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.

Kellee Halford

What’s interesting is how we frame entrepreneurship as “working for yourself” verses working for a business owned by someone else. Actually, entrepreneurs work to serve customers/clients. Employees work to ensure they can pay for the basic essentials. That’s always been interesting framing but that’s a different conversation for another day. The single most important decision I’ve made since electing to start my own business is selecting those with whom collaboration will yield greater success for us both. As a consultant, which is a broad concept, it is possible for someone within your sphere to provide similar or the same types of services. Collaboration reminds me that every client or customer is not mine to serve, some may be mine to refer to a colleague. Honestly, I feel collaboration is a much stronger success indicator than competition. Read More>>

Andrew Spadafora

In a creative environment like the Music Industry, risk-taking is a necessary tool. Though a musician can spend an entire career replicating work that has already been presented – Think a cover band project, or a tribute act – To create something new requires risky and sometimes novel techniques. Read More>>

Brandi Kjarsgard

Risk taking is such a huge part of finding success in my opinion. Without taking those leaps and knowing that failure can happen, we can’t ever truly experience true reward. It’s in reaching that we find new levels. I never expected to work in California, to manage a haunt for 2 years, or to have my own business/brand. All of these things happened because I did things that were scary, and I put myself out there! If I didn’t try, no one would come looking for me, I had to show people what I was about. I’ll always encourage anyone with a deep dream to go chase it, the worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work….which in itself may open new doors and angles you never thought possible. Life is funny that way. Read More>>

The Fabled Crew

The most important factor behind our success has been staying true to our voice, our mission, and our community. From the beginning, we’ve focused on sharing real stories that show the heart, humor, and hard work behind rescue life. That kind of authenticity builds trust with our supporters and followers. Read More>>

Sandy Knox

My thought process behind writing and releasing “Weighting, My Life if it Were a Musical” was to have a storyline that was cohesive with the songs that I wanted to write to support the storyline. Sometimes the hooks for the songs were born out of what I had written for the narration and other times the hook idea then songs came first and I built the story to serve the song. For me, there’s a golden hour in the very early morning, about 6 to 9am, that are just prime for writing because your mind is very very open and clear and the creative process flows so much easier at that time of day for me. Read More>>

Lauren Inkley

I think it chose me just as much as I chose it. I’ve always connected to the arts. Dance was my favorite. Growing up I was a dancer and fell in love with the art form so much it became my profession. The best part about having a career in the arts is that it never felt like “work”. It was absolutely brutal at times physically and mentally demanding, but I always felt blessed that I got to take the path of adventure with my career as a dancer. Not everyone gets that opportunity. I am extremely grateful for it. Read More>>

Christina Coldiron

My idea of balance has evolved. The more I’ve learned about myself and what brings me happiness, the more I’ve realized that balance looks different for everyone — we each have our own unique set of priorities that keep us feeling grounded. Read More>>