Spotlights
These are the career stories of diverse individuals working in a variety of careers. Watch or read about what inspired them to pursue their career, what they were like growing up, what they love most about their career and more!
Intrigued by sound even as a child, James LeBrecht knew from the start what field he belonged to. As a high schooler and a college student, James was greatly interested in theater, and used his talents with audio to become the lead sound designer for several theatrical performances. After college he took his talents another step forward by opening Berkeley Sound Artists where he records, edits, and mixes the audio for television, film, and games.
Tell me your story - where do you come from in the world of Audio?
I grew up back on the east coast, just North of New York city. I…
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MAIP Year: 1991
Title, Company: UX Content Lead, Allstate
Clifton Simmons II has worked as an advertising copywriter for over 25 years, working on many major brands – Chevy, Chrysler, Coke, McDonald's and more. He's created many award-winning campaigns in event, experiential and digital marketing. Clifton has used that experience to transition into UX content strategy, developing mobile applications.
Who/what influenced or inspired you to pursue advertising?
My people of my generation credit Darren Stevens of TV's Bewitched as an influence. For me, it was Tom…
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“School counseling is amazing...you have the power to completely change the trajectory of a child’s life.”
Lisa Andrews is a school counselor working in the Pomona Unified School District in California. Throughout her career, Ms. Andrews has dedicated herself to servicing the most vulnerable of our society by empowering them to change for the better. As a growing leader in the field of school counseling, Ms. Andrews has been invited to speak at conferences and multiple school counseling training programs. She is especially passionate about pushing boundaries…
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Misty Espinoza is the Vice President of Communications of Entertainment Industry Foundation, (EIF), a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry that harnesses the collective power of the entire industry to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues in order to make a positive impact in our community and throughout the nation. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, she moved to California to major in Communications at Stanford University. Misty used her degree and love for entertainment to pave a road for success- one which lead to…
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Sofiya Kukharenko is an Industrial and Systems Engineer at SKF USA, Inc., based in Georgia. She moved to the United States from Ukraine at the age of 2. From an early age, Sofiya seized every opportunity she could within the education system to become the second person in her family to graduate from an American college (after her older sister), and to achieve success in a male-dominated career.
Sofiya graduated from the prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology which she attended on a full-ride HOPE scholarship. Georgia Tech is ranked first in the world by US News & World…
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Jen had aspirations as a child actor with a photographic memory starting as early as eight years old and eventually found a passion for casting. She interned with casting directors while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with a BA in History and Women’s Studies in 1994. She began working full-time in casting in 2000, and over the next 17 years has had a storied career working as a casting associate for Susan Shopmaker Casting where she helped cast Verizon’s “Can You Hear Me Now” campaign, working as a casting director for The Walt Disney Company…
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