Month: April 2020

Dreamers: “ They Told Me It Was Impossible But I Did It Anyway”With Alex Lacroix

If it turns out to fail, don’t let it discourage you, instead allow it to teach you something and make the best of it. The process of elimination will get you there and… now you know not to repeat the mistake.

As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible,’’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Lacroix.

Not quite ten years ago, Alex Lacroix was on bail for felony charges, and his future seemed anything but spirited. At that time, Alex’s best friend had just been murdered, and his Ottawa, Canada recording studio had just been raided by police.

Alex had a choice to make — continue down this path or prevail. Leaving his negative environment behind, he left for Toronto to pursue a career in Advertising. In two short years, Alex graduated with honours from the Creative Advertising Program at Seneca College where he earned bursaries and awards recognizing his talent and academic achievement. He was quickly hired by one of Canada’s top creative shops and continued to win awards for brands including Corona, Audi, Molson Coors and others. He and his life partner, Monica Sanita, grew tired of building others’ dreams in their Advertising careers and decided to risk it all and build a dream of their own — they created Siempre Tequila. Today, their brand has won multiple awards, is sold across the country and is one of the world’s fastest growing craft tequilas.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?

Growing up in a single parent home left me figuring things out on my own at a very young age. My mother did what she could to provide a life for me and my sister. With her working long hours, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents — my grandfather was a food broker. Business was in my blood and I guess my training began long before I even knew it was happening.

My life as a young adult was something out of the movies. Many of the friends I grew up with were headed to jail or prison for various offenses, and almost immediately after my best friend was murdered, I was involved in a series of searches and arrests. Throughout, an unregistered gun was found. I got charged with a felony. With a young daughter, I knew I needed to turn my life around and so, while on bail, I went on to pursue a career in advertising. I graduated college and began working for some of Canada’s top agencies developing ads campaigns for big brands like Coca-Cola, Corona, Cineplex, Audi and Molson-Coors.

It was during this time that I met Monica and we fell in love.

Traveling 8 hours every weekend to spend time with my daughter who lived in another city and the growing ambition to start a family with Monica, led us to begin thinking about creating something on our own terms and turning the tables around. With our own company we could travel, be with my daughter more often and create something we could leave behind as a legacy.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Every single day in the tequila industry is new and exciting. As a multiple award winning art director and advertising strategist team — we’re looking forward to being able to truly show the world what we’re capable of. We have many creative product ideas and projects that we’re excited to execute in the near future. And with our Advertising background, we’re no strangers to the impression a brand can make on consumers and the world as a whole. Using this platform to inspire, spread beauty and positive initiatives is something we strive to do daily.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

We often summarize our story in three short lines. We fell in love, quit our jobs and risked it all. And while there is so much more in between, that’s really what it was. That’s what our company was founded on — love, hope and stubborn ambition to make a better life for ourselves and those around us. And that’s what we believe makes a company stand out. Being in love with what you’re doing, staying hopeful throughout the journey and having the guts to put everything on the line for it.

Ok, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that?

You could say a few people laughed when I said that we’d be one of the next great liquor business success stories. Understandably so — being a Canadian, on bail for gun possession and 26 other charges, awaiting trial, possibly facing 2+ years in prison, working over 60 hours a week as a Jr. Art Director and traveling 8 hours every weekend to help raise my daughter, the odds were not in my favor

Rewind to 2011, my best friend had recently been murdered, many of my peers were disappearing into the prison system or furthering themselves down a dark path masked by money, cars and jewelry. Long story short, in February of 2011, I was arrested for possession of a firearm. I was sitting in a jail cell and all I could think about was my young daughter. I grew up without a father and my worst nightmare was to have a child that grew up without me in her life — it struck me pretty hard. The issue now was, it seemed to be a little too late. I was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison, strict bail conditions awaiting trial, well over $100k in legal fees and all the uncertainties that lay ahead. How could I overcome this, turn things around and become a positive role model?

You could imagine how many times I heard the word “impossible” throughout the process of simply wanting to turn things around somehow and have a positive impact on the world. Truth is, hearing the word impossible was my fuel, and continues to be. The only thing that’s truly impossible is knowing there will be a negative end result from something you’ve never even tried to accomplish. I figured I’d give freedom and success my best shot rather than give up.

While on bail, throughout the court proceedings and serving a house arrest sentence; I enrolled in college, worked as a teacher’s assistant for two teachers, worked an internship while keeping up with class, graduated with bursaries, won multiple advertising awards, got hired by a top ad agency, quit then co-founded one of the fastest-growing tequila brands in the world — seeding the business with nothing but $9000.00 and a credit card. (Can I point out here that even celebrity, George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila required over $30M to go the distance?)

In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? 🙂

Well, Siempre Tequila is in well over 2000 retail locations, has won multiple spirit awards and has expanded Globally. So far so good. But there’s still a chance that the joke’s on me ;).

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My partners. Chris Matte, our third and late co-founder shared many similar life experiences as I did and has overcome the unimaginable too. He caught wind of what Monica and I were creating and really jumped right in.

Monica Sanita, our voice of reason. Her admirable work ethic continues to motivate and is so inspiring as well.

I’d also like to give a special shout out to the little voice inside all of us. Go with your gut and trust your instincts. It’s easy to listen to others and become discouraged from that thing you’re pursuing.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

Like many artists and entrepreneurs, traditional methods of schooling simply did not mesh with my out-of-the-box thinking and desire to walk down the unbeaten path. After dropping out of high school, I went on to start a rap group, touring Canada and performing at festivals and concerts and selling cd’s on the streets to pay for food and lodgings along the way.

The band could not afford expensive recording studios and designers, so I did it on my own. That’s how I developed a lot of my experience in design, tech and management. Whenever I was told that it could not be done or I didn’t have the means to outsource a task, I learnt the skills on my own and just figured it out.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

Make a really solid plan knowing it will completely change. There’s always a few delays and detours on a long road trip no matter how well mapped out. Being prepared makes it easier for you to make it through the hiccups.
Forget rules and boundaries while brainstorming for a path to success, cast far out with the ideas then slowly reel it in. Doing that will eventually lead you to some out-of-the-box answers. No idea is a bad idea when brainstorming — just keep the creative flowing.
It is not yours until it is in your pocket. Don’t count your eggs until they’re hatched. Pursue many other avenues and have a back up plan for the back up plan. Even if you feel like it’s a done deal or a sure thing, if it doesn’t pan out you’ll have something to fall back on.
If it turns out to fail, don’t let it discourage you, instead allow it to teach you something and make the best of it. The process of elimination will get you there and… now you know not to repeat the mistake.
Any decision is better than no decision. If you do nothing, nothing will happen. Staying the course is key.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

The Blue Agave used in tequila production is an exceptional plant. It’s resilience deemed it god’s gift to the people in the region in which it grows — being that not much else will grow in that region. They say that the Agave tends to itself and trying to feed it nutrients and nurture it sometimes kills it altogether. Agave farmers will occasionally do the contrary, leave it to suffer through drought and be self sufficient even cut it’s branches, all this to make it stronger in the end.

All the pain, struggle, bruises and scars in your life make you stronger and far more resilient. Embrace your misfortunes and allow them to empower you.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Often young criminals are bred by lack of opportunity, role models and resources. The world needs a stronger big brother/sister program. Financing for underprivileged entrepreneurs would go a long way also. There are brilliant minds out there that just need a push in a positive direction.

Yes, absolutely! Follow along on Instagram:

Dreamers: “ They Told Me It Was Impossible But I Did It Anyway”With Alex Lacroix was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dr. Rian A Maercks: “Regarding beauty, the most important thing everyone can do in the morning is l

Dr. Rian A. Maercks: “Regarding beauty, the most important thing everyone can do in the morning is look in the mirror, smile and express gratitude for the day; There is no replacement for this!”

Often the best things to make oneself feel beautiful are in the “mind over matter” category. For example, the most important thing everyone can do in the morning is look in the mirror, smile and express gratitude for the day. There is no replacement for this! Also, do something thoughtful and loving for yourself and at least one other person before you head to work. Then there are certain basics, namely using an exfoliating facial wash to make yourself feel fresh and clean and help skin turnover. It’s also extremely important to use a quality, low weight sun protection with antioxidants before leaving the house.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years. I had the pleasure of interviewing Rian A. Maercks, M.D. of The Maercks Institute.

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Rian A. Maercks, M.D., P.A., founder and medical director of the Maercks Institute in Miami, FL, is an artist and leading aesthetic, craniofacial, and reconstructive plastic surgeon. His revolutionary approaches to both surgical and noninvasive aesthetic interventions of the face and body have garnered him international recognition by surgeons and patients alike.

Dr. Maercks earned his degrees from the Duke University School of Medicine with undergraduate training in fine arts and philosophy. Following an integrated plastic and reconstructive surgical residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a top-ranked U.S. craniofacial pediatric center, and the University of Cincinnati Hospital, Dr. Maercks completed fellowship training in Europe, Central and South America with the most prominent figures in plastic surgery. Dr. Maercks travels worldwide to explore innovations such as sex reassignment surgical training at Helsinki Hospital in Finland and at Vu Medical Center in Amsterdam.

Thank you for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I started out studying fine arts and ended up earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy while also studying premedical sciences. At a young age I was inspired by surgical mission work and hearing of the experiences of surgeons in Africa. While attending Duke University School of Medicine, I was captivated by the breadth of plastic surgery and the complexity of reconstructive problem solving. As a bonus, this fit perfectly with my artistic side and love for problem solving. I was also attracted by the challenge, since plastic surgery requires developing high level skill sets in virtually every surgical subspecialty.

I followed my passion for craniofacial surgery aesthetics and reconstruction to complete advanced fellowship training in Europe, Central and South America. Through the mastery of craniofacial surgery, I developed a deeper understanding of facial aesthetics and harmonizing facial features. This led to the development of some of my signature facial aesthetic procedures that allow me to unlock an individual patient’s beauty.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Early in my private practice career, transgender patients were extremely marginalized. One day I took a call from a desperate patient who had surgery done out of the country and had been turned away by five plastic surgeons in Miami. The patient had pain after gluteal implants and I agreed to evaluate the patient. Upon arrival, the patient was clammy with faint pulses and near septic shock. I had to emergently take the patient to the hospital and remove the implants — the patient would have likely died within hours without intervention. This made me realize the importance of not only providing sound care to the transgender community, but validated the importance of my career choice. Since then, my transgender offerings have expanded to a full range of services, including unique approaches to gender reassignment surgery and facial feminization surgery.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

Building a private practice is not easy and everyone should recognize there tend to be rollercoaster peaks and valleys on the way up. Sometimes it feels as if no progress is being made, but I found it’s very important to step back and look at the big picture. Usually you will realize that you have, in fact, come a long way! As my practice continued to grow, I came to embrace the most important thing as constantly analyzing your own strengths and weaknesses. The end goal is to continue to find ways to better leverage those strengths while correcting any weaknesses. It takes a long time for the public to recognize value with new and different offerings, so one has to be extremely patient and stick to your core beliefs to succeed — especially when innovating in a field.

None of us is able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I didn’t have to look further than my own family. My mother taught me many things, always teaching me to look at any problem as an opportunity and to examine it from many different perspectives. As a result, instead of being reactive, I learned to stop and become curious when challenges present themselves. Fortunately, having a childhood where creativity and outside the box thinking were highly valued allowed me to bring fresh perspective to my studies.

As a result, much of what I do today that distinguishes my practice stems from the ability to look at procedures and treatments in a new way — importantly, finding ways to improve upon what appears to be limitations. It’s simple, really. When things are not quite right, often all it takes is to accept that fact to move forward, identify the specific issues and work to dramatically improve.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

There are some genuinely exciting current developments happening in how we are leveraging stem cells, biologics, growth factors and even exosomes. We are learning more and more how to leverage amniotic materials, allografts, hyaluronic acids and other materials to boost the body’s ability to create tissue, heal and rejuvenate. I am working on developing protocols to use amniotic tissue and other biologics in facial aesthetics and other plastic surgery applications. Fortunately, we are getting better at creating long-term solutions for tissue repair and volume replacement that create a healthy and natural look. This will ultimately lead to safer and more effective interventions to keep people looking and feeling young and healthy.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

The biggest problem with newer technology, substances, biologics and modulators is not the technology itself. The dangers are the outsized or even outright untruthful claims fed by eager profiteering regarding new untested, potentially harmful applications. We have to be very careful with leveraging gene therapies, customized exosomes and telomere modifications since there are unintended consequences with some of the more powerful interventions in the pipeline — including the activation of cancer genes.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

First, I love being able to help people see a healthy and refreshed image when they look in the mirror. It can help people start their day, every day, with more energy and achieve more!

Next, I fully realize there are always ways to improve the process, and each step forward opens the door to more innovation — and, therefore, the opportunity to help people feel more confident and better about themselves.

Finally, the skill and decision making of the practitioner becomes more and more important in guiding a patient’s experience as options and modalities multiply. Practitioners are challenged to be at the top of their game and zealously guard their reputations.

Can you share things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

By far the most concerning aspect of the beauty-tech industry is the lack of transparency and the raw amount of misinformation. This leads to confusion among patients who are often very misguided and can make poor decisions based on information intended to sell technology and particular services. Reform is difficult because there is little regulation. There needs to be diligence on the part of the public to recognize there are risks with invasive procedures and to investigate. Amidst all this “noise,” patients need more education and credible resources to better discern who is qualified to advise and treat them. In the hands of less skilled practitioners, certain procedures that should be “age defying” for patients sadly look simply “ageing.”

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Often the best things to make oneself feel beautiful are in the “mind over matter” category. For example, the most important thing everyone can do in the morning is look in the mirror, smile and express gratitude for the day. There is no replacement for this! Also, do something thoughtful and loving for yourself and at least one other person before you head to work. Then there are certain basics, namely using an exfoliating facial wash to make yourself feel fresh and clean and help skin turnover. It’s also extremely important to use a quality, low weight sun protection with antioxidants before leaving the house.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would like to help more people find centering and peace through meditation and greater connection to the world. Modern times have led to individual isolation, which can cause a lot of social and psychological problems. I truly believe that helping more people connect to inner peace through meditation and connectedness can transform the world in countless untold ways. Teaching people to lead with love and thoughtfulness can ignite greater success, happiness and beauty.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The difference between fortune and misfortune is often simply perspective. I’ve found over time that we owe it to ourselves to find value in every perceived loss. In this way, not only do we release the loss, but we shape it into an opportunity for growth.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

I have spent time in life being both the reasonable man and the unreasonable man. I think there is an art to blending both sides — adapting to the world on one side and following one’s passions to change and challenge on the other. Life has taught me to be inclusive and adaptable, especially when I want the world to adapt. In this way, an open mind is preserved and chances of collaboration and growth are increased. It is very easy to isolate oneself when following big dreams, it’s important to find aligned thinkers to join the march. Without allowing for your internal flexibility, this can be very difficult. We also have to continually reflect and assure that our motivations are of love and mission is for the benefit of all. This is the only way to move forward.

How can our readers follow you online?

Website: https://themaercksinstitute.com/

Instagram: @themaercksinstitute

Facebook: rianmaercksmd

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rian-maercks-m-d-631296b/

Dr. Rian A Maercks: “Regarding beauty, the most important thing everyone can do in the morning is l was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dr. Nathan Bryan: “Smile every chance to get; Being happy and smiling exudes beauty”

Smile every chance to get. Being happy and smiling exudes beauty. People want to be around smiley happy people and people tend to avoid those that aren’t happy and don’t smile.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Nathan S. Bryan

As a pioneering figure in the field of nitric oxide research, Dr. Nathan Bryan Ph.D., has teamed up with Pneuma Nitric Oxide, LLC to create a category of beauty products known as Nitriceuticals. Dr. Bryan’s research has led to the development of Nitric Oxide based skincare and wellness products that promote beauty and anti-aging on the molecular level. He holds more than a dozen issued U.S. and international patents for his breakthrough techniques in human physiology and disease management.

Dr. Nathan Bryan, Ph.D. earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He went on to receive his doctoral degree from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. Devoted to research, Dr. Bryan pursued his post-doctoral training as a Kirschstein Fellow at Boston University School of Medicine and held a faculty position at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He was the first to describe nitrite and nitrate as indispensable nutrients required for optimal cardiovascular health and has since made many seminal discoveries. He is an international leader in molecular medicine and nitric oxide biochemistry.

As a highly sought-after doctor, researcher, and speaker, Dr. Nathan Bryan Ph.D. has written numerous research papers and books. He travels the globe to educate and create awareness regarding the essential nature of nitric oxide production in the body and what happens when one becomes deficient as we age. One of those books, Functional Nitric Oxide Nutrition, was designed to help the everyday person understand this “miracle molecule” and how it affects everything from cardiovascular health and the immune system to the aging process of the skin.

www.pneumanitricoxide.com

www.drnathansbryan.com

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have always had an interest in science and medicine even in high school. I pursued a degree in Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. During that time, I was involved in undergraduate research and fell in love with the feeling of discovery. I then went on the LSU School of Medicine to continue my pursuit of knowledge of how the human body works. It was during my time and research at LSU that I was introduced to nitric oxide. A Nobel Prize had just been awarded for the discovery of nitric oxide so it was an exciting time in research to learn more about how this molecule worked in the human body. From that point on and now for twenty years, I have devoted my entire life’s work to trying to answer four important questions:

How does the human body make nitric oxide?
What goes wrong in people that cannot naturally produce it?
What are the clinical consequences of insufficient nitric oxide production?
How can we restore and recapitulate nitric oxide based signaling in humans?

I’m happy to report that we now have answers to these four critical questions that have and will continue to have a profound impact on the aging process as well as health and disease.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. I have actually lived and experienced this quote by Schopenhauer. When I first made my discoveries on nitric oxide and developed product technology, I was ridiculed by my academic colleagues for trying to commercialize my discoveries. After several years, the ridicule turned to violent opposition. My technology was opposed by several big pharmaceutical companies, opposed by competing companies and even opposed by my colleagues in the nitric oxide field. Now almost 20 years later, it is becoming self-evident. Now many people and many companies are talking about nitric oxide and how important it is for health, wellness and beauty. It is evident how important it is, and I am not the only one speaking on its importance. It would have been easy to quit and cave into the ridicule and opposition but I persisted because I knew it was important and it would change the world.

Just like any scientist, you hope for a “Eureka” moment. That moment for me came the day that I was able to detect and quantify nitric oxide gas being generated when I combined certain components and conditions that mimicked what may happen in the human body. I knew then that I had a way to generate nitric oxide safely and effectively in humans and I knew that my discovery had the potential to change the world. At that point, I knew that I had to educate the masses on the importance of nitric oxide and create a market for my discoveries. From the time I started researching nitric oxide until I filed my first patent was nearly 7 years. The lesson is to maintain focus and persistence and to never give up. Things do not happen overnight. Through the many failures and unsuccessful experiments, I took my learnings and then redesigned new experiments that would eventually get me to the important answers.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

C. Thomas Caskey, M.D. was the Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at the time of my discoveries. Dr. Caskey is a prominent medical geneticist and biomedical entrepreneur who has made many seminal discoveries in genetics and has been successful at translating these discoveries into successful business enterprises. As a young scientist not trained in business or entrepreneurship, Dr. Caskey encouraged me and guided me on how to proceed. He became one of my biggest fans and supporters. However, at first, he was a major critic and asked the really hard and tough questions to make sure that I could meet the scientific rigor with my discoveries and product technology. This prepared me to go above and beyond what was required to bring my technology to market and be able to anticipate criticism and potential objections to what I was doing. Today Dr. Caskey remains a close friend and colleague and for that I am forever grateful.

I have developed a nitric oxide producing skin serum. We know that aging results from loss of nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide is what controls and regulates blood flow, oxygen and nutrient delivery to every cell in our body. Without nitric oxide, circulation is compromised, cells do not get what they need to do their job and they eventually fail. On the skin, this results in appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, loss of hydration and collagen and increased inflammation. These are all outward signs of aging. There are many reasons people lose the ability to generate nitric oxide including poor diet, smoking, exposure to harsh chemicals and toxins, etc. My technology restores the production of nitric oxide which then floods the cells of the skin with oxygen and nutrients so they can do their job and regenerate healthy cells that work properly. The beauty of the nitric oxide technology is that you can actually see it working within seconds. Once you apply the nitric oxide serum, you can see the skin turn a shade of pink demonstrating the product is working to restore tone, texture and complexion. This is the only product on the market that gets to the root cause of aging. All other products are designed to “mask” or hide the signs of aging. Our product technology will help people fix the reason their skin is aging by providing a missing component to what their body needs to heal and fix itself. Nitric oxide is the key to healthy aging and our product is the only product in the world that generates nitric oxide to restore what the body is missing.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

Dose dictates poison. Too little nitric oxide is bad and too much can be bad. So we have to deliver the right amount of nitric oxide in the right place at the right time. In my 20 years of nitric oxide research, we know how much nitric oxide the body normally produces. Our objective is to give back what is missing, not more and not less. We know how to do that and this is what our product delivers. When used as directed there should not be any unintended consequences with our product technology

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

It is exciting when we can translate new and important scientific discoveries into consumer products that will transform their appearance and confidence.
The beauty-tech industry is focused on constant innovation and discovery. This is much different that the world of skin care and beauty where there are many “me too” products
Utilizing science, we can begin to understand the root cause of many signs of aging and then create products that fix the underlying issue rather than hiding or masking the signs of aging.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

I think in general the industry does a great job at reaching and educating consumers. However, the only suggestion that I would make is that there should be more scientific evidence behind beauty products so that consumers could make an informed decision about what product may be best for them and their individual skin type and needs.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Smile every chance to get. Being happy and smiling exudes beauty. People want to be around smiley happy people and people tend to avoid those that aren’t happy and don’t smile.
Drink plenty of pure, clean water. We need hydration for our body to work. However, municipal water is toxic with fluoride, chlorine, drug metabolites and toxic chemicals. Drink 2–4 liters of filtered clean water every day.
Sweat every day. Part of the way our body detoxifies itself is through sweating. However, hardly anyone sweats anymore. We need to sweat to rid the toxins from our body and from our skin. I recommend using an infrared sauna. It provides energy and heat, so the body gets the energy it needs and the heat allows us to sweat to eliminate toxins.
Walk barefoot on the ground for at least 10 minutes every day. The Earth is a big magnet that gives off electrons as energy. Our body needs energy for the cells to do their job.
Get at least 20 minutes of exercise daily. We need to keep moving. Exercise helps stimulate nitric oxide production, protects the cardiovascular system, helps us lose weight and it allows us to sweat, all of which are important.

These five things will not only make you “feel” beautiful, but scientific evidence reveals it will make you healthy on the inside and outside.

My movement would be an education campaign on nitric oxide. Most people do not even know what nitric oxide is or how it affects their health and beauty. We know that loss of nitric oxide is the earliest event in the onset and progression of most if not all age-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, the number one killer of men and women worldwide. However, most people have no idea on whether their body is producing enough nitric oxide or even how to implement simple lifestyle changes that could improve their nitric oxide production. There are over 170,000 published scientific papers on nitric oxide and the science is clear. Your body cannot and will not heal until to restore the production of nitric oxide. It may be the most important molecule produced in the human body. Whether it is outward beauty or the function of the heart and blood vessels, nitric oxide is necessary for optimal health and beauty.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do today what others won’t so you can do tomorrow what others can’t”. For me success is about going above and beyond and making sacrifices. Many people are unwilling to make this sacrifice for success and as a consequence have to sacrifice later in life by continuing to have to work after retirement age or their health suffers from not doing the things they needed to do early on in life.

How can our readers follow you online?

@DrNitric

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnathansbryan/

https://www.facebook.com/nathan.bryan.16

www.drnathansbryan.com

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Dr. Nathan Bryan: “Smile every chance to get; Being happy and smiling exudes beauty” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” With Mike Murchison

I tend not to listen to or surround myself with people who say something is impossible. Pessimism is like an ocean oil spill. It robs an ecosystem of the energy it needs to flourish. This is why great leaders create cultures of transparency. They let the light in. They embrace change. They recognize that a healthy ecosystem is dynamic, always evolving. They live in the future and thus reject the impossible. Which is why they’re usually anti-pipeline

As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Murchison.

Mike Murchsion, one of Forbes’ Top 30 under 30, is the CEO and Cofounder of Ada, a venture-back AI-powered platform that is transforming how businesses around the world, including TELUS, Medium and AirAsia, provide customer service. Before Ada, Mike answered tens of thousands of customer service inquiries manually firsthand. Using this experience, he set out to build Ada’s platform that puts the benefits of AI into the hands of non-technical support teams to build, manage, and track ROI-driving automated customer experiences.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?

Before building Ada, I was working on another initiative with my co-founder, David Hariri, and we realized through that project there were considerable gaps in how customers today are serviced. We wanted to understand those problems better, so together we joined multiple support teams to identify the barriers that were keeping businesses from delivering incredible customer experiences. We answered tens of thousands of inquiries, painstakingly and manually addressing each one, to arm ourselves with broad-based insight of what it would take to improve. And it was really through those experiences that Ada was born — with the understanding that live agents have more to contribute than responses to frequently asked questions; with an appreciation for customers’ preference for on-demand, self-service support; and with the knowledge that we could deliver a product that would offer a highly personalized and engaging opportunity for automation across the customer journey.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We’re always building new things at Ada, and we talk regularly with our customers, industry analysts and thought leaders, to understand the market challenges and how we are uniquely positioned to solve them. What I’m really excited about for the coming year is an increased focus on personalization and segmentation capabilities within our platform. With Ada, you can easily tailor automated customer experiences based on predefined variables. So for instance, Tony from California, who is female, 32 years old, who recently clicked on one of your Facebook ads, and is an elite subscriber to your service, can be offered an automated experience radically different than Phillip, male, 63 years old, who is visiting your website for the first time. Obviously this helps businesses deliver a more meaningful, engaging customer experience in a manner that is aligned with their business goals, but more importantly, it lets customers self serve in a way that makes them feel special. What’s magical about Ada is just how easy we make it for non-technical business leaders to create with our platform.

We will also extend our features to automate conversations across more of the customer journey, from the very first website visit through ongoing support beyond the point of sale. Ada automates more than 100,000 conversations every single day, so we are also making considerable investments for our customers relative to their data and how our machine learning is applied in more sophisticated ways.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

Great question, because Ada is indeed in a crowded space and we’re really proud of our reputation and how we stand out. What we hear from our customers and employees is that 1. Ada is special because of the people. It sounds cliche, but I really believe it to be true. Our customers regularly send unsolicited messages about the great service they’ve received, and how they appreciate us as a trusted partner — and that’s a testament to the people at Ada, across all departments, who take our customer relationships to heart. Another reason I believe Ada stands out is because in the field of AI (Artificial Intelligence), there is a lot of confusion and fatigue. Companies are making massive investments of time, effort and money, and it is an excruciatingly slow process before they realize meaningful value. Companies typically endure a debilitating dependence on IT resources to bring AI to life, and business stakeholders are left in the dust, their needs unmet. With Ada, companies are able to deploy AI and realize value very, very swiftly — inside of 30 days. What’s more, because of the way our platform is architected, business stakeholders can own and manage the platform with little-to-no dependence on IT. So the complexities of AI are very much behind the scenes, and companies can focus on driving business results — cost savings, improved customer satisfaction and new revenue.

I tend not to listen to or surround myself with people who say something is impossible. Pessimism is like an ocean oil spill. It robs an ecosystem of the energy it needs to flourish. This is why great leaders create cultures of transparency. They let the light in. They embrace change. They recognize that a healthy ecosystem is dynamic, always evolving. They live in the future and thus reject the impossible. Which is why they’re usually anti-pipeline 😉

Impossible is a euphemism for hard. What I mean by this is if you ask someone why something is impossible, it often becomes clear that what they really mean is that the thing is very hard.

One of the keys to Ada’s success has been that we’ve built a team of people who are energized by hard things. Hard things are learning opportunities. Learning opportunities are gifts of self-improvement. When viewed this way, the pursuit of the “impossible” is an exercise in improving oneself.

I had the privilege of working on a company with my mentor, Vicki Saunders, who now runs SheEO the world’s largest community of women-lead ventures.

Vicki taught me the power of learning by doing and the magic of believing in someone even if they don’t believe in themselves.

Vicki regularly threw me into the deep-end, expecting me to accomplish things I thought I required decades more experience to execute effectively. At times her expectations seemed crazy to me. But she’d tell me she was confident I could do it with a stare and a smile.

Accomplishing these goals became a cycle of proving myself wrong, and Vicki right. She gave me the gift of confidence by creating an environment where I was able to prove it to myself.

And that’s one way I try to lead others today.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

When I was 19 I sustained a serious head injury, and was told by physicians that I wouldn’t realize what a bunch of tests said was my potential.

This experience fostered a deep, competitive drive to prove them wrong, a thirst for self-improvement, and a desire to do really hard things.

Temporarily losing some of my cognitive abilities forced me to develop a closer relationship with my own cognition. I became very attuned to how I think and how I learn. I developed a coaching-like relationship with myself.

It’s this relationship that taught me about resilience, and continues to teach me today.

As a coach, I push myself hard. I want to get better every day. But as with professional athletic coaches, a coach that drives their players too hard, doesn’t get the best out of them on gameday. So learning I’m to be compassionate with myself, and to toe the line between intensity and kindness.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

The single most important thing you can do to harness a sense of tenacity is to learn to listen to yourself.

Listening to yourself is very hard.

It often requires rejecting what many smart, more experienced, people think. It means carving your own path. Tenacity can’t be bred on someone else’s path. It must be your own.

One way to know if you’re on your own path is if everyone around you says that you’re wrong.

For this reason developing tenacity can feel lonely.

But there’s a quiet comfort and satisfaction with being on your own path. With a decision truly being your’s. It means that you own the outcome. And if you own the outcome you can’t lose.

You’ll either have accomplished what you set out to, or you’ll have learned a lot along the way. You win no matter what. And that’s why tenacity is such a powerful fuel.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.”

― Joseph Campbell

The next time a friend shares an aspiration with you, I challenge you to respond by saying “how can I help?”

Too often, our ideas and dreams are subtly undermined by our peers. We pretend that scrutiny is helpful as we seek to explain to our friends why something won’t work.

But there’s very little virtue in negativity. And ideas in their infancy, while bright and full of energy, are very fragile.

So they need to be nurtured and protected. And we need to do a better job of doing that.

Can our readers follow you on social media?

Absolutely — on Twitter @mimurchison; on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemurchison/

Thank you for these great stories. We wish you only continued success!

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” With Mike Murchison was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” With Per Nyberg

Credits: MASSIVART_PRMIA and Bruno Destombes and PRIMIA 2019

Build the right team. Everything of significance requires a team. From a tenacity perspective, a great team will create a support network when any individual’s tenacity is waning. A great team will also bring the best out of you and help steer towards the vision. Nothing is stronger than a shared sense of tenacity.

As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Per Nyberg.

Per Nyberg is the chief commercial officer at Stradigi AI where he oversees the company’s strategic growth initiatives including marketing, customer success and business development — helping to close a $40.3 million Series A funding round led by two of the most well-known institutional funds in Canada, Fonds de solidarité FTQ (the Fonds) and Investissement Québec (IQ). Prior to joining Stradigi AI, Per served as the vice president of market development at global supercomputing company Cray where he was responsible for driving Cray’s AI roadmap and market development.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better. Can you tell us your ‘backstory’?

I am the Chief Commercial Officer at Stradigi AI, a Montreal-based AI company, where I lead the company’s strategic growth initiatives including marketing, customer success and business development. Before I joined Stradigi AI, I was a part of Cray, the global leader in supercomputing, as their vice president of market development where I most recently drove their entrance into artificial intelligence. I spent most of my career in the supercomputing market where I was fortunate to work with industry leaders in verticals ranging from weather and automotive to energy and life sciences in almost every region of the world.

I received my college degree in computer science from Concordia University in Montreal as part of their co-operative education program which integrates work terms into the degree. I am a big supporter of this approach as it provides real-world experience to students as they are studying and considering their careers. In my case, I actually began working in the supercomputing industry before I graduated.

I decided to transition into a CCO role at Stradigi AI as it provided my next opportunity to help build something unique. The role itself combines everything I have done throughout my career across the go-to-market spectrum from product to marketing and channels. The challenge of bringing all of this together at a startup and working with a special team of people was impossible to pass up.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

As you can imagine, we are almost entirely focused on continued development of our Kepler AI platform. This year we will be releasing our next version which we believe will change how organizations can benefit from machine learning and, to some degree more importantly, who will be able to drive this adoption. AI implementation to date has required a highly specialized skill set, which is in high demand but very hard to find. With the right AI tools at their disposal, the ability for a broader set of analysts to explore insights from more diverse and richer data sets will expand. Data is everywhere and getting AI capabilities into the hands of more people would be an inflection point for both the industry and society.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

There are two things that make Stradigi AI standout. First and foremost are the people and culture. While our product and technology are great, I can say that the founders who created Stradigi AI are key to contributing to what makes us unique.

Second is the company’s clarity on purpose. The AI market is filled with noise and hype, but despite all that, we believe we have a clear vision of what the AI-enabled business user will become and what is needed for organizations to easily derive benefit from AI. What makes us different and the starting point for this vision is that we ourselves are these users. Our approach and platform originally came from our own business needs, and we continue to evolve our vision as we expand our work with customers.

This was more a matter of facing and overcoming the persistent challenges when pursuing something new or different; be it on a daily basis or over extended periods of time where success was years away. For most of my career I have been focused on building new industry verticals or building new markets, or enabling internal change. The challenge was often overcoming unhealthy skepticism and doubt which would distract from dealing with the real questions at hand and block progress.

Unhealthy skepticism and doubt are easy to sow and can kill initiatives before they even start. Doing anything new implies some degree of the unknown and dealing with ambiguity in an environment of imperfect information. It also means change to the status quo. The pace and complexity of today’s business and technology environments mean that we are doing something “new” and “changing” almost every day. This has only emphasized the importance for leaders to regularly learn and adjust and help teams be comfortable with ambiguity and change.

Perhaps it is my Swedish-Canadian upbringing, but I try to approach every day with authenticity, humility and transparency. Organizations are all about people. Communication and trust-building are critical, and when combined with a compelling vision, strong determination and an “eyes wide open” approach, pretty much anything is possible. The goal is not to overcome every nay-sayer, but bring on board those who are key to success. Ignore the rest.

In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? 🙂

In some cases they were proven wrong through business results but naysaying is a state of mind so those results may only have had a temporary impact. More importantly, I hope that they reflected on the authenticity of the desire and approach to change the organization for the better.

My father. He has always provided me with a compass on how to approach life, work and people. While he had a successful career rising to a very senior executive position in a large Swedish multinational company, it was his approach to each day against which I have always measured myself: humble, honest, respectful and hardworking with high standards.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

One example from very early on in my career comes to mind that had quite an impact on me. As I mentioned, I spent most of my career in the supercomputing market. Two of the very exciting aspects of this market are that the wins can take years to develop and the contract values can be in the many tens of millions. The feeling of winning these massive deals is euphoric. Losses are very tough to take after having invested so much intellectual, emotional and physical energy. In the mid-90’s I was working for a Japanese company. Following a major contract win that we had at a high-profile customer in the U.S., the decision was reversed following an anti-dumping dispute. It took several years of work to win and then to have the decision reversed was devastating. I was in my mid-twenties and gained first-hand knowledge of business and political realities which taught me to refocus, compartmentalize, adapt and learn from the experience — from both business and personal perspectives. As it turned out, the U.S. market access restriction closed one door, and another opened which moved my wife and I to Australia. Looking back, that period of time was an incredible and life-changing experience in every sense.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

I would strongly recommend the “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve” article by Jim Collins. I regularly read this as a refresher. Drawing on some of the elements outlined in the article and combined with my personal experience, here are five strategies that can help

Achieve breakthrough leadership by combining deep, personal humility with intense professional will.
Set the vision and set the standards required for success. While tenacity needs to be practiced on a daily basis, it should be treated as a marathon. A long-term view is needed to keep your focus through highs and lows, and the inspired standards will not only ensure sustained progress but also inform when your strategies need adjustment.
Demonstrate the standards every day and hold yourself accountable. As a leader, you are the first person your team will look to. But this is not about some hero-like work ethic, it is about demonstrating self-awareness and humility along with exceptional work standards.
Realize that the organizational aspect of tenacity is just as important as personal tenacity. We are only as good as our team. Organizational tenacity and personal tenacity are two foundational elements to taking on the impossible.
Build the right team. Everything of significance requires a team. From a tenacity perspective, a great team will create a support network when any individual’s tenacity is waning. A great team will also bring the best out of you and help steer towards the vision. Nothing is stronger than a shared sense of tenacity.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

The former CEO of Cray, Peter Ungaro, was quite an inspirational leader who loved a good quote. During our leadership offsite in 2014 he talked about something that Russell Wilson, quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, said to his team earlier in the year which culminated in winning the Super Bowl. Growing up, Wilson’s father had asked him, “‘Why not you, Russ?” He then similarly challenged his teammates, “Why not us?” I love this quote not only because it directly challenges unhealthy skepticism and doubt, but also forces some critical thinking on preparedness for success.

That’s a tough question. I’m sure that there are already movements out there, but a broader contribution by companies to leverage technology for good could have an immense impact on societies around the world. One of Stradigi AI’s unique avenues to AI includes our ongoing AI for Good programs. From community engagement to practical applications of machine learning to help improve key issues around health and accessibility, it’s an initiative that is deeply connected to our core belief in building technology that empowers people.

Can our readers follow you on social media?

Yes! Readers can follow me on Twitter at @_PerNyberg.

Thank you for these great stories. We wish you only continued success!

Dreamers: “They told me It was impossible and I did it anyway” With Per Nyberg was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sophia Hutchins: “Don’t be afraid of the word no; Successful people, entrepreneurs, and women more…

Sophia Hutchins: “Don’t be afraid of the word no; Successful people, entrepreneurs, and women more than anyone else are told no all the time”

Don’t be afraid of the word no. Successful people, entrepreneurs, and women more than anyone else are told no all the time. If we allowed “no” to deter us we wouldn’t be where we are today. I’m ready to continue to grow and surround myself with positive uplifting people that believe in me, my ability to execute, and my vision for the future.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years. I had the pleasure of interviewing Sophia Hutchins, CEO and founder of LUMASOL, a health technology company aimed at bringing sustainable and innovative health and technology products to market. Hutchin’s prominent leadership and vision have gained the trust of many high-profile investors, including Founders Fund and Greycroft Ventures. Hutchins started her career in venture capital prior to identifying a 12 billion dollar untapped opportunity in the health tech space. Hutchins is passionate about supporting organizations and programs which advance the status of women, particularly as it relates to entrepreneurship.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have experienced people in my personal life who have battled with skin cancer and I always thought it was crazy that we didn’t have better tools and products available to us to better protect ourselves.

One night, over a glass of wine with a close friend, I was talking about how outdated the sunscreen that we have available to us is, it is usually a thick goop of white lotion that smells and causes the skin to break out or be oily. So forget being able to wear make-up on top of that. It was during this conversation that I realized I needed to be the person to make this product available so we no longer have to choose between a flawless make-up application or applying an SPF to protect ourselves.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I never in a million years I thought I would meet my favorite childhood actor, until I did at an industry party, the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in fact, Dick Van Dyke. I was in attendance networking for lumasol, which is a must for every entrepreneur — networking! As many of you know, in LA it’s super normal to see celebs everywhere, and I am not one to be star struck. But with Van Dyke I was in shock. It was like learning Santa Claus really does exist, and better yet, we were on the dance floor together.

The day I closed my seed round of funding from Founders Fund and Greycroft was two days before my 23rd birthday. My birthday was a celebration of closing the seed round, and of course my birthday, and it was such a major accomplishment and milestone in my life. There was a level of validation at play that reassured me anything is possible.

I learned a lot from the process of fundraising, it is like dating and you want to make sure the investor is the right partner for you. It is key to have the right people on your team that has your back and wants to see you succeed. They also need to believe in what you are doing and your mission. So I would say, take your time, talk to as many people as you can until you find the right “fit”.

I would thank my grandfather, first and foremost. He passed away when I was a junior in high school. He motivated me from a very young age to be aggressive in going after what I want. He sent me to a prominent high school, and made sure I was taken care of during college. With his selfless support, I had many opportunities that I certainly didn’t waste, and I made the most of them.

The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

Our technology will change the way people interact with SPF on a daily basis. Our SPF comes in a sleek container that can easily be carried around in your purse or bag when, and when it is exposed to UV rays, the container actually changes color reminding you it is time for another spritz. The average consumer applies SPF at most once a day if even at all, and after just a few hours that morning application is useless and you are no longer protected. Most consumers also don’t realize just how exposed they are at their desks, in the car or even at a cafe — the technology in this container will change that. As our product evolves the tech integration will be even heavier, enabling consumers to view their interaction with SPF and the sun in a way they never have before.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

No. We need to protect our bodies from the most common type of cancer in the world, skin cancer. The more information, data, and access to that information we have, the better we can protect ourselves from the sun‘s harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

The innovation, the people, and the passion for ‘newness’. We are at the precipice of an era that incorporates technology into so many aspects of our lives. I am so excited to be a part of this journey at such a young age especially.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

I would like entrepreneurs to innovate more. Developing an SPF with all of the FDA regulations that are hardly ever updated, has been one of the larger hurdles to the formulation. Making formulation easier, allowing entrepreneurs to innovate more, and allowing for best business practices, which should be legislated and enforced by entrepreneurs, as opposed to bureaucrats, would be the best way to improve innovation.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Smile, I think it is so important to smile because it can completely change the way you feel and how others view you. A smile is better than any other accessory.
Be yourself, I think it’s important to make sure that whatever your style, your clothes, your make-up, etc. is that you are your unique self and wear what you feel good in.
A good playlist, music really is a vibe and can change your whole mood so having a good playlist on while you get ready can really change the way you feel.
Lashes can completely transform your look in the most simple way, and there is a lash for literally every occasion.
Heels always complete your look and a good pair of heels can really make you feel like a boss. If you feel like a boss, your confidence will be beautiful regardless of what you are wearing.

I want every person in the world to know about the harmful effects of UVA and UVB rays. I want consumers everywhere to have access to lumasol. Skin cancer is the public health crisis of our lifetime. We have to put a stop to this. The more people I can reach with lumasol I truly believe the more we can save people’s lives, potentially, from skin cancer.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Don’t be afraid of the word no. Successful people, entrepreneurs, and women more than anyone else are told no all the time. If we allowed “no” to deter us we wouldn’t be where we are today. I’m ready to continue to grow and surround myself with positive uplifting people that believe in me, my ability to execute, and my vision for the future.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram:

hutchins_sophia

Mylumasol

www.mylumasol.com

Sophia Hutchins: “Don’t be afraid of the word no; Successful people, entrepreneurs, and women more… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.