Where you grew up and your background can often have surprising  effects on our lives and careers.  We’ve asked folks from the community to tell us about how their background has affected them.

Adam Davis | Creative

I’m from Columbus Ohio! My background definitely has a lot to do with who I am now. As a kid I spent lots of time with my family and friends who held me accountable and pushed me to be the best. I love creating and exploring. My mom was the type of person to make me redo it until it was right. I hold a lot of those same values today! I try to make sure I give my best every single time. Read more>>

Dorette Noorhasan, MD | Fertility Physician OR Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist

I am currently the Medical Director at CCRM DFW and am board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility as well as Obstetrics and Gynecology. I enjoy practicing fertility treatments here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But, my story starts off with my birth in Guyana, a developing country in South America. My family and I lived in several areas of the Caribbean before me ultimately moving to the United States. As the oldest sibling of an immigrant family, I learned responsibility at an early age. Our lives were not easy, but we survived many hardships and losses. We endured several large hurricanes that essentially annihilated the island I was living on, loss of power for months, and finding the strength to rebuild our home physically and our lives emotionally. I lost two of my younger siblings during my childhood. Read more>>

Ashley Shihab | Associated Certified Life Coach

I grew up in Plano, Texas, with an entrepreneur father who always said “you’ll never be happy unless you work for yourself” and a mother with a servant’s heart who said “find your passion and then your job won’t feel like work.” These statements stuck with me, yet it took me until my mid-30s to hone in on what exactly my passion is and how to make it a career. Growing up in such a loving family with parents who would always put others before themselves I knew at a young age that I wanted to help others. I considered majoring in psychology in college, but becoming a therapist didn’t feel like the right fit. I picked my college major from an aptitude test, then wondered why I didn’t like the industry once I started working in it. It wasn’t until I found Life Coaching that I was able to get clarity on my purpose and my passion, which led me to going back to school in my mid-30s (while working full time!) so that I could finally have a job that didn’t feel like work! Read more>>

Derick Abram | DJ, Music Producer & Clothing Designer

I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana but raised in Dallas, Texas. My background as a percussionist in marching bands, jazz bands, concert bands, and stage bands in high school at Lincoln Humanities & Communications Magnet High School in Dallas, Texas along with being a drummer in the World Famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band helped shape and mold my music education and diversity. My upbringing directly affected who I became because I was lucky enough to grow up with celebrities like Jay-Z, Ludacris, 112, Tyler Perry, Montell Jordan, who took me in as an intern and showed me the good side of the music industry while my parents instilled in me the goodness, humble, and gracious spirit that we all should possess. Read more>>

Alisa Eykilis | Photographer

I don’t have the proper education, and I consider myself an amateur photographer. My background started on photography websites, where I was posting my first “masterpieces”. For some magical reasons I’ve got the attention of some extremely talented people, that took me as there pupil and started explaining to me the rules of composition, send me links of the Masters of photography and cinematography. I was like a sponge, I accepted every drop of the knowledge they were willing to share with me. Years later, despite some lost connections, those friends, teachers are still in my heart, and every time I create an image, or I photograph a performance, I think and remember them. Read more>>

Pat T. Nixon, RN-BSN, MBA, CALM, CDP | Nursepreneur & Philanthropist

I’m from Harvey, a south suburb of Chicago (shout out to Harvey World :)) It’s crazy because most would consider Harvey to be a “hood” yet I never felt like I grew up in the hood. Neither of my parents made it to high school yet my mother became a locomotive engineer and my father drove trucks all over the country. My upbringing wasn’t traditional yet it was a part of my process. My father had a hard battle with drugs making him often absent. My mother did the best she could. She taught me how to make and manage money, how to boss up… unfortunately she lacked in compassion, empathy and things of the heart. I struggled into my late teenage years getting involved with drugs, bad relationships, bad habits and ultimately even jail time. My mother, in opposition to my lifestyle, abandoned me “in the name of Jesus” (as she explains it). Looking back, I appreciate my process…. God had a plan for my life. Read more>>