Erica Bacon

I would say being the missing link. I love being innovative, and I love doing things in a way that make people smile. When I see those people really take in what I'm facilitating, it does bring me a great joy of success. I want to be able to do this and inspire as many people as possible to do what they love as well. My biggest achievement would be filling in the gap and really giving people what they are asking for, giving people what they want. I'm seeing such positive reception - a lot of people are really looking for something that is different, something that is meaningful, and something that's memorable, so I'm glad that I can be that gap for them.

The best career advice I ever received came from my high school physics teacher, and he said, do what you love, do it well. But love it so much that you'll do it for free, and find someone stupid enough to pay you for it.

The advice that I would give is to remain strong in your faith - make sure that you are being led. I will also just say, don't give up. There's a lot of no's before there are a lot of maybes and yeses, but whatever it is that is driving you to do that, just keep that at your core, and continue to lead yourself with that, versus what you may see or feel around you.

I would say that there are a lot of facilities, and not just in youth development, but they're all over, where this training could be impactful. Because of this digital stride that we are in as a society, people are really leaning into it, and some of the things that were given to us as children, we're starting to lose. I want to be able to really provide this more than just to youth development, but also to corporate America, to the educational field, to the political government field - wherever it can be used, I think it'll be powerful. Just getting it out there and making the voice louder and broadening my reach is the biggest opportunity I see.

Definitely family and friends. Having a village around you is important. Being able to depend on other people is important. Call and communicate with other people. Another value probably would just be genuine love, being kind to each other, and showing generosity to even people you don't know, and helping others.