
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, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

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
articulate

Ithyle
As an artist, I’m always focusing on the ability to remain creative while still running a creative business. Not losing sight of that balance is what’s most important for me.
Angela
Every day we try harder to create work that’s authentic and not swayed by the temperature of the new digital movement. Everything seems to get recycled and reinvented over and over again online. Everything’s so accessible now. To make authentic work, we have to really think about it.
People don’t ask themselves Why? often enough, like Why has this become meaningful to me? A big part of creating and of life in general is articulation. When I’m developing my own style and even my own life, I really look at basic things. When I look at something that’s beautiful, I ask myself What makes this beautiful? It helps me navigate my artistic tastes.
Ithyle
Whenever we drive through neighborhoods, I’ll say something like, “Oh, look at that house,” and then we’ll have a conversation about what we find so compelling about the house. We do this kind of thing when we’re looking at an architectural magazine or when we’re in a museum.
Angela
We don’t give enough credit to how inspiring our own lives are. We’re always reaching out to the Internet or to other people to inspire us, but when we actually look at our own lives critically, we find beauty there.
Ithyle
Sometimes, we get so bogged down with office happenings and phone calls and Internet and emails. Every day, it’s like “Oh my goodness, it’s 5 (or 6 or 7) pm and we have to get out of the office!” My goal is to make more time to make art.
Angela
There are times when I collect more art supplies than I create art. I buy a tube of paint because the color is so inspirational and it stays in the tube because I’m in front of the computer responding to a billion emails. I need fruition from my art supply purchasing. We give our priorities the respect they deserve by saying, “I’m going to take today and make something. So I may not answer your email for another 12 hours. And that’s okay.”
I want to be authentic enough to say, “This is what’s important to me.” Then, in light of that, let everything else fall away.
– Angela + Ithyle
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