Even if you are from the same neighborhood as someone else, you might still be coming from different places. Where you are from is a complicated question and it elicits complicated, but interesting and thought-provoking responses. We’ve shared some of those responses below.

Susan Henkel | Mental Health Counselor & Baker

I grew up internationally – all over, but mostly in North Africa and Germany/France/Belgium – so I was exposed to different foods from different cultures from an early age. This developed into a love of international foods, which I try to highlight in my cooking and baking. Read more>>

Brii Cher’ri | Erotic Photographer + Intimacy + Life Coach

I’m originally from a super small town in New York. Super small town, literally 24 people in my graduating class. I wasn’t popular, or even accepted; there were 8 girls, and I was the only one not invited to the sleepover, if you get my drift. This idea of being a certain way, looking a certain way, and acting a certain way to be accepted + liked was pushed onto me super young. Even in my home life, I had a family of women who hated their bodies, talked down to them on a daily basis, but then would come at me and treat your body like a temple when it comes to sex. Wait what? The tone for how to view my body and self was so skewed that I feel into my not giving a …. era, and that’s where the discovery of owning your body and your self authentically, which eventually led to learning how to own and flourish in your sexual self, came into play. Read more>>

Aliyah Hardesty | Photographer

I grew up in a small town in Southern Maryland surrounded by water and filled with mostly people I was related to, so you can imagine the summer nights with family out with the warm breeze and water sounds being very peaceful. I like to romanticize life, and the images in my head of growing up are all positive and hard to explain, but my amazing family, friends, and environment made me who I am today. The heart behind Aliyah’s Timeless Photography (ATP) comes from this environment and sitting down with my great-grandparents, grandparents, and even my parents on the family farm to flip through old photo albums and hear the stories behind each captured memory. Read more>>