & Full-Time University Student

Balance is perhaps the most important thing in the life of an 18-year-old entrepreneur studying in college. With three separate businesses under my management, combining the everyday tasks with the tasks associated with being a full-time student is something majority of my peers cannot imagine doing. However, I have come to realize the very simple concept behind balancing out what’s important with what’s enjoyable. See, in my experience, many people enjoy their comfort zone within their everyday lives. Going to the same job, talking to the same people, and even listening to the same radio are all a part of the “daily ritual” millions of people practice worldwide. It’s quite self explanatory why we as humans grow to find comfort in doing the same thing every day, we are familiar with what we are doing and we know the expected outcome. The issue lies when something goes out of order in this daily machine of routine tasks, most people are not used to their routine taking an unexpected change and that’s when mental issues start arising, like anxiety, depressions, and things alike. There are however people, who try to mitigate getting too comfortable with their daily lives by going to the gym, for example. Pushing yourself beyond the limits of comfort trains your mind to do so outside the gym which directly correlates to your daily life. Balance in my life began it’s journey to perfection in my senior year of high school. This was the time when I had a part-time office job after school 5 days/week from 3-6pm. I decided to start the very first online project of mine, MList. The idea came from a hobby and I quickly created the necessary strategy for growth that I’d imagine would work and got to it. A few months later, I had an opportunity to start managing a few social media platforms for a local Senior Care Office which sprouted the seed that now has grown into my Digital Marketing Agency – PQR Media. A few months later I was fortunate to meet one of my current business partners through MList who has taken me on a journey starting with a BMW Exclusive Marketplace and now to us being partners in a Private Jet Management Company – Luxor Aviation. This was all before my very first day of college in Mid-August of 23′. Once I got to Binghamton University, the workload associated with school collided with my daily tasks required by the three businesses that I own. Each project requires time, effort, thinking, and most importantly the devotion of attention. Our daily lives in 2024 are filled with things that are created to capture our attention, like our phones, advertisements, events, and so on. Through a few weeks of meditation I have come to the conclusion, at the time, that it is all in fact possible to balance, however, sacrifices had to be made. Of course as you would imagine, college was trying it’s hardest to get me to go out, party, and “enjoy the college experience” which in fact I dipped my toes in but realized I didn’t get the same kick out of it as I did from seeing my projects prosper and move in the direction I wanted to see them move in. By simply eliminating what was not important, and really giving all of my attention to what I found needed it most, I was able to achieve a wonderful balance that allows me to this day not only to get all of my work done, both in school and in business, but also to enjoy my day-to-day just like a “regular” person would. Read more>>

Valencia Payne | Health Informatics, Project Management, Nanotechnologist, & Registered Nurse

The habits I have for maintaining a successful business is to stay completely focused. I have a daily regimen that I follow to keep my company updated with fresh content and products. I scheduled at least an hour for each task to be completed throughout the duration of by day. Read more>>

Kimberly Franco | Team Lead of The Franco Team

Prioritizing my personal growth and leadership development has been instrumental in my professional success. It is essential to fully understand oneself and strive towards self-improvement so you can effectively lead yourself and others, including employees. Each morning, I allocate time for personal development through meditation, practicing gratitude, and reading books that enhance my personal and leadership skills. Additionally, I have adopted a disciplined morning routine. I have come to recognize that a chaotic morning often leads to a chaotic day. By adhering to a structured morning routine, I create space for self-care and mental clarity, enabling me to approach the day with a clear and focused mindset. When you own the morning, you win the day and I believe there is no better feeling at the end of the day than the feeling of accomplishment. Read more>>

Nolan Burke | Husband / Dad / Musician / Band Leader / Business Owner

I feel I’ve really learned a lot about the importance of balance. I love my work so much, and I really want to make a difference using the tools that God has given me; but my family is truly my ultimate priority, so I am really intentional about spending a lot of time with my wife and my children. Recently, I’ve heard so many anecdotes from older, much wiser people than I and their sentiments are all very similar: spend as much time with your family and your growing children as you can, because you CANNOT have a do over. The career will always be there – but you only get one shot to raise your kids and watch them grow up. So, I am really making my family a huge priority, even if I may not be achieving the goals or milestones in my business or career that I had hoped to achieve by now. Read more>>

 Julie Schniers | Speaker | Consultant | Coach

The power of making people the priority is not only a passion of mine, but a game changer when it comes to leveling up any organization or company. I was always known as for running a great team, but it took me years to realize what made my team different from others in my space. Our success wasn’t just driven my talent, money, and work ethic. Our success was driven by taking care of the people on my team. The next question I had to ask was what were the difference makers? I combed through 13 years teams with a wide variety of types of individuals and heard the same answers over and over again. Communication, connection, and confidence were the differences makers. We are a box checking, to-do list making, objective seeking society. What we too often fail to remember are the power of the people who are checking those boxes. If we flip our focus to our people first, it makes all the difference. How do you do that? What actually helps drive success, builds team culture, solidifies retention, and more? Communication. Connection. Confidence. Those 3 C’s are the core of every workshop, keynote, and strategic planning session I build. They are the powerful culture builders that create change and help teams level-up. Read more>>