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.

Jen Faulkner | Custom Apparel Designer

Over the years my definition of success has changed drastically. When I started my corporate job I felt success was defined by climbing the corporate ladder and reaching goals given to me by leadership to not only increase my pay but to get that next title. When I opened my bridal boutique, my definition of success was meeting quarterly gown sales required by my designers in New York to keep exclusivity rights to continue selling their gowns. At that time when I went above and beyond those quarterly sales it felt like an amazing accomplishment. Read more>> 

Nigel Hudson | Artist

I think risk are necessary for anyone who wants to be successful. To me, taking a risk for what you want shows that you’re willing to take a leap of faith. Let go and Let God take care of the rest, if you want it you gotta step for it! Taking risk for me in my career have played a huge part in the success that I’ve achieved to this point. It’s been times where I didn’t know what the outcome would be but I took the initiative, I stepped out of my comfortable zone, I took the risk that ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve ever made with my career. Read more>>

Maurandis Ber | Actor

I feel like everything is risky, when we were born it was risky. You have to take chances in order to know, and you’ll take losses as well. But at least you give it a go, I would rather try and fail then not try at all. Read more>>

Ananda Sound Bath | Sound Healing

Our experience using various forms of meditation to ease anxiety was transformative and we wanted to share this with others. The hopelessness that comes from living daily with anxiety and other mental health conditions is overwhelming and exhausting. After using sound in our own healing process we wanted to share it with others. The feedback we’ve received from hundreds of clients in the treatment centers we currently serve has encouraged us to open this business and offer these services outside of treatment centers. Read more>>

Dewey Rice Jr | Founder of Prescribed With The Realest

I would say the most crucial factor behind the success of my brand over the years has been staying consistent, believing that I can, and looking further than ‘today.’ I have always been a person with a vision, knowing I wanted more for myself, but not exactly how or what that was. Finding my voice in the later years led to me starting my brand, and since then, my brand has opened doors to other ventures like curating events. Read more>>

Todd Reed | Multi-Medium Artist/Fabricator

I really think that the biggest factor behind the success of STEAMPOWERED SFX PRODUCTIONS, is that we are not scared to take on any projects. When we started out, we were trying out a lot of different marketing angles to get the name out there. Anything from, movie make up FX, set design/commercial creative interiors, fanart etc. Now, 6years later, we find that we are still doing all of these types of artworks, but on a much larger scale. 2024 has really been our year to exercise our creative muscles, and really show the world that we can do absolutely anything, and any scale, that a client wants us to fabricate. Read more>>

Carly Sioux of House of No Era | Aesthetic Consultant•Vintage Dealer• Art Direction

One thing about my industry that outsiders are probably unaware of is that staging, designing, and styling interiors is a full-time job, not just a hobby and it’s a lot of work and there is a lot of pressure. Most folks think they can do this themselves. Honestly, I think it’s because they low-key want to be designers! You can always tell when businesses DIY, and I honestly wish more people appreciated the quality and value professional designers and stagers offer. Having an eye for a cool piece of furniture is just the start. Read more>>

Krystan Ivey | KrissysWork – Fine Artist & Illustrator

I started working full time when I was 14 years old, and had been familiar with labor long before then since my family owed a laundromat. For most of my life, I have understood the give and take of working, but my view on what it means has transformed drastically. As a teenager I worked between 40 and 60 hours a week, work provided me with the funds to take care of myself and all of the validation I needed. Being good at my job and being able to work entire days away was the entirety of my self worth. Read more>>