Often times, there is so much to do, and we have so many great ideas, that we struggle to take massive action on any of them. Maybe we think that we can’t move forward with something without it being absolutely perfect. Our inaction creates doubt and uncertainty. We begin to listen to others about why something won’t work. The voice in our head starts to become a breeding ground for doubt, fear and uncertainty. We’re too afraid of focusing on the wrong thing or worry what will happen if we fail. Sometimes this goes on for months or years, and we end up not really accomplishing anything -- because we feel paralyzed.
Mark Zuckerberg once said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking any risks.”
Each panelist will have 15-20 min to speak on their area of topic of taking action.
Taking Action in our Careers and Professional Development
Dr. Juliet Breeze - CEO at Next Level Urgent Care
Dr. Breeze graduated from Northwestern University with honors in English. She earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. After working in family practice several years, she moved her focus to the business of medicine. As a serial entrepreneur, she has developed several large group medical practices, private hospitals, and surgery centers. Dr. Breeze has also served on the Board of Directors of many start-up companies and charities.
Currently, she is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Next Level Urgent Medical, one of the fastest growing healthcare companies in Texas. Next Level offers advanced primary care and urgent care in membership or traditional fee for service models.
She has been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022 and a Most Admired CEO by The Houston Business Journal.
Taking Action in Beauty/Self-Care
Angel Cornelius is the Founder & CEO of Maison 276, the leading beauty brand for the diverse community of middle-aged women (aka “Silveristas”) that want to address the changes in their bodies with clean and innovative formulations while also celebrating the vibrancy of their lives.
Our acclaimed 3-Step System for Silver & Blonde Hair has revolutionized premium hair care for Silveristas of all hair textures without thecpurple dyes used by 99% of our competitors. Angel won QVC/HSN’s 2019 The Big Find, a global search contest for new and innovative brands, and later debuted the 3-Step System on-air in February 2020. Angel has received national acclaim for her entrepreneurial journey, including multiple features on The TODAY Show, Vogue, USA Today, Beauty Independent, O Magazine, ESSENCE, AARP’s How She Did It Podcast, and J.P. Morgan Chase’s Women on the Move Podcast.
As a result of Maison 276’s efforts to redefine stale beauty industry narratives related to aging, Angel has received industrywide recognition including, CEW’s 2020 Indie26, awarded to the top independent beauty entrepreneurs disrupting the industry, and was recently nominated as the Beauty Independent-Beacon Awards’ 2022 Inclusivity Champion.
Prior to founding Maison 276, Angel enjoyed a career in financial services and healthcare management, including Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest pediatric healthcare system. Angel was born and raised in New Orleans which provides the inspiration for the Company’s name. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Houston.
Taking Action in our Health/ Eating and Exercising
Billyssia Pierce, owner of Bee Fit Foods, a healthy meal prep company located in Houston, Texas, began her health and fitness journey over a decade ago when she began competing in beauty pageants. After growing a love for fitness, Billyssia became a certified personal trainer, creating her brand, Bee Fit Solutions, specializing in personal and group fitness training. Always wanting to build her brand and having a desire for entrepreneurship and empire building, Billyssia realized that in order to contribute more to her clients and those around her to reach their health and fitness goals, it would first have to start with their diets.
This inspired Bee Fit Foods, not your typical healthy food store. It was designed to satisfy everyone's lifestyle, allowing customers to customize their own meals, from a 100% gluten-free menu, serving everything from mouth watering steak to delicious lunch and dinner meals such as enchiladas and pastas, as well as dynamic vegan and pescatarian meals. In less than a year of starting, Billyssia had built such a successful business, it allowed her to open her first store front and years later she now has two locations, the flagship store on 610/Main (near NRG Stadium) and the newest location, inside of ExxonMobil headquarters in The Woodlands/Spring area, with more in the works. Billyssia and Bee Fit Foods has also just secured a major partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center and will now offer Bee Fit Foods in all their hospital locations. Billyssia is also the co-founder of the Busy Bee Foundation, a nonprofit she, her mother, and sister started when she was just in high school. The Busy Bee Foundation is geared towards the advancement of our youth and communities, helping to fund young scholars as they advance to college.
Taking Action in our Spiritual Being
Sonya M. Sloan, M.D., aka #OrthoDoc, has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the male-dominated field of Orthopedic Surgery. She has authored and published research projects in Orthopedic Surgery and a joint venture with NASA, Johnson Space Center. She has established two specifically purposed non-profit organizations: ME&WE, Inc. (Motivating & Empowering Women to Excel), which collectively reaches over 5,000 women daily. The other is SLOAN STEM+Arts, a faith-based educational diversity initiative. It’s sole purpose is to increase the number of minority students in STEM careers through early exposure and mentoring, impacting financial stability for generations to come. In 2015, she, along with The Luke Church, initiated the philanthropic efforts for an international medical clinic with New Missions Organization in Haiti that now serves a community of more than 100,000 men, women, and children.
Dr. Sloan currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Spirituality and Health. She is a consultant, blogger, and speaker for DairyMax, a national partner to the NFL and Fuel Up to Play 60 initiative, which helps youth gain the proper daily nutrition. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Concordia University with a focus on Health Care Administration. As a partner in RoweDocs telemedicine, she launch her Virtual OrthoDoc venture as one of the first of its kind in telehealth for orthopedics.
Dr. Sonya Sloan is the First Lady of “The Luke Church” in Humble, Texas, where her husband, Dr. Timothy W. Sloan, is the Senior Pastor. She is the Founder of God’s Women Rock; a non-traditional, international, annual awards concert that honors spiritual women of all walks of life who are making a difference for a greater good. Her three greatest rewards in her life are her children.
Hear from an HCC Alumni who Took Action in their Career!
Gabriela Smith/ Owner & CEO of Big State Construction
Gabriela has had the opportunity to make an impact in the community by engaging with corporate companies, business owners, and individuals. Among the many skills, she learned and developed to cultivate a secure network, multitask and operate out of her comfort zone. Most important, she has the confidence and the right tools to be a business owner as a Construction and Real Estate Developer. Gabriela is an Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization and for-profit industry. Skilled in Organizations, Citizenship, Property & Casualty Insurance, Real Estate, Customer Service and Sales. Strong operations professional with a Master of Business Administration - MBA focused in Organizational Leadership from University of Houston-Downtown.
