Where you grew up and your background can often have surprising effects on our lives and careers. We’ve asked folks from the community to tell us about how their background has affected them.

Nadia Jimenez | Licensed Massage Therapist & Certified Sound Therapist

Born and raised in Nogales Arizona being able to literally have one foot in a third world country (Mexico) & one in the USA, was so fun for me & living so close to the border while growing up, I was expose to a lot of “alternative” medicine Such as curanderas, (medicine womxn) and sobadoras (female traditional healer) my grandmother and aunties would heal us with natural herbs for any aches or internal pain and my father would make my siblings and I cover ourselves in natural mud when we were sick with the flu as the minerals in the dirt mud create detoxification. Read more>>

Early Bird | Rap Artist

I’m from Buffalo, NY. I grew up on the East Side of Buffalo. My mom and dad have largely impacted my life and have contributed to who I am today. They are both motivated and work oriented people, which has influenced my work ethic. My parents love all types of music, which has inspired my interest in making it. My older brother is really the one who got me into rap and hip-hop. Read more>>

Alejandra Espinoza | Social media manager

I am a first-generation American and first-generation college graduate. Being the first in my family to attend and graduate from a university had a huge impact on who I am today. I felt like making my family proud did come with a lot of pressure. I’ve always wanted to ensure that I didn’t waste the opportunity my family didn’t have- I needed to make the most of it. Read more>>