Inspiring Stories from Far West

Jonny Hughes

I began my journey as a musician when I inherited my great-grandmother’s upright Schillings piano at 9 years old. I began taking classical piano lessons, but although I would spend hours on my piano (picking out the songs I liked by ear), I would never practice what my teacher assigned. Read More>>

Brian Weerstra

We are the Weerstras – Brian and Lauren. Lauren is a Midland native that found her way to this part of the state after attending Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Brian grew up in Michigan but is so glad to have made it to Texas as soon as he did! Brian grew up immersed in the construction and mechanical world with his family ties to a commercial maintenance company and a luxury custom home builder on the coast of Lake Michigan.  Read More>>

Michael Campbell

I grew up in a small town called Ball, Louisiana, and went to school in Tioga. I was the only kid who stuttered there, both in junior high and high school so I wasn’t the most popular kid to put it lightly. I honestly can’t remember too many good days of school, but I do remember the first time I got beat up because of my stutter. I was in 4th grade, and our teacher was out for the day. I had to go to the restroom, and I was excused from class. I went into the stall and unbeknownst to me, I was followed by 5 kids from class. I remember being punched, kicked, and slapped by all of them and telling me at the same time to “learn to talk right” until they stopped and left. I went back into class as though nothing had happened, and until today, haven’t told that story to anyone. Read More>>

Ange Hernandez

Michael (Mr. Wally) and I met in college and married shortly after. We have three sons and have always worked in “regular jobs.” I was a schoolteacher for nearly 22 years, and Michael worked in the restaurant business for a long time. We have always dreamed of working for ourselves, and like Edison, we found several dozen ways TO NOT WORK FOR OURSELVES. We sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door, cookware, cosmetics, cheesecakes, catering, food truck…lots of ways, but in 2019, everything changed for us. We decided to make pickles. Read More>>

Donald Hooker

I was orphaned at birth, but I wasn’t orphaned because I was adopted as a baby by a wonderful African American couple, who both have since passed. When my parents divorced at the age of thirteen, that’s when I started getting in trouble with the law because I wanted to have access to things I couldn’t afford and didn’t belong to me, such as boosting the latest designer sweatsuits made popular by such 80s icons as LLCoolJ and Run DMC. Read More>>

Venus Artist

I come from an artistic family, so I’ve been involved in The Arts my whole life. My grandfather was character actor Rusty Lee. Other family members were writers, painters, and musicians. I’ve been involved as a musician, actress, writer, model, dancer, and painter. I was working on my museum studies degree at the University of Texas at Arlington when I started painting. I fell in love with it and have sold my paintings all over the world. Read More>>

Zachary Garza

When I was 13, I was really into suicideboys asap rocky ghostemane etc. and decided to start making music in August 2021 Read more>>

Kent Darwin

My 33-year career with 3M Company ended when I retired on February 1, 2001. I retired at 60 so I could travel with my wife, Kay, and draw and paint parts of our good earth. There have been five major focuses for me in retiring to something, not from something. 1. Drawing and painting. 2. Singing in the Coppell Community Chorale. 3. Traveling until Kay’s health brought it to an untimely halt. 4. I am a volunteer for the Al Gore Foundation doing slide presentations on our Climate Crisis that focus on three questions: 1). Must we change? 2) Can we Change? 3) Will we change? 5. I am a volunteer for the Cochlear Implant Company, being an advocate and mentor to those who have profound hearing loss and are considering a Cochlear implant that helps retrain the brain to hear. (I had my implant in December 2017 and became a volunteer in 2018.) 5. Lastly, it is my responsibility to find artists to exhibit their art in our church sanctuary…we are booked through May 2024. Read more>>

Ben McDonnell

I grew up in Minnesota, where I received my degree from the International Art Institute of Minneapolis. After that, I traveled the globe with my acting and modeling career. Now living between Los Angeles and Dallas, I ride my horses at my ranch, enjoy playing with my dogs, and have my studio here on my ranch. Since moving to Texas, I realized there was a big need for an awesome headshot photographer who can really capture people personalities and get them noticed… From Actors to Real Estate agents- I’ve shot them all! Read more>>

Michael Phillips

I started with a traditional piercing apprenticeship in Lafayette, Indiana at a tattoo shop called Operation Ink. My mentor’s name is Daniel Mills. I am forever grateful to him for the opportunity. Since then, I have been all over the place. I have pierced all over Texas and Indiana. I pierced in Iowa for a little bit as well. I’ve even done piercings in Louisiana. Finally, after working in many shops, I decided to do my own thing and open my own studio called Piercer Mike’s. This has been open for about a year now. Read more>>

Luis Velez

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, moved to Texas when I was 9. Began working in the food industry illegaly at the age of 14. On and off in the industry until I stumbled upon wine. In 2013 I started my first fine dine restaurant job as a server. It was an Italian chop house called Ferraris and in this restaurant I was fortunate enough to try my first expensive wine, 2006 Sassicaia. A one of a kind Super Tuscan that ended up changing my entire life. Read more>>

Olivia Wedel

My story begins years ago when I was a child in Virginia. My mom went through several different things as she navigated life as a single, working parent. To this day, I remember those who helped her in various capacities. I always knew I wanted to do something in a helping profession. Fast forward to adulthood and moving to Texas where I completed my master’s degree and Ph.D. in Counseling at TCU, and I’ve been in the counseling field since 2007. I’ve always had a heart for helping and supporting women, and my dream was to have my own private practice where I could focus on that goal. I opened my private practice in 2020, and three years later, my work is continuing to grow and evolve in ways I only imagined. I see women across the state via telehealth and in person at my office in Grapevine. Read more>>

Jordan McEwen

Looking back, the road to where I am today started to manifest itself when I was a young teen spending much of my time writing songs and playing baseball. I am at a place now where I get to impact the youth through education and coaching, while also maintaining my need to create art and music. I have certainly had various chapters in my life, filled with detours and road construction, and perhaps I’ve written a few separate books along the way. I’ve had to learn how to balance multiple passions, which have all coalesced into this wave I’m currently riding. Read more>>

Partydreams Dallas

We’re originally from Ohio and were introduced to Partydreams when we attended a friend’s wedding who used the company. We were relocating to be closer to family and for new career opportunities and decided to take the leap and open Partydreams Dallas! We’ve now been open for a year and have exploded onto the market. We’re located in Colleyville in order to be central to the metroplex and serve as many DFW residents as possible! Opening a business in a new place is never really a smooth road, is it? We of course have had obstacles and learning moments along the way, from the legality of getting started, to smoothing out our organization and process, to learning to navigate social media in a new way. Read more>>