“As a leader, you have to be thinking strategically. You must think about your visions — thinking ahead in every problem, and figuring out a way. You must have time and space that helps you look at where you are in your business and how you can create a sustainable future. Do the analysis, answer the questions such as, ‘Why are we here? Where do we want to go? What is that path? How does it work? What do we need to do?’”

— Scott McCarthy

“If you win, it’s your fault. And if you lose, that’s your fault too! When you realize that it’s all on you, amazing things happen. You can shift almost instantly and think about how to fix things about yourself so the bad experience never happens again. That is a brilliance of ownership. Everything is your fault.”

— Donnie Boivin

“We, as humans, are doing injustice to the world. We do not respect our place in the natural systems and not understanding how much we are reliant on nature. I think COVID-19 has been a mixed blessing in some way. Despite all the damage it has done to humanity, it has shown us just how connected we are with natural systems. Finally we come to realize just how intimately interconnected we are with the earth and its ecosystems.”

— Elliot Connor

“Empathy, I define it as showing people that you understand them and care how they feel. I think if we’re going to solve any of these problems, whether it’s racial injustice, whether it’s a coronavirus pandemic, whether it’s climate change, it’s going to start by being able to take some perspective and step into other people’s shoes. And it’s going to take some listening and being able to not just listening cognitively, but actually feeling what people feel.”

— Alain Hunkins

“When you do something for yourself, you allow yourself permission to not get it done. But when you know somebody else is relying on you, then you want to be their hero. When your team is counting on you, now you can say, ‘I have to get it done for my team members who are depending on me,’ versus ‘I’m doing it for myself,’ and end up not getting done because it’s just for me.”

— Jeff Beale

“Because even when life gets hard, or life hits the fan, every one of us can do five things to advance towards our bigger goal every day. And that simple principle has made a huge difference for me going from obscurity to becoming the Bye-Bye Boring Bio Expert who’s world recognized for this expertise. It happened five steps a day, every single day. And then I think another guiding principle for me is to fall down seven, get up eight and keep on swinging.”

— Nancy Juetten

“So many people think that they don’t have the ability to teach their children. They either think they don’t know enough, don’t have the time, or don’t have the ability. We try to tell them that they’ve been doing it all along. So many people ask me, “How do I teach something I don’t know?” If your child can use the bathroom on their own, can dress themselves, and can feed themselves that means you already know how to teach them because they didn’t just pick those up on their own.”

— Brandy Champeau

“We all have things that we can be grateful for. When I was in the hospital, I had a choice to make. I could wallow in my pity and be a downtrodden and depressed about how my life has turned so dramatically or  I can look at all the positive things in my life and be thankful for them. That’s what I chose. I chose the attitude of gratitude. By doing that, I have not only set myself up for future success, I have also  motivated and inspired others to do the same.”

—Chris DT Gordon

“I live in this place of impossibility and I make things possible. ‘Life is not fair,’ that has never been okay with me. That’s why I do the work around diversity, equity, inclusion in workplaces with managers, and equipping them to be more effective because it’s not okay to accept that life is not fair. If it’s not fair, what can we do to make it more equitable?”

“My mission is to enable independently-own businesses to survive and thrive. I believe that independently-owned businesses are the corner-stone of our communities.”

— Patti Mara