Through our work we have had the good fortune of seeing firsthand how success comes in every shape, size, color, faith, and orientation. More importantly we’ve learned that success is often the result of people embracing their unique backgrounds and so we’ve asked the community to tell us about their background and how it has impacted where they are today.

The Polsky Group Brandon Polsky | Eli Polsky | South Florida Real Estate Specialists

We were born & raised in Broward County. Aside from leaving to attend Florida State University, we always knew South Florida is where we wanted to be. Our parents always stressed the importance of education and hard work so we’ve used our upbringing to grow our real estate business to where it is today. Both of our parents worked extremely hard to give us a better life than they had as kids and knowing how much they sacrificed to make that happen has inspired us to keep improving day by day. Read more>>

Wendi Lewis-Knight | Award winning Caribbean Pop Artist & Entertainer

My name is Wendi, and I am an Entertainer, Recording Artist & Songwriter from The Bahamas. From a very young age (4 years old) I performed and sang for audiences and was always known as Little Sister Wendy Lewis. Singing is apart of me… it is not something that I chose, it chose me. This means that all through my childhood, me life included being a rambunctious little island girl AND performing at public events. Those events included church services, government events, school concerts etc. That early routine shaped my discipline and caused me to be prepared for a life as a professional artist now who has to juggle entrepreneurship, motherhood, family life, and my music career. Read more>>

Reinhard Nabongo | Music artist

Am from Kenya, my background and upbringing impacted my life positively in various as a music artists to understand the culture and lifestyle of people and also In respecting elders in the society Read more>>

Pat Sparling | Photographer

I grew up in the Chicago area and my mother worked for Life Magazine. Before I could read I was always looking at books published by Life and we always had Life Magazine’s around the house so I was always looking at the wonderful photography that Life produced, so It was there that I fell in love with Photography. Read more>>

Jaime Bunny McKnight | Sparkly Rescue Realtor

I am born and raised in St.Petersburg, Florida. Growing up my Dad was a hard working business man who had his own company. I learned strong work ethic growing up. My first job at the age of 15 was walking to the neighborhood veterinary clinic where I cleaned the kennels while learning everything I could about veterinary care and medicine. Read more>>

Magela Herrera | Recording artist, flautist, vocalist and composer

My name is Magela Herrera, originally from Havana Cuba. I was raised inside a family with who exposed me to a lot of popular cuban music and afrocuban music while I was growing up. So this type of music made a huge impact on my of seeing music as a platform for my corporal and musical language. My music formation started when I was about 9 years old, and the at the age of 10 I was accepted into the conservatory of Music in Havana “Alejandro Garcia Caturla. My training was in classical music, that a normative in Cuba. Read more>>

Honey Ribar | Recording Artist & Actress

My name is Honey Ribar and I was born and raised in Eagan, Minnesota. Growing up in a mid-western, christian family helped shape who I am today, not because I started here, but because I was able to return here. I have 3 brothers, and two loving parents who have always supported my career. I grew up playing sports, attending church every Sunday, cultivating relationships, winning medals, leading National Honors Society, and performing in shows. Everything was always sunshine and rainbows in my mind… Read more>>

Henrique Franhani | Filmmaker, Actor, and Photographer

I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil for the first 14 years of my life. I have been living in the United States for the past 8 years. My upbringing in Brazil is definitely something that has greatly impacted the person that I am today. I feel like growing up in Brazil, and then moving to the U.S., not only gave me a greater perspective in life, but it also showed me the importance of knowing about cultures and how they can differ from country to country. Read more>>

Pamela Trage | Professional Interior Designer, ASID, NCIDQ, RID 5644

Hi! My name is Pamela Trage and I’m a professional interior designer. I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois a suburb right outside of Chicago. My love for design was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright the world renowned Architect and designer. As a young girl I remember walking past his historic homes that are sprinkled throughout the area and being totally mesmerized by the beauty of the masterpieces sitting in front of me. My designs and creativity are influenced as well by nature and humanity. I try to spend time every day studying nature and building on the concept of bringing the outside in. Read more>>