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<\/p>\nThe heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. In the recent weeks, we\u2019ve had the privilege to connect with some incredible artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can\u2019t begin to express how impressed we are with the incredible group below.<\/p>\n
Marin Gourlay<\/p>\n
It might sound surprising, but I didn\u2019t originally plan on becoming an aesthetician. My dream was to become a veterinarian. While I was pursuing my pre-veterinary studies, I enrolled in esthetics school with one simple goal: to perform lash extensions while I finished college. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Sherene Phillips I have always believed that what is created with love carries a different kind of sweetness. My journey began right here in Jacksonville, where I was raising four children, building a professional career, and quietly discovering that my creativity could become something much bigger than a hobby. Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, I spent more than 15 years working in corporate and government roles. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Nikki Rakov Born in Virginia and transplanted to Northern California during my childhood, I grew up living a bicoastal life\u2014always lost in creating images through drawing and painting. I was fascinated by history, reading, and culture, and found endless magic in the natural world. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Philip Rodger We moved to Florida in July of 2016, and we\u2019ve been doing animal chiropractic here ever since \u2014 though back then we were RiverTown Chiropractic, and it was a side hustle. Weekends. Evenings. Whatever hours we could find. My wife, Dr. Angela, was the animal chiropractor. I was strictly a human chiropractor. We\u2019ve always been mobile. For almost five years, that\u2019s how it went. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Nickey Boyd My story starts when I was at a point in my life where I didn\u2019t know what direction to go in career wise. I watched my mom cook beautifully as a child and my dad is also a chef but I never even considered going down that path until I went to culinary school. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Jeffery \u2018Shino-B Beatz\u2019 Brown<\/p>\n I started making music at the age of 14. My cousin, Yolanda Williams\u2014author and owner of Moore and Poesy Publishing\u2014was the driving force behind my pursuit of music production. She believed in my potential from the very beginning and invested in me by providing my first digital audio workstation, FL Studio. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Dr. Chase Skylar DeMayo I grew up in Central Florida and joined the United States Air Force after 9\/11, where I served as a public affairs journalist, telling the stories of our nation\u2019s service members. At 21 years old, my life changed forever when I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and had a profound near-death experience that completely reshaped how I viewed life, purpose, and what truly matters. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Shaina Thomas<\/p>\n My story begins with me creating treats for my daughter\u2019s birthday. Everyone loved them! After some convincing, I created and launched Sugar Rymmed Potions and Pastries. It was during a lazy summer off from teaching in June 2019. I figured I needed to try to earn some money. During that time, I only sold brookies (eventually expanding to 25 flavors). Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Paul Calvani I\u2019ve always been an entrepreneur starting with even candy selling blank skateboards, and it definitely grew to a little bit out of my control. I fell into addiction and while working on a clothing brand and transferring from making music, I fell apart a little bit after I came back from doing eight months in jail. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Latanya E. Peterson My story starts in the classroom. I\u2019ve spent more than 15 years in education, most of it in secondary education, and that\u2019s where my sense of the work was shaped up close, with students. In 2015 I stepped out of the classroom, but not away from education. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Nichol Kelly My name is NicholiSadora, owner and CEO of NicholiSadora Inc., where we offer cost-friendly, quality, competitive products that are UV-200 and UV-400, non-polarized and polarized unisex eyewear and accessories that are uniquely designed for the unique in you. Our target market is 46% male and 54% female, ranging from the ages of 13-55. This year we celebrate our 12th anniversary as of Nov 15th. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n marcellus A brown III I was born and raised in St. Augustine, Florida, in Lincolnville. Music was always around me growing up. My mom, my dad, and a lot of my cousins were into music. I had cousins who rapped and cousins who sang R&B, so music was already part of my life before I ever started making it myself. I grew up listening to all types of music. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Eduardo \u201cEddy\u201d Umana My journey began long before my career. I was born in Honduras, and my mom made the courageous decision to bring my sister and me to the United States in pursuit of a better future. As a single mother, she sacrificed everything to give us opportunities she never had. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Wolf Castillo The very long story short of my journey was that, after experiencing the ass-whipping that is life at times, I found myself in a place of deep and chronic stress, depression, and anxiety. I didn\u2019t see the point of living anymore. I lost interest in even the things that brought me the most joy in life. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Schachtner After having my collegiate baseball career cut short by injury, I, like many other college and pro athletes struggled to figure out who I was and what my path in life should be outside of sports. I ended up getting into financial services and for 20 years built a financial planning firm that housed over 40 advisors. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Jimmy Nguyen I didn\u2019t take the traditional path to get where I am today. My story has a lot of ups and downs, and honestly, that\u2019s a big part of what made me who I am. I came from a Vietnamese immigrant family. My father came to the United States in 1980 looking for a better life for our family. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Daphne Grice After living in Jacksonville for 17 years, my family and I decided to move back to my husband\u2019s home town of Keystone Heights. It was such an adventure going from living in the Ft Caroline area of Jacksonville to the dirt roads of Keystone Heights. For nearly 20 years we had called Jacksonville our home. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Will Gerrard My cousin (James) and I (Will) always played music, went to shows religiously, and were in other bands over the years, but never in a band together. For many years, we have a sound in mind we always thought would work and be fun to explore, meshing reggae and blues. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Greg Rider Gregory Paul\u2019s was born from the opportunity to reinvent my career. As I explored what truly inspired me, I realized that every path led back to my passion for food. Rather than opening a traditional restaurant, I envisioned a different approach\u2014offering freshly prepared meals through a changing weekly menu, along with boutique catering beautifully presented on white china. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Victoria Cattell People come to me after they\u2019ve already done the work. They\u2019ve sat with therapists, gone to retreats, tried every approach on the shelf. And they\u2019re still stuck, loyal to a version of themselves they thought they\u2019d already outgrown. Before I did energy work full time, I spent decades in the medical field. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Kara Lanteigne Photography for me started as most people find it. I had my son and I wanted to take as many photos of him as possible. So I threw myself into learning photography. I had some previous knowledge from my dad teaching me how to use his old Minolta but other than that I was very green. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Cynthia Wilson My journey hasn\u2019t been a straight line, and that\u2019s what makes it meaningful. Before pursuing music seriously, I worked in healthcare, where I learned the importance of discipline, compassion, and perseverance. Even while balancing work and facing personal and health challenges, music was always something I came back to. It became my outlet, my therapy, and my way of telling my story. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Kirsten Taylor I grew up in the Blackland Prairie Region of North Texas. My childhood was rural and influences my work, presenting itself as a love of nature. From a young age I always interested in art. My father was a carpenter and my mother taught me how to draw. Through them I learned a love of materials and making things. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Zach Elkins There\u2019s a particular kind of discipline you only learn in a locked inside of a cage to fight another human being for entertainment. For Zach Elkins, it started there and it\u2019s the same discipline that built Lean Impact Nutrition from meal prepping for some friends out his house into one of Northeast Florida\u2019s most trusted names in meal prep. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Rayshonna Harvey I was born and raised in Bartow, Florida, raised by my great-grandmother Melonee , who taught me the value of hard work, resilience, and showing up for people. I\u2019ve always been entrepreneurial, a go-getter who believed there was something more for my life. I never imagined that \u201cmore\u201d would come through locs. It started with my own hair. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Rosaria Cammarata I started young\u2014my mom left $20 a day to cook with and a Woman\u2019s Day encyclopedia set, leading to my first creation: flounder with floating grapes. My father\u2019s face was pure, unadulterated \u2018WTF?!\u2019 Almost instantly, writing became my escape while growing up. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Sarah Lee Great live music doesn\u2019t just entertain, it changes the energy of the room. Bold City Classics strives to create that experience at every event and for every audience, whether it\u2019s a wedding, corporate gala, fundraiser, or public concert. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Liltera Lewis I often introduce myself as \u2018Liltera\u2026 like Literature\u2019 to give people a quick glimpse into who I am and what I do. I was BORN TO WRITE and my name symbolizes passion blending with divine purpose. Words have always been the fondest part of my childhood. I confided in diaries, scribbled on concrete, and began penning poetry at age 12. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Chincia Kenner I\u2019ve always been someone who enjoyed creating. As a child, I wrote poetry and short stories, but I also developed a passion for technology and problem-solving. Over the years, those interests grew into two parallel careers\u2014one in information technology and the other in entertainment and entrepreneurship. Throughout my career, I\u2019ve learned that success starts with strategy. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Ashli Hankerson You\u2019re More Than Enough\u00ae wasn\u2019t born from a business plan\u2014it was born during one of the hardest seasons of my life. During the early days of the pandemic, I was coming out of a difficult breakup and, like so many people, questioning my worth. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n Jessica McIntee Stella Dreamz & Visionz began with a passion for helping others succeed. I started by tutoring grade school students in math and language arts, helping them build confidence and improve academically. As I worked with families and members of my community, I realized that many adults also needed guidance\u2014not just in education, but in reaching their personal and professional goals. Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. 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