Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. www.jackcanfield.com
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. www.huffingtonpost.com
Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. www.squidoo.com/linchpin
Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. www.yogaforyouth.org
Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. www.normanlear.com
Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. www.leilanimunter.com
By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery’s penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. www.freetheslaves.net
Sophie Chiche, founder of lifebyme.com, is the single mom of an amazing 16-year-old, Leah, and wicked step-mom of 22-year-old, Sarah. They all live in LA. You can find them boxing, cooking, collaging, hosting brunches, laughing their head off or bickering over who’s washing and who’s drying the dishes.
Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. www.TheDailyLove.com
Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. www.lizphair.com
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. www.tutu.org
Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. www.womenforwomen.org
Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He’s a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. www.timetostand.com
Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. www.kiamiller.com
Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. www.simonmainwaring.com
Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. www.getupgirl.com
Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He’s a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. www.candytangerine.com
Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
family

I try to make life as fun as possible. I’m always the one who’s organizing trips and events. I’m happy to do the work to create fun experiences for myself and my friends and family.
I’m lucky to come from a family with a deep appreciation for family and a broad definition of family. I try to do what my parents and grandparents did and instilled in me to do, which is make family of everyone I encounter. Treating everyone as family has made everything I’ve done in life more meaningful, because I’ve shared it with people I care deeply about.
Since I left home in Texas, I’ve realized even more about what family is and how important it is. I’ve made family out of friends and cousins here in California that I hadn’t know very well before, and I’ve been able to expand my definition of family even more.
I always knew sports would be a big part of my life, since the first time I walked through the turnstiles at the Astrodome. I grew up sharing my experiences there with my family. Early on, I realized that if I could go to work every day in the world of sports, I’d have a life I loved. I’ve thought about that since I was eight or nine years old.
When I was in high school, I worked for the Houston Astros. I’d go straight from school to the stadium, work until 1:00 am, then do homework for two hours, and be back at school five hours later. I’d repeat that process throughout the six-month season. I might have been doing grunt work, but from 7 to 10 pm I was on the Major League playing field with guys I idolized. At the end of the day, I realized I was having a blast.
As a kid, I dreamed of playing sports professionally, but there’s not much room on a professional sports team for a 5-foot-8-inch tall Jewish kid. When I’m watching sports, I still feel that little kid in me, the one who fearlessly dove on the base pads, who got into collisions at the plate or ran around the bases and scored.
I started early with my desire for a career in sports and I’m now working my dream job. I love everything I’m doing now, but I’m also keeping an open mind about figuring out where I’m headed with my career.
- Sam Freedman
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