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.

Ashley Garner | Marketing Manager & Event Strategist

I wouldn’t be where I am today without taking risks, and I don’t believe I can reach where I want to be in the future without pushing myself outside of my comfort zone to take even greater risks. Read more>>

Alyssa Batsakis | Artistic Director, Actor and Acting Coach

It’s funny because in the arts everyone is really a risk-taker in some way, shape or form. You have to be at least a little bit insane to want to constantly take on the risks that professional artists have to take on daily, and especially those that have a full time freelance life, like myself. The grind never stops. I am constantly searching for work, even when I am currently on a contract. It’s really a never ending risk when you are an artist full time. For me, this whole risk-taking mindset is fairly new though. While I took the risks of studying an artistic field in college (I got my BFA in Musical Theater from The University of the Arts), I played it pretty safe in the first years of my career. Looking back, I definitely did what I thought I should do whilst comparing myself to others, rather than doing exactly what I wanted to do and taking risks to get where I wanted to go. It honestly wasn’t until the pandemic, that I got a huge wake up call (like many I am sure) that life is just too short and you have to do what it is you want. It was at this point that I started to make a plan to move back to Ohio to be closer to family for my own personal life happiness and started hatching a plan to create a nonprofit arts organization. I eventually moved back in 2022 and we founded The Ghostlight Stage Company in 2023. Both of these things were huge risks with many people telling me my career would plummet in a small market like Cincinnati and that starting a business in your late 20s wasn’t the right move. Ultimately though, the biggest risks have always created the biggest rewards in my life both personally and professionally, and both of these choices were no different. I am so proud with just how much The Ghostlight Stage Company has grown and impacted the community in just the one year we’ve been around, and yet if I hadn’t taken the risk to start it, it wouldn’t exist at all. I once heard someone say “well if you don’t do it, who will?” and that truly has motivated me to stay the course and continue taking huge leaps of faith in both my personal and professional life. Read more>>

Madeline Eckhart | Co-founder of DreamStates”

Doing the thing. Not giving up. In a very real sense, allowing myself to be alive and present for everything that’s happened thus far.

For a long time I earnestly considered I’d be in the “27 club,” which is a grim sort of gallows joke about how many musicians and artists take their own lives at 27. I’ve had depression my whole life. When I was younger, I denied it. When I was assaulted in college, it became unavoidable. Read more>>

Tom Weyand | Bass Player & Business manager, The Fifth Wheel

The great thing about us, is for over 30 years, we have found a away to come together to create a sincere an honest record. Since we formed in 1993, we enjoy the writing Process and this time it was no different. JOsh and I arranged and in some cases orchestrated a great collections of songs and we hope the fans will respond in a positive way. Read more>>

Shawn Showtime | Comedian /actor

The hard work it takes to become successful and being able to take the good and the bad with stride. It’s not easy to stay focused on your craft when life starts to take over and you have to keep pushing it won’t happen overnight. Read more>>

Seraphia Christe Snodgrass | Artist, Yoga/Breathe Instructor, COTA/L

I’m from a little bit of everywhere, a transplant of many places. Born in Connecticut, but moving several times between my birth state, Ohio and Florida. North Carolina for the beginning of my adult life. Traveling and moving frequently, I’ve spent the majority of my childhood in Port Orange, Florida with my Dad, stepmother, 3 other siblings, and two step sisters. The continuous movement has carried into my adult life. Read more>>

Aspen Grazier | Fashion designer and model

I always knew I was going to be in an artistic field from a very young age, probably before I could even verbalize it. For a while I thought I was going to be a cartoonist and when I started at CCAD I spent the first semester as a comics major. Instead of doing homework for that class I would go to the library and spend hours looking at all the archived editions of Vogue magazine from the 80s. With some help from mentors I finally connected the dots that fashion was always the thing I was most interested in and switch majors to fashion design. While it took me a while to find out what field of art felt right for me, an artistic career was always something I knew I wanted to do, I don’t think I ever even considered other options, it was just something I always knew about myself Read more>>

Jackie Murphy | Social Media Strategist & Marketing Consultant

Work life balance is at the top of my mind quite often. Working solo and out of my house does not lend itself very well to having boundaries and traditional “hours of operation.” Throughout the 21 years I have worked for myself, I believe I have found the best balance, at this point in time. Read more>>

Samarra Sammi” Togonon | Illustrator

I’ve always been a creative kid growing up. Some of my earliest projects involved a crayon fort filled with glue, paper scraps, and zoo animals I outlined from stencils. I was so proud of that project that I recreated it a few more times. Too many crayons sacrificed their lives for me back then. Read more>>