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.

Melissa Isiguzo | Crochet & Knit Pattern Designer, Owner of Modern Made

I grew up in North Carolina and I was homeschooled. Being homeschooled, for me, meant that I had a lot of time to explore my own interests and hobbies. I had heaps of extra time on my hands and not alot of input from peers on what was cool. So, while not a lot of other tweens were doing a deep dive into granny crafts, that was what I was all about. I was around ten when I learned how to crochet, with a video guide that was on a CD rom (I would have loved for YouTube tutorials to have been a thing back then). I dedicated all that free time I had to crochet, and I got pretty good at it! Read more>>

Kim Wise | Educational Consultant/ Special Education & Literacy Specialist / Client Success Manager

I am from Illinois, having spent my formative years near Chicago. I earned my B.S. in Education from the University and dedicated eight years to teaching before relocating to Georgia to assume the role of a reading specialist. Following this, I transitioned to North Carolina where I spent a decade teaching reading as both an inclusion specialist and a resource educator for special education students. Read more>>

Andy Lee | Author, Blogger, Speaker

I’m from a farming community in Oklahoma where the air smells sweet during the grain harvest and cattle sprinkle the rolling fields all year long. I knew almost everybody, and most everybody knew me. It was an iconic childhood with 4th of July parades, homemade ice cream contests, and snapping turtle races. My dad would catch a turtle for the annual race, and I would mark his shell with pink fingernail polish initials. I don’t think I ever won, but that’s the great thing about turtle races–nobody really cares. Read more>>