Angelina Gross

I attribute my success to my ability to connect with people authentically. It's something that comes so naturally to me, and I continuously hone this skill and gift in every single one of my endeavors, regardless of the setting. Yesterday, for example, I went to a wedding expo with my sister-in-law who sells candles and wax. She just wanted to display her stuff and leave, but I said no, we're going to speak to every vendor and make connections. At the end of the day, we're talking about people, and people want to be seen and connected with. That's my strongest ability and the thing that makes me most satisfied. It doesn't matter what setting it is - whether I'm working with kids as an OT or doing business development - this true interest in connecting with people is what drives everything I do.

I believe deeply in something I learned from a movie called Hugo, about a boy who lives in a clock tower in France. There's a line that says the world is like a clock, and the machine doesn't come with extra parts. Everybody knows deep in their heart what they want to do, and if it's ingrained in your heart, if it's deep in there and we feel it, it's because that is our purpose - that's what we're meant to do. But in today's world, we get bombarded and filled with fear and distractions. The key is that even if you're moving just a millimeter a month or a year, as long as you're going in that direction and growing little by little and telling the universe 'I have this want, and that's where I want to go,' at some point, it will happen. I truly believe that the world is a machine and no one is here extra. We all have our path to walk, and we have to have the courage to walk it.

The first thing I would say is that it's never about us. We are a tool. It's never about what we can do, it's about how we can reach that other person at the other end. That's all that matters, really, regardless of your position and where you're working. Of course, we need to make a living, and by continuously learning - learning holistically and in every way possible - we better our relationships at work and we better our opportunities for work. But for work to be truly impactful, it's really about the other person, not about us. So it needs to be a person who has a lot of selflessness. You have to be willing to put the focus on the people you're serving, not on yourself.

What's most important to me is being able to change my family's history and build something for the ones going forward. I want to create a community where we're helping each other out, not tearing each other out. I don't have children, but I want to be really calm and see my family grow - my nieces and nephews - and create that supportive environment. In my work with special needs families, what matters most is being able to hold space for them, shine a light in their lives when they're dealing with very severe dynamics at home, and normalize the whole process. It's about creating that rapport and bond, because being a parent is already hard with a neurotypical child, let alone a neurodiverse child. The reward is really about reaching the other person and making a true impact in their lives, not about what I can accomplish for myself.