Senior Contributor | Entrepreneurship, Arts, and Relationships

Draie grew up in rural Michigan and is a self-made entrepreneur.

In her college years she realized there was a massive gap between what college was promising and what it could actually deliver. She instinctively knew she would never be able to break away from the cycle of working for toxic employers and desperately wanted to live with full autonomy over her time and income. So she left the classroom and went to work turning her passion for art, design, and fashion into a seven-figure enterprise.

As a truly resilient and inspiring force, she realized that the key to a successful business wasn't mastering a market, customers, or even finances-the key to success was to master herself.

Senior Contributor | Motherhood, Queer Life, and Neurodivergence

Julia is a Detroit native, identifies as queer, neurodivergent, and is a single working mother.

They grew up in a devout Christian family where they struggled with fitting in and feeling a sense of belonging. Organized religion didn't feel like it could provide answers to the questions she was pondering, so she got very curious about the world outside of her upbringing, looking for answers about how to live a peaceful and fulfilling life.

She is raising her daughter to think, feel, and communicate openly with age-appropriate guidance. As an avid promoter of emotionally responsive parenting, gentle parenting techniques, truth-telling parenting, and resilience building, Julia aims to shift our culture toward raising self-actualized humans who have a framework of love and kindness built into their adult life.

Guest Contributor | Belief, Economics, and Culture

Jade came up in the foster system in rural Ohio until he was adopted into a military family. As a first-generation college graduate from the University of Michigan he entered corporate life and purchased a home in his early 20s.

He seemed to have it all but felt like something was missing - it was belief in his authentic self. He was living the dream of his adoptive parents- not his own. He left corporate life to pursue his dreams and hasn't looked back, drawing on the powers of joy, belief, and authenticity to live the "good life" on his own terms.

As a lover of music and pop culture, he is in tune with entertainment news and the latest album drops, but tries to stay off of social media as much as possible.