Rosie Pope is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Designer at Rosie Pope Maternity, and one thing’s for sure; Rosie has a huge passion for babies (she loves them!).

But let’s back up a bit. Shortly after studying neuroscience at Columbia University, Rosie found herself in a lab doing research on addiction. She was unhappy, didn’t like experimenting on mice and was just kind of miserable. She has always loved children and loved making clothes but never put them together until one day her husband suggested she make clothes for pregnant women. After a few months of stewing on the idea, Rosie decided she’d give it a go. After all, it sounded a lot more exciting to her than working in a lab.

Not sure how to start, she applied for a sales job at the local A Pea in the Pod retail store to soak up as much knowledge as possible. They actually almost didn’t give her the job for being over qualified (I mean come on; she does have a degree in neuroscience from Columbia…not too shabby!). But sure enough, she got a job on the sales floor at her local A Pea in the Pod maternity store, and stayed there for 6 months. She learned a ton! She saw so many ways to improve their business and make it more efficient. And she talked to all her customers (she actually told them her big plans to open her own store) and they eagerly gave her great feedback.

From scientist, to dancer, to model, to entrepreneur and designer, Rosie is definitely following her passions, and as a result her store is doing fantastic!

Kenny has been passionate about food for a long time. From a early age, he’s loved dumplings, and funny enough, his friends used to always tell him to open a dumpling restaurant. Low and behold, after working as an analyst, learning from a well respected restaurant group, and an MBA from NYU, Kenny successfully launched Rickshaw a few years ago and I gotta tell you, the food is awesome!

Although Kenny didn’t enjoy his experience as a analyst, he fortunately saved a bunch of cash, got a big bonus, and hightailed it out of there to pursue his passion and dream to open his own restaurant.

It’s that passion that has helped Kenny overcome obstacles and stay focused on the long term vision for Rickshaw. When asked how he continues to stay on track and in line w/ his passions and goals, he said it ultimately comes back to the company’s core values which are in line with his personal values. He’s reminded of them daily.

If you’re in New York City and you haven’t tried Kenny’s dumplings yet, I highly recommend it. They are delicious!

It’s funny how I want to start each of these posts with, “this person is an all out rockstar,” but that’s exactly how this post should start!

Claire Chambers, CEO and Founder of Journelle, is “an all out rockstar!” And I love her story. She grew up in small town Oregon, went to college in Boston, ended up doing management consulting for a number of years, and then the entrepreneurial bug took over and led her to start her own lingerie company, Journelle.

Claire’s passion for lingerie started early in life, and led her to recognizing a gap in the market place. Journelle fills that gap, and while I don’t know much about lingerie, their store in Manhattan is amazing and the team behind Journelle is even more inspiring. Dedication, hard work, and a love for lingerie have turned Journelle into one of the top lingerie stores in the world, and it’s no surprise to me.

One of the things that intrigued me about Claire’s story was that she was part of an entrepreneurial peer group made up of other consultants who were all working on their own ideas while consulting. They would lend support to each other, punch holes in everyone’s ideas, and help hold each other accountable for their respective goals…great idea!

If you live in New York, you’ve gotta check out their store at 3 E 17th St near Union Square, and for those not in NYC, definitely check out their newest store in Miami and their online presence at Journelle.com

Keith Ferrazzi is passionate about relationships, and they’ve been the backbone of his success. From Yale to Harvard Business School, CMO at Deloitte to CMO at Starwood Hotels, and now Founder of Ferrazzi Greenlight, Keith’s had a successful career by anyone’s measure. But to me, it really breaks down to the 4 principles to building life line relationships as outlined in Keith’s most recent book, Who’s Got Your Back. They are: Generosity, Vulnerability, Candor, and Accountability.

The one thing I’ve heard Keith say over and over, and I’ve experienced it to be true myself, is to always lead with Generosity. That means go into a conversation or relationship asking what you can do to help the other person. Remove from the conversation what’s in it for you, and really focus on them. By really caring about helping the other individual succeed, you immediately strengthen the relationship.

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend reading both of Keith’s books which are both national best sellers. I’ve included links below.

Amy and Joe have created a very cool lifestyle fashion line centered around surfing, and following your passion. In fact, following your passion is what they say OKOTO is all about.

Couple Joe’s passion for art, and Amy’s passion for entrepreneurship, and you’ve got a winning team. Interesting enough, Joe lived down in the Caribbean for a few years in a tree house (literally). He said it was during this time in his life, living so close to the ocean and in such tranquility, that he was able to focus on his art and love for the ocean. When he returned back to the States, Amy, who’s love for the ocean is also strong, suggested they turn Joe’s talent as a artist and their combined love for the ocean and put the designs on t-shirts. Things took off from there, and OKOTO is now a widely recognized brand in the surfing communities.

As they like to say, “What’s your OKOTO?”

Amy and Joe’s Book Recommendations:

Gary Vaynerchuk is following his passions, and loving every step of the way. Since we was a young boy, Gary has always been interested in business and entrepreneurship. He has the innate ability to sell anything from baseball cards to wine. How did he turn his family’s wine business into a $60+ million company? HUSTLE! PASSION! and a lot more HUSTLE!

What I like most about Gary is that he’s adamant about putting his family first. Every one of us easily gets caught up in work and other things that seem to overtake our lives. And while Gary is certainly an extremely busy person too (seems like every conference wants him to be their keynote speaker), his #1 focus is his family, and I think that’s HUGE! If there was only 1 major thing I learned from my time with Gary, it’s that no matter how busy you are, and he’s probably busier than 99% of us, his #1 passion is his family.

If you want to learn more about his journey, check out his best selling book,

Jesse Itzler is a rockstar, hands down. From the music industry (he’s created songs for the NBA and other sports teams), to private aviation (co-founder of Marquis Jet), to his latest venture Suite 850 which identifies trends in the marketplace and attaches celebrities and influencers to emerging and developing brands. This guy is doing big things and loving every step of the way.

Some important things to note. Jesse has always sought after things that he enjoyed doing. That’s a common theme in everything he does. In fact, he has a set of question he uses as his litmus test. Ask yourself:

Do I like it?

Do I come to work every day happy?

Is this is a project that I believe in?

Do you believe in it enough to bet the farm/put all the chips in?

These are some great questions to ask yourself on a consistent basis. Another thing I like about Jesse is that he’s an instinct guy. Ever since college, he’s never wanted to have a resume. He just always wanted to do things on his own terms. Yet the key is to keep your eye out for opportunity. He never dreamed of going into the private aviation business, but when opportunity presented itself, he took advantage of it.

Things change on a dime these days, and you’ve got to be reactionary to stay current. Jesse does this better than anyone, and it’s paid off.

At the age of 12, Jamail Larkins took his first flight, and was hooked! He began taking flying lessons towards his pilot’s license, and even trained with some of the world’s biggest airlines. After lots of time in simulations and lessons, he was ready to take his first solo flight. The problem was that at that point, he was only 14, and in the USA the FAA mandates that an individual must be 16 years or older to take a solo flight. After petitioning the FAA, who held firm on their stance, Jamail took a trip up to Canada and took his first solo flight!

He’s never looked back, and continues to be immersed in aviation. His company, Ascension Aircraft, buys, sells, and leases planes, and he’s doing an amazing job running it. Recently, Jamail was honored Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 award. If you’re ready to buy a plane, or lease one for that matter, he’s the guy to talk to!

I have had the pleasure of interviewing some really incredible people, and Scott Harrison is no different. He is a true ROCKSTAR, and I am inspired by his dedication to bringing clean water to the world through an amazing organization called Charity Water.

When Scott was 18, he got into the night club promotions business, often getting paid thousands of dollars to drink certain types of alcohol at clubs all over New York. After rising to the top of the food chain after 10 years, Scott found himself on a dream vacation down in South America. However, it was on that trip that Scott really started to ponder what his purpose was in life, and what was important to him. He realized he had become disgusted with his lifestyle and wanted a change. A few months after returning back to New York, the then 28 year old decided to hang up his promoting gloves and go to the poorest country in the world to make an impact.

Many humanitarian organizations didn’t want to bring the young night club promoter onto their teams, but Scott finally found a good fit with an organization called Mercy Ships, which takes large boats that are essentially floating hospitals, to the world’s poorest communities to offer free medical care. Scott, as the group’s photo journalist, saw some horrific things, and often saw people drinking water from what looked like green swamps. He describes the most disgusting viscous looking water you can imagine, and that’s what the locals were drinking. He had to do something.

Thus the birth of Charity Water whose mission is to get clean water to 1 billion people in need. For only $5000, Charity Water can dig a well that will provide clean water to an entire community! Astonishing to me, 80% of all disease is related to clean water! But Charity Water is leading the charge to tackle this international crisis. And they’re gaining momentum as they’re the first non-profit to reach over 1 million followers on Twitter!

Follow them on Twitter here.

If you love photography as much as Scott, here are his camera recommendations:

Nikon D200

Nikon D700

From corporate America to the streets of entrepreneurship, Landy Ung and her team have built a really cool company to help you save money! 8coupons.com allows you to enter your zip code and receive coupons from retailers in your area. You can then get the coupons sent to your phone and keep it all digital, so you never have to print a coupon or worry about remembering to bring it with you. From pizza restaurants to dry cleaners, they’ve got it all.

Landy, who spent a number of years in the corporate world (mostly with Verizon), recently took the plunge into entrepreneurship, and couldn’t be happier. Entrepreneurship has been in her family for a long time, and all it took was for Landy to see an opportunity in the market, and take advantage of that opportunity. One of the things that Landy says is so important from day one is to create an advisory board from the beginning.

If you haven’t checked them out already, definitely go to 8coupons.com. When asked how we can help Landy, she asked us to send feedback about the website on how they can make it better for you!