Most of today’s laudable figures are characterized by the ability to possess a clear-cut vision of their goals and the determination to work toward the realization of such dreams. As demonstrated by these successful individuals, ambitions and aspirations must be coupled with hard work and diligent efforts. Otherwise, none of them would ever come to fruition. With how challenging the industries have become, the importance of experts and their guidance cannot be emphasized enough.
The journey to the pinnacle of success is not for the faint of heart. As a matter of fact, it takes a whole lot of commitment and discipline to get to the summit. Fortunately, 15 esteemed figures have addressed themselves to the challenge of sharing their expertise and wisdom to guide aspirants and dreamers from different fields. With their leadership and direction, they hope to encourage more people to conquer their endeavors.
- Preston K Buhrmaster
Investing & Ecommerce
Each and every day, give yourself a reason to get up in the morning. Set goals and exceed your wildest expectations. Block out the negative influences from your life and begin spending each day setting and reaching new goals. Put an exponential amount of energy into each task at hand, and you will be amazed by the tenfold of results that follow. You are the only one holding you back; go get it!
Instagram: @prestonbuhrmaster
LinkedIn: Preston Buhrmaster
Website: www.vcgtrading.com
- Jason Elliott Pierce
Snow Sports Industry – Leadership
Do what you love and love what you do with passion. In any industry full of clones, be an original. It’s somewhat rare that my chosen fields of industry are interrelated and fairly new industries; snow sports and CBD and that I have been able to combine the root element in both fields from product creation and an integral component of our brand in beneficial green planet carbon emissions friendly manner with our releasing of CHRONIC ® HEMP CORE™ 2023 INITIATIVE CHRONIC® – HEMP CORE™.
Instagram: @chronicathleticscbd; @chronic_athletics;
Facebook: Chronic Athletics CBD; Chronic Athletics
YouTube: CHRONIC ATHLETICS
Website: www.chronicathletics.com; www.chronicathleticscbd.com
- Jessica Lewis
Construction
The one thing I would encourage my fellow peers in construction to think about, are you currently working in your max capacity? I pivoted to Green Construction not only because it’s the wave of the future for construction, but also because with the rising cost of lumber and other traditional methods and materials used, it allows for more creativity in our builds. Traditional construction not only drains your pockets, but it’s also time consuming, and in our industry time is always money.
I suggest anyone not in Green Construction to consider it for the wow factor it gives clients, cost savings, but also pivoting to save their place in the industry. Eventually, it will be so expensive to build, that the practice will be obsolete. I say, now or never, pivot or die a sad, lonely career death. You do not still have time before it’s too late for your career as the pivot should have occurred because you should also be keeping up with trends to grow personally in this field. Knowing is growing.. Nothing is worse than waking up and your boss (industry) says, “We no longer need your services.” If you need guidance we have masterclasses and do one to one consulting that you can sign up for or reach out directly through our website.
Website: www.shippingliving.com
- Andrea “AddiRockART” Cordero
Personal Branding / Art & Design
“Just be yourself, everyone else is taken” may sound cheesy but it’s actually quite true. Especially in a world where there are millions of users on social media trying to all look the same: perfectly tailored presences that are all clearly compiled from the same few apps that automatically format your content. To truly have that top tier success, you need to focus on what makes you, YOU. As a gamer, Markiplier was always emotional, and had no problem crying, shouting or being seen in ways most influencers wouldn’t want to be— but it separated him from the others in his field. He also embraces his diverse heritage, and celebrates it. Hashtags and templates won’t build your personal brand— your authenticity will.
This also applies to being an artist and a designer. We use the same tools: paints, pencils, iPads, Adobe software, font books, etc.— but we all have our own style, hand and aesthetic. Use it. As a creative you have the ability to make something— if you want to carve into your field, gift your talent and your time. Make the webcomic, post the “fan art,” reply to your followers with critique if they ask for it. This will build the personal relationship to make you the go-to artist versus Fivrr or other companies.
Instagram: @addirockart
Website: www.addirockart.com
- Emilio Dominguez
Food and Beverage
What I’ve learned over the years to be the most successful approach in F&B is to focus primarily on two things: quality and hospitality. Regardless of the pricing strategies you use and markets you serve, looking for ways to improve quality while maintaining or improving margins will keep your regulars more loyal and keep a steady stream of “word of mouth” new guests walking in the door. In terms of hospitality, it needs to be the guest experience first and foremost.
This is comprehensive of hiring the right team who believe in treating people respectfully and appreciating their patronage, and treating said team as stakeholders in your business. This also means going out of your way to encourage, maybe even reward, team members who go above and beyond to establish professional relationships with your most frequent regulars. Little things like asking how their interview went that they told you about last week or taking the time to remember their child’s name goes a long way and is authentic. Love your people!
Instagram: @themodernrose
Website: www.auniquecafe.com
- Kelton Norman
Social Media Marketing
In 2021, an online presence is vital. With two and three step processes to product ordering, placement and partnerships, Brands what to see the type of content being displayed. Your content is your reputation. There is simply no way around it. No matter what your personal goal is, your content should “harmonize” and show continuity. You should be consistent and show something of value to your niche.
Remember, people don’t know you YET so they are looking for a way to get to know you. There are dozens of apps and tutorials that will get you along the right path. To start, follow your favorite brands and influencers. See what they are doing that catches the attention of “on-lookers” and go from there. You can even measure your content to theirs. This isn’t to duplicate, but just to see how you stack up.
Instagram: @kelvskeno
Facebook: Kelton Norman
- Steven J Gray
Music and Entertainment
As a music lover and creator, the biggest piece of advice I can give to aspiring artists on the rise is to constantly create. Put music out. Create content. Play shows. Do everything you can to get your music out there. Don’t hold onto it. Let people hear it.
Part of being an artist is having a vision. Without one you’re definitely going to fall short of securing the success bag. So you need to know who you are, what you’re about, who your audience is and what your purpose or goal is. Along the way, during the journey of “finding yourself”, receiving little nudges from qualified creatives from the outside world is generally a good idea.
The artistic and creative mind can be stifled and deterred from blossoming as intended if left solely dependent on its own ideas and resources. To prevent repetitive content and to make sure you impact with your creations, collaborating with fellow artists within and outside your genre is a very easy and wise move. Connect with photographers, designers, producers, remixers and other artists who you respect. Make stuff that’s way out of bounds of your usual thing. Even if it doesn’t make the final cut you’re bound to get something useful out of it.
With my final thoughts, there are no absolute do’s and don’ts, to music. That is why it has opened so many doors because people can be themselves. With that said, remember why you started and stay true to that reason—get out on the scene, make friends and figure out who you want to associate with, do your own thing, telling your own story and it will find an audience.
Instagram: @123bighouse
Facebook: Steven J Gray
Spotify: 123bighouse
YouTube: House
- Alexandra Creteau
Social Media Influencer / Blogging
Always try to be the best version of yourself, and not compare yourself to others. If you see that you are growing as a person each year, it’s a good sign. Don`t be afraid to fail and say “yes” to new opportunities. Stay committed. Through commitment, you can gain motivation to pursue success. Always be the hardest working person in the room. Always remember, that success doesn’t happen overnight.
Your work may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but remember that’s ok. Eventually, when you grow in your niche you learn how to deal with criticism, but at the beginning it can be challenging.
For me, being successful in my field, means spending the majority of my time focusing on my work or tasks that I love and at the end of the day being able to feel that what I do is fulfilling. That is why I am trying to be as productive as possible each day. My priority each day when I am making my schedule is putting the most difficult tasks first. This allows me to get the most important things done earlier in the day, and frees up time to do other smaller tasks after. Make sure to learn how to manage your time more effectively, so you can spend some time on creating high quality content and live your normal life without feeling overwhelmed.
Instagram: @alexandracreteau
YouTube: Dalex Vlogs
- David Murrietta, Jr.
Acting / Social Media Influencer
In whatever you choose to do in life, I think the greatest strengths you can have is understanding the importance of promptness, being professional, and innovative. When you are not afraid to think outside of the box, it opens up the door to opportunity. This door allows you to see your vision. Once you are able to perceive, you can achieve. Through creating both short and long-term goals, along with a daily routine you can hold yourself accountable. I believe this allows us to achieve our full-potential. Adhering to a daily routine creates healthy habits. Life for me, is about balance. I try to exercise my mind, body and spirit each day. Growing in these areas of life allows me to grow as an individual and sets me up for success by contributing positively to my community. I often find myself asking others with more life-experience for their wisdom, and I am often met with the same words: Live your life to the fullest, don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t be afraid to ask the difficult questions.
If there was one thing that would lead to an actors improvement more than anything else, it would be overcoming their fears. It is our fears that hold us back from every element of great acting. I always try to push myself, work on challenging screenplays, and explore characters outside of my comfort zone.
Instagram: @david_murrietta
YouTube: Dalex Vlogs
- Paul Andrés Trudel-Payne
Home & Business
Home is where life happens. It’s where our core memories are made, where love and safety are always quietly waiting and where our journey to discover exactly who we are, always begins. This is the reason we do what we do in the home industry. To be part of people’s lives in such a life changing and impactful way. When it comes to being successful in the Home Industry, I have a few simple rules I live by.
#1 Know your big why. Without it, you are just a salesperson, or another service provider, but with it you are a dream maker.
#2 Always be of service. Whether you are selling home accessories or helping someone navigate the real estate market, always approach every interaction, reaction or form of communication by first asking how you can serve your client best in your response or your action. Do not react, always respond and do it by coming from a place of service.
And finally #3 Home is an intimate place, so start getting intimate! Make sure connection is your number one priority at all times, when meeting or starting with a client. When you focus on them, building a connection, establishing rapport and showing through action that you actively listen, you will always be top of mind, now and in the future. Awards and years of experience are truly amazing, but real person to person connection, pays for itself and then some. It builds lifelong trust through a level of intimacy that is rare to find in the professional world.
YouTube: In Your Mind
Website: www.casaconsultanddesign.com; www.paulandres.com
- Kid Lit Music
Music Production
Music Production can be a fun craft. It is important music producers do the following:
1. Create a customizable template for licensing the beats you make. When artists are ready to work you should be efficient and organized.
2. Let artists be themselves. Don’t try to turn a rock star into an R&B singer. Listen for their cues and customize the beats based on the artist’s preferences. You will have a happier customer
3. Listen to your beats on various audio outputs. A car speaker, Bluetooth, headphones are some examples. You should know your frequencies and let’s different ears hear your mix to prevent redoing a mix too many times
4. Ensure you have lots of storage and a very reliable external memory source in the cloud. Pcloud has a very user friendly platform. Do not store all your mixes on your PC. A client may come to you in 5 years asking for a remix and you want to be able to easily retrieve your files.
5. Keep a record and list the service of all your clients. Happy customers equals more referrals!
Instagram: @kidlitmusic
Website: www.kidlitmusic.com
- Nechami Tenebaum
Marketing and Image Consulting
When it comes to dating and marketing yourself, it’s important to make sure that you’re giving over the image you want to convey, especially in the dating world, where you’re working towards the goal of finding your significant other.
Often, we believe that we are portraying ourselves a certain way, when in reality people are seeing something else. There’s an incongruence between our external selves (how we’re dressing, styling our hair, applying our makeup, confidence we’re exuding etc.) versus the way we believe we appear to others. When we align who we want to be seen as and who we truly are, this creates a stability and authenticity with ourselves and others, leading to attracting the right people and opportunities into our lives for greater happiness and success.
Instagram: @nechamit; @karmelacosmetics
Website: www.nechami.com; www.karmelacosmetics.com
- Charity Brown
Business Consulting
I have been trusted and several industries are into manufacturing, nonprofit e-commerce. My financial acumen and business insight has helped scale my clients who multiple seven figures taking businesses out of crisis mode during Covid and assisting grow businesses and start new ones. It’s literally giving the business owner their livelihood back while guiding them through stumbling blocks and complex financial cash flow and business credit operations along with branding and creating an online presence with authority.
Website: www.nowanswergroup.com
- Donny Musafir
Marketing
In business, you must have faith in your friends and you need to believe in your dreams.
Instagram: @prada_piper
- Adrian Howard
Music and Entertainment
I am an American entrepreneur, hip-hop artist, author, artist manager, and real estate investor. And I am best known for my music promotion charity events.
Throughout my music career, I have always tried to grab popularity by doing what I do best. This is my advice to all people out there: to always do your best and use your strengths. I am currently serving as a CEO of Astronaut Boyz, an artist management, record label, and audio engineering company.
Instagram: @abismerph3
Website: www.astronautboyz.com; www.seniorandjuniorholding.com
