Elaine Stern
I found myself struggling with my art (career) in my 20’s. I remember sitting in a puppy kindergarten class with my first Gordon Setter and watching the instructor, thinking – that’s exactly what I want to do. I had never had such a strong, clear, feeling about anything before. Read More>>
Carla Amaral
I started my business a decade ago. I start cleaning with a friend as a part time job and soon realized that could be my full time. I knocked door by door in my neighborhood and surround areas presenting myself, offering my service and giving my card. Read More>>
Jeffrey Abellard
Born and raised in Waltham, went to Bentley University in Waltham. Home town kid wanted to start a restaurant in his town and make it more than a restaurant, make it be about more than just a place to eat and drink. It has not been a smooth road. Read More>>
Chris Taylor
I started with Advantage Real Estate, a full-service real estate firm, about 5 years ago as a leasing agent. I came in knowing very little about real estate so I spent all of my free time learning about the industry. I got started as the economy was rebounding from the recession and the timing couldn’t have been better. Read More>>
Eric Pinto
A long time ago someone told me that the best way to insure that a product or service will be profitable is to ask yourself if it solves a problem in the market. Ever since that day I’ve stayed vigilant of gaps and inefficiencies in whatever industry I was working in. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I found the problem that I would set out to solve. Read More>>
Amy Gardner
I grew up in Southern Maine. My interest in nutrition sparked in 7th grade when I did a science fair project on diabetes – inspired by my grandfather’s recent diagnosis. I was fascinated by how food works in the body. My interest grew as I saw the impact of nutrition on my athletic performance in high school and simultaneously became acutely aware of the pressures girls experience around body image and food. Read More>>
Stephanie and Amiel Mesner
Chemistry, local theaters, and left-handedness were all contributors to the success of our art business. If my husband and I had involved our left brains in the decision-making process of whether or not to start our own art business, Arteriors would never have happened. Logic and statistics would’ve led us to safer careers, ones that gave us reliable income and benefits. Read More>>
Jeff Diamond
Left a 30 year Executive Management career position in the corporate world and restarted a new career in the French antique import business. Grew the small upstart Company into one of New England’s premier high end furniture and decorative objects entities with 3 retail businesses and making buying trips throughout France every 8 to 10 weeks over a 30 year timeframe. Provided high end restoration and transformation services to antique clientele and retrofitted imported pieces to accommodate client personal preferences. Read More>>
Jenny Eden Berk
I received my master’s degree from UPENN in 2001 in Education and Psychology and quickly started my career as a Health Educator at a National Health and Weight Management company where I worked for 13 years helping people to lose weight and make lifestyle changes to promote their health. During my latter years there, however, I began to grow restless and wondered if there was more I could do to help people understand who they were as eaters and why people overate or tended to binge eat or stress eat in the first place. I wanted to understand how to help people have a better relationship with food and their bodies that could be both joyful and sustainable and not restrictive and burdensome. Read More>>
Lynne Love
The Pine Manor College Child Study Center was founded in 1974. Licensed by the Commonwealth of MA Dept. of Early Education and Care, the college owned preschool center offers a high quality program for children in the Newton/Brookline/West Roxbury/Jamaica Plain and surrounding communities. The expansive playground and beautiful college campus offer hours of exploration and adventure. Read More>>
Michael Levin
I’d like to tell you that I had a master plan, but that’s not exactly how things happened. I received my J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1985 and went to work as an attorney in Boston. There were only two problems—I didn’t like being a lawyer, and I kept failing the Bar. And this is in Massachusetts, where the only people who regularly fail the Bar aside from me…are the Kennedys. Read More>>
Clifford and Griffin Nash
Nash Pictures was founded in 2009 by identical twins, Clifford and Griffin Nash. From 2004-2008, both attended Boston University, majoring in film production, and shot multiple short films on super 16mm film. After college, the Nash twins worked together on a couple Animal Planet TV shows based in Massachusetts and Florida. Read More>>
Missy Sternlicht
Simons Shoes has been in business since 1892. Originally located near the Boston Public Gardens, Simons moved to Brookline’s Coolidge Corner neighborhood following the First World War (At that time, the Coolidge Brothers still operated their General Store!) For more than 100 years, Simons Shoes has never been more than a few hundred feet from our current location. Read More>>
Rob Compagna
I started Rob’s Guitar School in 2013 after I was let go from a major financial firm in the Boston area after working nearly 20 years in the financial services industry for some of the really big companies. I chose not to go back into it because it was not my passion and instead I decided to pursue my dream of making a living by playing guitar. I’d been playing guitar semi-professionally for over 30 years at that time and had taught guitar at music stores and to friends and family members but had never really considered turning it into a career. Read More>>
Darren Siman
Initially intended as a “job-between-jobs” as I exited the role of running a wedding entertainment company, I became a popular kid’s private music teacher in the Brookline and Newton areas. Within 6 months, which is like a blink of an eye in the business world, the demand got so overwhelming. It got to the point where I was working 7 days a week, traveling between homes of over 50 kids each week- I’m exhausted just thinking about it! Read More>>
Cyril Lemaire
I started the company 8 years ago with a few colleagues that I had worked with at Havas Media and Grand Circle Travel. Our vision was to start a digital marketing agency that specialized in the Travel & Hospitality sector and provides expert marketing services including website design, development, Search engine marketing, SEO, email marketing and lead nurturing. We started with 1 client and have gradually grown over the years to the point that we are now 17 people with offices in Needham MA and Ft Lauderdale, FL. Read More>>
Lidong Yu
As a Chinese Feng Shui consultant, I found out that the current popular Western Feng Shui is not real Chinese Feng Shui, it has an absurd theory and few Western Feng Shui consultants understand basic Feng Shui principles, so I thought I should offer people authentic Chinese Feng Shui and teach people Chinese Feng Shui culture. I was born in Beijing, China and grew up near the Forbidden City, which is the largest example of a Feng Shui oriented structure in the world. Feng Shui was a major component of Classical Chinese Architecture, I started to learn basic Feng Shui principles by visiting the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, various temples, and courtyard houses during my teenage years. Read More>>
