Our upbringing and its impact on our adult lives

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.

Kaiden Arellanes | Marketing Specialist

I am originally from Tucson, Arizona. The area I grew up in was known as the “south side.” This side of town was not the most developed or opportunistic as other areas. Many houses were run down, and gang activity flooded the streets after a certain time of day. My family was not completely broke, but we did have the wonderful spaghetti dinner that would last for a full week time to time. Read more>>

steen Larsen | Artist

Being the son of an air traffic controller surely has had an impact on my artwork today. Remembering sitting in the back of my dads yellow vw beetle, and crossing the airstrip at Copenhagen airport. My dad has this short cut on his way to the control tower. This was in the mid sixties, long before terrorism and strictly security control in all airports around world. Read more>>

Elizabeth Kosto | Tattoo Artist & Shop Owner

I am originally from Anchorage, Alaska! I moved here nearly a decade ago due to my father being in the Air Force. Having spent a good portion of my life up North, I knew I had to keep it with me- which is why my “artist alias” is Desert Moose! Also, being surrounded by the nature that’s abundant in Alaska, I bring a lot of nature influenced ideas into my artwork! Read more>>