Those of us who were lucky to have someone see something in us long before we saw it in ourselves know how impactful it can be. We are thrilled to highlight some of those stories and honor some of the OG heroes.
Samer Ghani
There are many people in the Milwaukee community that saw me before I could see myself, it’s tough to name everyone (my greatest fear of leaving someone out), but the few that come to mind are Josh Evert, Kelsey Kaufmann, Danielle Simone my mentor and dear friend, and of course my partner Anna, of whom I met at the start of my crazy journey. Read More>>
KaTisha Smittick
My brother, Tony, saw me clearly long before I ever saw myself. He believed in my strength, my creativity, and my ability to build something bigger than I could imagine at the time. He reminded me that I had a gift worth sharing and pushed me to keep going even when I doubted myself. Read More>>
Angelica Clemmer
My mom is the one person that saw me clearly before I could see myself. She always told me to do what I love, to follow my passions and to not listen to anyone that had something against what I was doing. That my art work was awesome and she loved it! Read More>>
Lindsay Morgan Snyder
God, first. He called me “daughter” when I was still living like an employee. As He walked me through that pesky Inner Critic—what I call the “mean voice”—I learned those thoughts weren’t Him; they were old pain teaming up with the enemy of our souls. That’s how I define the Inner Critic. As the layers came off over time, I started seeing myself more clearly. Read More>>
Lindsay Amoroso
I would have to say it’s a combination of my mother and my husband. My mother is one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. She has always loved me unconditionally and empowered me to believe in myself. Read More>>
Kelly Coleman
My husband is my greatest support in my career. A few years back, I was going through a trying time at my place of work. I knew that I needed to leave that job, but I was nervous to start over and felt I wouldn’t have the clientele to be financially successful. Read More>>
Becca Wingard
Interestingly enough, my Great Uncle John. He was my favorite Uncle. He always told me how special I was. No one else would talk with him at family gatherings. No one else would sit with him either, just me. He would make sure I knew I was loved and felt important. He always told me to stay true to myself and never lose hope. Read More>>
Valerie Hartman
My husband Bob. Being all I have for family, he is also my best friend. He believed in me from day one, and has always encouraged to keep going. When I am down, he uplifts me. Unfortunately, I was not raised to believe in myself and not to expect much out of life. Read More>>
Mercedes Sykes
There was a time I couldn’t fully see the vision I had for myself. I knew I wanted to create, to build, and to impact, but I didn’t yet realize the full scope of what I was capable of. Before I could see it, though, there were people who did. Read More>>
Durontez Washington
My grandmother Mary. She always noticed my intelligence and fed willingness to work hard. Her nickname for me was ‘Big Wide Brain’ because, early on I was very knowledgeable and insatiably curious. Rather than label me a know-it-all, she simply would say things like ‘ Well you know he’s Big Wide Brain’. My grandmother also gave me my first job. Read More>>
Christina Roberts
My mother and father, of course. However, my mother, in particular, has always been my biggest fan and has always encouraged me to create and express myself through my art. At around the age of seven, she had gifted me a large art set and from that moment on, I had a very strong desire to create. Read More>>
Irma Gottshalk
God saw me clearly before I could see myself. As His Word declares, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you’ (Jeremiah 1:5), and ‘You are fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14). Read More>>
James VirGodo
There have been many people who’ve seen greatness in me, even when I was too young to recognize it myself. Recently, while cleaning out my garage and building my home studio, I was preparing to burn a pile of old papers and trash when I came across something special — a picture from my third-grade year. Read More>>
Amanda Marquez
Spirit saw me clearly before I could see myself. Spirit knew the gentle, soft squishiness that lived deep within my heart. The softness that had been shielded with layers of rock to protect myself from feeling pain. I had learned to numb myself from the outside world. I had learned the art of masking to please others and fit in (I’m neurodiverse). Read More>>
Jayquan M
I think my mom probably is the person who saw it before I did clearly she noticed I was intrigued by food a lot as a kid. I would come home and watch hours of food network shows like down home with the neelys I was definitely obsessed with chef Sammy Davis and even my own grandmother would always help her in the kitchen. Read More>>
Tim & Jim
This might sound like a cliche but our parents. We are both lucky to come from strong supportive homes where our parents encouraged us to chase our dreams down. Jim’s parents used to take him out to do karaoke together as a teenager (Side note: Jim actually won a karaoke competition in his early singing days singing Who’s Your Daddy by Toby Keith!). Read More>>
Jon Noel
I met a girl in LA in 2022 – was casting her in a film & was genuinely expecting to never see her again after the shoot was over. I was in a low place but tryna figure things out – this was before I started rly taking my music seriously. Read More>>
Yasmine Roberts
I don’t think there was any one person that saw us, before we could see ourselves as ‘The Vig’. We can remember many moments and people, along the way, that gave us hope and a glimpse into the mirror of what we now see. Read More>>
Nicci Julian Lancaster
My mom was a huge supporter of my baking career at an early age. She passed in 2014, but I remember her screen saver as a young photo of me in a chefs hat taking a baking lesson at Sur la Table. She was there to take me to Culinary School at, The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone (CIA). Read More>>
Real YungG
Who saw me clearly before I can see myself was my parents they believed in my vision my dreams and pushed me to chase them Read More>>
Jeffrey Altamirano
My loving wife saw that I had a purpose. She is the one that got me into leather crafting. All it took was for her to buy me a leather craft kit from hobby lobby. Took me several months to actually open the box, but once I did i was hooked. Read More>>
MurieL
i believe my mom saw who i was before i fully believed into myself or my own power in what i do , she truly pushes me into believing in my self Read More>>
Josh Schneider
My high school art teacher Ms Gallagher passed away during my senior year. She had me as a student for years, & gave me the freedom to create, only really telling me what medium to use for various projects. A lot of people regarded her as very strict, but if she could see that u really loved art, she would let u do your thing Read More>>
Steven Kuhn
There’s a moment that changed the entire trajectory of my life — and it came from a man named Mark Minter. I was in a transitional period, unsure of where I was heading next. Mark looked me straight in the eye and said, “When someone sees something in you, all you need to do is embrace it.” It wasn’t just a compliment. Read More>>
Ashley Tolliver
My grandmother always spoke life into me, she would say, ‘all I had to do was ask God for whatever I desired’. She saw what I didn’t see in myself when I was younger and couldn’t wait to tell everyone about all of my accomplishments. To be honest, she knew what some of my family members said behind closed doors about me. Read More>>
Raw Proof
A lady named Ms. Ann Cotton. She was a probation officer for many years. An Alabama angel who still floats around the community uplifting people of all ages and backgrounds. She really drilled the power of process into my head. Read More>>
