We asked some of the city’s rising stars to reflect on what made a difference in their journey. We asked them to tell us about what they think the most important factor has been behind their success.

David Jacobson | Real Estate Advisor, Professional Speaker and Author

I would have to say it is how I use my sense of humor. Since the death of my father when I was eight years old, I have been using humor to cope with adversity. At age twenty two, I was diagnosed with a severe form of arthritis. At the time of my diagnosis, I was hoping to start a career in Judo. Again, therapeutic humor helped me cope with the set backs and chronic pain that I would be dealing with the rest of my life. After perfecting my use of humor as a coping mechanism, I started to expand its use to other areas. Most importantly in the areas of success in leadership. Read more>>

Urban Lens Photography June van der Walt | Couple, Wedding and Elopement photographer

For me, doing what I love every day makes my job a success. Life is all about celebrating love in its loudest form—making each person feel seen, heard, and valued. So I truly invest in my clients and connect with couples who aren’t afraid of showing me who they truly are during a shoot together, and want to prioritise how it FELT. It instantly shows emotion in my photography what I think people love and people connect with that. Read more>>

Paul Padgett | Vocalist of CRUELINTENT

Though we are not a big band by any means, we have come a long way in a short time locally, we have had some great opportunites playing with more recognized bands such as Signs of the Swarm, To The Grave, Decrepit Birth and Psycroptic, which were great experiences and allowed us to reach new people to hear our music. Everything is attributed to putting the work in and putting our name out there and everyone in the band being on the same page and willing to make things happen and keep momentum going, without that things will remain stagnant and go nowhere or just decline completely, it’s all about having that hunger, passion and drive but to also have fun and not lose sight of why you play music in the first place, which for me is the love of it and how it feels to be doing it, there’s nothing quite like it. Another big factor is don’t be afraid to ask questions, reach out to people for insight and reach out to promoters too, having a balance of patience and persistance is key, if an opportunity you want is not able to happen in the present, don’t get discouraged and just remember that others will arise and sometimes they can be better and more beneficial. One last thing and definitely the biggest is the people who like the music and come out to shows and support even from afar, without them and the response they give we wouldn’t be where we are and for that we are very thankful. Read more>>