As a culinary arts and hospitality professional, Damien Lopez loves making other people happy. Through his ongoing journey as a transgender man, he’s learned the importance of making himself happy, too.

Future football star Brandon Graham proves that if you can believe it, yes, you can achieve it.

When Edwin Maxcy was featured in “SkillsUSA Champions” magazine in 2018, the only thing more overwhelming than his story of pain and loss was the strength of his resolve to succeed in spite of it. We catch up with the young man whose ongoing success story has inspired not only our readers, but a new SkillsUSA program designed to help other students and chapters in need.

It’s not in Omar Khasawneh’s nature to sit by when his skills are needed most. Sparked by an innate desire to serve, Khasawneh took those skills to one of the hardest hit areas of the pandemic, changing lives in the process … including his own.

Crystal Wright discovered an untapped reservoir of personal strength when she mustered the courage to share the painful details of her journey toward success. What she’s learned along the way has helped prepare her to lead through just about anything — including the unprecedented challenge of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Carpenter bees are a thing, right? Maybe that partially explains this carpenter’s interest in beehives. Explaining his unlikely successes takes a little more work.