Inspiring Stories from South East Dallas

Adam Roberts

No problem, thank you for having me. I was a realtor for about 10 years. My family and I moved to Forney two years ago from Las Vegas. We just needed a change, and we loved the area. So, with no friends or family out here, we sold our home and made the move. I was working but wanted to do something different. I bought a 3D printer and wanted to start a side business for extra income. I actually started making cool flowerpots originally.  Read More>>

De’Ana Gee

I have learned the “GAME” of credit through personal experience and ongoing education, and still learning. “We Must Always Be Teachable”, no matter how much experience and knowledge we have. Let me continue, after being disappointed by hiring someone, I thought would help my husband and I but eventually ended up costing us thousands of dollars and we were still in the same situation. Now, mind you, I have a degree in Medical Office Management and was working for a medical office, so my knowledge of credit was very little.  Read More>>

Jacqueline Renteria

Marias Joyeria started in 2021, the idea is to make sure to keep my mother’s memory alive. My mothers was Maria, unfortunately she passed from cancer in June 2021. She used to sell gold-plated jewelry, so we continued her business. Now, we have expanded and have a location and website. Our store location is at 8500 N Stemmons Fwy Dallas, TX 75247, 2nd floor suite 2075. Website is Soluxejaclyn.com. We also have an exclusive group on Facebook named Marias Joyeria and more. We sell jewelry, clothes, and purses. Read More>>

Kal Abid

By education, I am a pharmacist and worked in industrial and retail pharmacy for years. For my young family, I chose to be a stay-at-home dad for several years and pivoted to IT during this time. I have loved animals all my life, cats, dogs, birds, cows, goats, horses… Have always had pets myself. During COVID, our trusted pet groomer retired, and I could not find anyone I could trust. For my cat, they wanted him sedated, for my dog, people I thought I could trust were either too expensive or had a three month wait.  Read More>>

Kazell Johnson

My name is Kazell. I go by Keezmadeit (my producer name) So. I was about 8 years old and was introduced to the love of music production just hanging around my older brother and cousins who used to rap and make their own beats in our basement back home in Milwaukee, WI. I used to just sit there and study what they were doing at a young age, and they eventually showed me the ropes. It all started on this music production software called Fruity Loops, which has rebranded to FL Studio now.  Read More>>

Ricardo Miller

Ricardo Miller’s journey began in Nassau, Bahamas, where he spent his formative years before making Dallas his permanent home in 2000. As he traveled globally as an itinerant speaker, he honed his skills by joining Toastmasters International and emerging as a motivational speaker. Read More>>

Devante Reed

Just a kid from Detroit Mi by way of Atlanta, GA, and Omaha, NE. I moved to Dallas in 2016. Vante: Detroit’s Rising R&B Sensation Introduction: In the heart of Detroit, a city known for its rich musical history, a new artist is making waves in the R&B scene. Vante, hailing from Motor City, is a talented musician who draws inspiration from legends like Babyface, Bobby Brown, Usher, and Kierra Sheard. Read More>>

Shalonda Underwood

Hello guys! My name is Poca Nova, and I am formally known as Pocahontas. I recently changed my name due to some legal reasons, so this article was perfect timing for me to reintroduce myself to the world. I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. I moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, at the age of 15 when my father passed away. I started making music in April of 2021 after recently getting fired from my 9-5. Read More>>

Chris O’Neill

We met at our local community theater back in 1999. Paul wanted to put together a sketch comedy troupe and asked if I wanted to start one with him. I had no idea what that was or meant, but I was like, “Sure!” We realized we love the same styles of comedy. We love Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton, and we’re huge fans of “The Kids In The Hall,” so we tried to blend those two styles into what you see today. Paul would call comedy clubs in NYC and pretend to be our “manager.” Read More>>

Naoyasu Mera

I was born and raised in Japan. I studied photography in college. Due to my mother’s profession as a fashion stylist, I was familiar with fashion from a young age. I wanted to visually capture fashion beautifully, which led to the start of my career as a fashion photographer. Later, aspiring to become a globally recognized photographer, I moved to New York, the hub of world entertainment. Read More>>

Anthony Carpenter

I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where I spent a wonderful childhood. Grew up with the typical inner city struggle just as the next family. I’ve had a passion for music since I knew how to bop my head, lol but you know what I mean. So, once I got to middle school (O.W. Holmes) around 96-97, that’s when No Limit Records hit the scene and impacted the world with New Orleans cultural gritty street stories. Read More>>

Cecily Braden

I never intended to be in the wellness world, nor did I want to be in skincare once I was, but I allowed my heart and passion to lead the way and do what came naturally, which was to write and tell stories of the places traveled, the people I met and the experiences and education I gained. I wanted to share it all, and thus the story of Cecily Braden Spa & Wellness began. Read More>>

Carol Edmond

Carol Edmond is the visionary founder behind Place of Aroma, a pioneering brand that champions toxin-free aroma products and mindfulness experiences. Her journey into entrepreneurship was sparked by a profound personal tragedy—the loss of her nephew Leonard to stillbirth, a heartbreak further deepened by the discovery that it was linked to fibroids caused by toxic products disproportionately marketed to women of color.  Read More>>

Joni Aguilera

My name is Joni Aguilera. I grew up in Athens, Texas, in a working cowboy family with two younger sisters. I am married to my high school sweetheart, Milton Aguilera. We are raising two wonderful children, Emma, 2, and Royall, 6 months. We love to rope and so we travel to lots of team ropings throughout the year. I operate my jewelry business from my home which allows me to be with my babies. Balancing everything keeps me moving, and there is never a dull moment. Read More>>

Keaira Tatum

My name is Keaira Tatum. I am a dance coach and cosmetologist. Hairstyling sparked my interest when I was in about 8th grade when my friends used to ask me to do their hair all the time. From then on, it was something I truly loved to do. But because my high school did not have the cosmetology endorsement program, I was placed in the education endorsement program at the school. Read More>>

Javier and Chere Montero

Javier Montero grew up. On a family coffee farm… Javier’s father always kept the best coffee beans of his harvest for personal use, to have a good cup of carefully selected coffee with his family. When Javier retired from working as a veterinarian, he and his wife decided to move to Texas where Chere was born. Share the tradition with his own children and began his search in the U.S. for a quality Costa Rican coffee. His search was only met with disappointment.  Read More>>

Vyki Derrick

Friends of Ferals TNR and Cat Rescue was founded in 2022 by a compassionate and dedicated Port Neches resident who loves cats and is committed to making a difference in their lives. Our founder started this project out in her own neighborhood after when she noticed the cats on her street were becoming more and more abundant. She had heard of TNR and thought it would be a good idea.  Read More>>

Nikki James

BITS Tutorial Services, established in 2020, is joyously stepping into its fourth year of dedicated service, offering both virtual and face-to-face tutoring. With a heartfelt exclamation of “Glory be to God,” we celebrate this milestone, grateful for the journey thus far. Our unique strength lies in our global network of educators, enabling us to reach and enrich the lives of scholars worldwide. Read More>>

Crystal Richardson

Hello, my name is Crystal Richardson a.k.a. C Rich the standup comedian from Dallas, Texas. I have been doing standup for a little over two years now, and I kinda got started on the spot. Growing up, I was always very outspoken and loved making people laugh. It’s like something crazy would always happen to me and I always told a good playback story full of funny details. Read More>>

Sho Konishi

I graduated from three fashion schools in Tokyo, Paris, and NY. My last college I graduated in 2019 and I have started my brand since then. I do multiple works as different directions, but all I do is about Fashion. I teach fashion design, and I have started my online fashion education system “Sho_Konishi_Design_Lab” in 2017 where I support young generations to apply to fashion/art colleges for their study abroad or publish their brands. Read More>>

Bitter Darlings

My artistic journey began as a form of therapy. I believe there is beauty in pain, and with that, you can always start over and began new, positive, and happy life experiences from difficult times. I call my paintings “Bitter Darlings ®” because they radiate whimsical, messy versions of perfectly imperfect beauty and capture how dynamic we are in a way that oftentimes cannot be adequately described with words. Read More>>

Orlander Johnson

Urban Stylez was founded in 2013. The business is family-owned and operated. I have always had a passion for fashion. We started with a small 400 sq ft location in the Walnut Mall. After two years, we decided to move to the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas. Initially, we only had few name brands in store. Read More>>

Victoria LaShai

I come from a family of entrepreneurs, where I saw my mother and father hustle and be their own boss. It came naturally that I would one day want to be a businesswoman. I modeled as a young adult doing photoshoots and runway fashion, and I have always enjoyed the beauty and fashion industry. Read More>>

Alejandra and Mabel Aguirre

We both ended our careers on the same day in 2018 with no clear vision of what our next step was going to be. After returning from a trip home to Mexico to reset, one of our friends here showed us these beautiful earrings that she was trying to sell.  Read More>>

Paige Powell

I am a professional graphic designer and mixed media artist. With a background in advertising, my digital collages combine playful, bold color with a humorous nod to the absurd. Read More>>

Cassidy Kerr

I was born and raised in Scurry, Texas where are now wedding venue A Thousand Cedars is. I graduated from Scurry in 2014 and headed off to Texas A&M, where I spent the next 5 years. At Texas A&M, I received my degree in University Studies Leadership with minors in communication and sports management. As you can see by this path, a Wedding venue was nowhere on my radar, I assumed I would stay on my path to be a sideline reporter, work in social media in sports, or even continue to edit videos for teams. Sports was my passion. At Texas A&M I met my now Husband Cameron Kerr at a swim meet where I was working, and he was competing for A&M; that story is a whole fairy tale in its own. After college we lived in Houston for 2 years in that time, I worked for 2 different sports franchises. In 2020, I had started my first step into a bigger scene in sports working for the XFL in Dallas, Texas. This was an awesome opportunity. We moved back to my hometown, where my parents and sister still lived. My dad had retired from the Dallas Fire Department and sat down for all of 30 seconds before deciding he had a new idea. Read More>>

Lakeitha Hester

We started our career in Healthcare and Trucking. When COVID change the lives of so many people that we knew. We decided that we wanted to open a business that will bring smiles as well happiness to the faces of kids as well as parents. We didn’t know exactly what that would be until a death happened in our life, and we had to travel to Los Angeles. After the service we decided to go try some Italian Ice and the first taste we knew this was something that we wanted our friends as well community to Taste. We came home and started with a more research and requirements that would be needed to open The Water Ice Box. Read More>>

Byron Laszlo

From the age of three years old, I was fascinated with music – records in particular. I loved my parents’ record collection. I loved the album artwork, the inserts, the label on the record itself. The records had a smell to them – kind of like dust meets plastic. Their record collection was in the bar with the turntable. There were records by The Associates, Elvis, The Beatles (I loved everything about “The Magical Mystery Tour” record), The Fifth Dimension, Ray Coniff, Jan and Dean, and so many more. Read More>>

Rana Rose

As someone who worked as an Accountant in Corporate all of my adult life, I never envisioned becoming an entrepreneur. Unbeknownst to me, God had other plans. In a vision in April 2022 God gave me the name of my company, and I decided to form an LLC. Once the LLC formed, I was excited. I took the first step into entrepreneurship but had no clue what I would do next. Read More>>

Andrea Williams

In the heart of Louisiana, a vision ignited – a vision of elevating businesses, organizations, and nonprofits to unparalleled heights. This vision gave birth to Williams Impact Solutions & Events, lovingly known as WISE Consulting. Established on the foundation of strategic brilliance and tailored impact, WISE Consulting emerged as a guiding light for growth and transformation. Read More>>

Laura Valadez

I am Laura Valadez, daughter and granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. I am the first in my family to achieve the American dream. God has a purpose for me. I am a licensed nail and lash technician and I am going to help my community that I came from and the community that I am in now. My story is: I was in the dental field for 17years. When they shut everything down due to the pandemic I had to go to the office and answer phone calls and reschedule people. Read More>>

Kennedye Williams

My story is probably a little different from everyone else’s. I started during the pandemic learning new things, trying to find something that I liked to do. I started painting, exercising, or whatever I felt like I can do at the time. Being a Lash Tech just stuck with me. I caught on so well. I loved it as soon as I started. I loved it so much it started being very therapeutic for me. Read More>>

Amina Konaté

I started dancing when I was five years old, and since then, it has had a huge place in my life. After high school, I decided to take it to the professional level and was honored to be go to the Rudra Béjart School in Switzerland, that I attended for two years. Read more>>

Kamyon Conner

Texas Equal Access Fund (TEA Fund) is an abortion fund based in Dallas that supports people in Texas who need abortions but are unable to pay for them. We provide financial support by paying for a portion of the cost of abortion procedures in states where abortions are legal. The majority of the people we support are already parents, and more than 70% of our clients are Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color. We also organize our communities to fight abortion bans and expand access to abortions for people in Texas through legislative advocacy and community outreach. Read more>>