start

Using her psychology background and experiences – in settings as diverse as jails, middle schools, and boardrooms – Michelle Welsch founded Project Exponential, a series of curated networking experiences delighting people into personal growth. [www.projectexponential.com]

Steve Chandler is a corporate trainer, business coach, and co-founder of the World Mastermind network, Club Fearless. He is the best-selling author of Time Warrior. [www.stevechandler.com]

Kristen Wolf is a mother, writer, and filmmaker who lives in the Rocky Mountains. [www.kristenwolf.com]

Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. He created a simple model, The Golden Circle, that codifies what makes the most inspiring people and organizations so successful. [www.startwithwhy.com]

Laura Munson is the author of an internationally bestselling memoir. [www.lauramunsonauthor.com]

Nick Johnstone has written for major periodicals and interviewed the likes of Keith Richards and Roman Polanski, as well as writing numerous books, including his personal memoir. [wwwnickjohnstone.blogspot.co.uk]

Mindy Crary has an MBA and works as a CFP practitioner and financial coach who helps her clients become a lot more educated (never inundated) about not only their money, but the whack job behind it. [www.creativemoney.biz]

Mohammad Ruhul Kader is completing an MBA in Bangladesh. He intends to live life to the fullest while helping others do the same. To inspire new entrepreneurs, Mohammad created Future Start Up. [www.futurestartup.com]

Creator of the Life-Shift series, Bridget Pilloud works with people all over the world to help them enact positive change in their personal and professional lives. [www.bridgetpilloud.com]

Nic Askew makes films. Short, black and white. Far beyond simple. Films that shake the soul. Made for those who have set out to consciously seek a meaningful life. [www.soulbiographies.com]

Ebony Utley, PhD, is an expert in popular culture, race, and romantic relationships. She's a public speaker, a professor, and the author of Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta's God. [www.theutleyexperience.com]

Chef and Culinary Coach Caspar Poyck's business, Consciously Culinary, is well-known throughout the central and southern California coastal regions. [www.consciouslyculinary.com]

Jennifer Sherman is a Senior Director of Applications Strategy at Oracle Corporation, where she works with public and private sector organizations to transform their supply chains and distribution networks. [www.ted.com/tedx]

Shawn Ryan is an actor, comedian, singer, and teacher. He's released two albums and made numerous TV appearances. Shawn and his husband co-founded The Young Actors' Theatre Camp. [www.Shawn-Ryan.com]

Marci Shimoff is the best-selling author of six Chicken Soup for the Soul books. She's one of the nation's leading experts on happiness, success, and the Law of Attraction. [www.happyfornoreason.com]

Tal Ronnen is a chef, cookbook author, and teacher. He started the Veg Advantage program, which helps food-service operators integrate vegetarian options into their daily operations. [www.talronnen.com]

When Tanya Zoeller was young she found herself seeing plays and films and hours later pondering the questions they raised about what it meant to be human. She dedicated her life to becoming a part of these stories. [www.tanyazoeller.com]

Author David Hopkins is committed to supporting and inspiring millennial generation changemakers to do well and do good in their careers. [www.DavidHopkins.org]

Tahyira Savanna is a 24-year-old entrepreneur, talent manager, writer, blogger, dancer, and innovator. A Brooklyn native, she works every day to be a better person than she was the day before. [www.allinayearstime.blogspot.com]

Pro surfer and dad Strider Wasilewski is living his life alive with one thing on his mind ... happiness. He says, "Die living." [www.quiksilver.com]

Boni Lonnsburry is the author of the book, The Map: To Our Responsive Universe, Where Dreams Really Do Come True, a step-by-step guide to creating a life you love. [www.livealifeyoulove.com]

Author, speaker, and coach Kirk Nielsen founded OnenessOfUs.com to help women and especially men become aware and understand how we're all connected to each other and our world. [www.onenessofus.com]

Dawn Shaw authored her memoir Facing Up to It about living with a facial difference. This creation inspired her to become a speaker. She also raises and trains Icelandic horses. [www.facinguptoit.com]

Geneen Roth wrote pioneering books that were among the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that go far beyond food, weight, and body image. [www.geneenroth.com]