There are so many factors that affect how our lives turn out, but one of the most interesting is how our backgrounds give us unique strengths and perspectives that affect who we are as adults.  We asked rising stars from the community to tell us about their background and upbringing and how they feel it’s impacted who they are today.

Joi Bailey | Tattoo Artist

I was born and raised in the DFW. Born in Irving. Spend most of my child hood in Azle. Then moved to Denton my junior year of high school. I come from a large family of creative free thinkers. I have 2 older sisters and 2 younger brothers. I’m very close to my family. My mom is an artist at heart and she always encouraged her kids to express ourselves through art. Wether it was drawing, music or theatre. We would spend many of days doing arts and crafts together and I always loved that. Growing up I knew I had to be in a creative field if I wanted to live a happy and fulfilling life. We didn’t have much money growing up. I learned from a very young age that nothing in this life is free and if you want to succeed you have to work hard. I’ve had a job since I was 15. I always strived to have a good work ethic. All I wanted in life was to be a successful person and make the family proud. Read more>>

Tab Sadiq | Travel Content Creator

Asking me where I’m from is a loaded question, and I’m never quite sure how to do justice to it. I was born to Pakistani parents in Monaco. I was raised between Cameroon, Nigeria, Zambia – with a short stint in Pakistan – and then ended up in Sonoma County, CA at thirteen. I’ve been in DFW now for six years, and I feel as though I’ve taken a little bit from each place I’ve lived. When you move so often, you either become an introvert – or the flip side, you get REALLY good at finding common ground with others. I’m in the latter. I don’t find it difficult connecting with different people in new places. In fact, I’ve been conditioned to crave it, which has proven to be valuable in my journeys. My upbringing made me intrinsically curious and always in motion. My background has shaped me to embrace change and roll with the punches, and those lessons of resiliency I’m grateful for. Read more>>

Quinten Hope | Musician

I am from Garland, TX. I am the only child my parents had. I grew up in a magical time. Dad was an accountant and Mom was a business woman. She was always in sales and had several businesses of her own. She even had a restaurant in The Bishop Arts District before it was such a hip place. She had great Vision and knew that place was going to be a hot spot. I think I get my business sense from her. My parents were awesome and both sides of the families were so cool, loving and supportive. Mom and Dad would have parties every now and then. I was always so excited to have people coming over to our house. Everyone just hung out, laughed and laughed and laughed, had so much fun, no drama, everyone supported each other. That was such a good thing to see at a young age how people get along. This is where the laid back part of my personality comes from. My Dad played guitar. I was mesmerized when he would have people over to jam. Read more>>

Javier Martinez | Music Producer “Levitate”

I was born and raised in Mexico City and I have been living in Dallas for the past 13 years. My musical journey started when I was five years old when I started doing my mix tapes and improvised radio show recordings of myself talking about anything I could think of at the time. Around that same time, I learned how to play the piano, and a couple of years later, I learned how to play the drums. After that, I was also classically trained at the Mexican National Conservatory of Music, located in the Polanco district of Mexico City. When I was 12 years old, I joined one of my friend’s garage band as a drummer and I also filled out as a drummer for my cousin’s rock band every once in a while. The way that I got more into the technical stuff of music was when I started helping out as a sound engineer on some of the gigs and that’s when I learned more about the technology side of music. Read more>>

Deba Douglas | Real Estate Investor and Realtor

I am so excited to share my story and how Douglas Dwellings got started. As former Assistant Principal in the DFW area, I had the opportunity of meeting so many different families over the years, and I was able to get a glimpse of the disparities regarding housing in so many of my students. I had students that lived in very affluent areas as well as students that lived in low-income areas with limited resources. I remember having a student that told me he lived in a one bed apartment with his mom, two siblings, aunt, and three cousins. He would complain about having back pains all throughout the semester, as I formed a relationship with him, he shared that his back pain was from sleeping on the floor every night. In that moment, I knew that I had to do something to help in my communities. Shortly after this experience, I purchased my first duplex and created Douglas Dwellings. Read more>>

Qua’Darius Alex-Harris | Artist

I am from Greenville Texas, I was raised around a family who SINGS. All of the beautiful voices,I was and still am honored . It was special being someone that could sit , watch, listen and learn. I’ve always stayed in the background mode. I felt like it was time for me to show and give amazing content from my perspective. Read more>>