The First With Dr. Sandi Webster

Shannon Wilkinson was among the first in the industry to establish an online reputation management (ORM) firm. Now, after more than 20 years in business, Shannon is a nationally recognized expert in digital reputation management. She is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal's "Crisis of the Week" column. She is the author of Reputation Reboot: What Every Business Leader, Rising Star &...

Sharise N. Johnson-Moore, Your Hope Builder, loves lifting others out of their sorrows by guiding them to see the Christ within through scripture and practical applications. Ministry is her first love, and her ministry has opened many doors for her to become a business owner, author, gospel artist, motivational speaker, podcaster, and executive producer of shows. Sharise is the author of Coming To...

When I speak to Karina Kantas, who is a prolific author of 14 titles, including the gritty MC thriller series, OUTLAW, and the exciting YA fantasy duology, Illusional Reality. Her podcast, Behind the Pen, is a YouTube show and audio podcast where she chats with artists from around the world about how they got started and their future plans, their journey, their books, songs, films, and poetry. Tod...

Who is James Owen Roberts? He is an Amputee Empowerment Coach, host of The Mindset Athlete Podcast, TEDx speaker, and author with over 15 years of experience in exercise, diet, and mindset as a coach, 2x Paralympic athlete, and alum of both Swansea University and the University of Chester. He was born without a femur – a femur is a thighbone, the longest and strongest bone in your body that allows...

Canadian businesswoman, Kerry-Ann Facey, knew she had an unequally yoked relationship with her now ex-husband. Like many women, she tolerated nearly 17 years of abuse because she didn't want a broken home for her three children. Her unwavering faith in God, and constant prayers, eventually gave her the strength to leave her marriage. The result is her book, Faithful, Anchored, Blessed, which is a...

Dr. Sonia L. Russell is known for her prolific poetry based on religion and spirituality. She is also an author, an Assistant Professor, has a doctorate in Education, and is a pastor. She was ordained into the Living Water Church ministry and is currently the Associate Pastor at New Birth Christian Ministries in Uniondale, NY. Dr. Sonia is now an advocate for people who are depressed and have cons...

How do you go from homeless to owning your own home? Ian Tolson told me that forming great habits is what helped him. With the help of numerous therapists during his life, Ian has learned how to move from destructive habits to lifelong and life-sustaining ones. In a small town in Montana, he was put on Ritalin by a psychiatrist who was also the school principal. The principal told his parents that...

In the male-dominated culture in Niger, West Africa, where education for women is not supported, a young girl, Fatoumata Issifi, is determined to change her life. Against all odds and with no family support, she came to the United States alone to follow her dream. Fati is the first person in her village to come to the United States, the first female from her community to graduate from college and...

Meet Tanesha Butler. Even while living in a tough neighborhood in Monroe, Louisiana, she grew up very sheltered. This social worker gives hope and inspiration to others in their lives to become the best version of themselves. Tanesha is the first in her family to become a cheerleader, graduate from college - she got Bachelors and Masters degrees - never moved home after college, planned her pregna...

Meet Tanesha Butler. Even while living in a tough neighborhood in Monroe, Louisiana, she grew up very sheltered. This social worker gives hope and inspiration to others in their lives to become the best version of themselves. Tanesha is the first in her family to become a cheerleader, graduate from college - she got Bachelors and Masters degrees - never moved home after college, planned her pregna...

Elizabeth Beskin comes from a family of college-educated homemakers; however, she was the first to take her education and create a business. Despite their expectations, and Home Ec classes, Elizabeth was the first to want a career outside the home. Having private tutors and going to a private school inspired her to learn, and she realized she was excellent in math, became valedictorian, was sought...

Vikram Rajan, the co-founder of Videosocials.net, was the first to take the winning formats of different networking structures and integrate them into a subscription-based video application that produces a marketing video for the business owner. The networking session that I attended fascinated me because he used the timing card from Toastmasters to keep participants within the allocated 2-3 minut...

At 25, Arvin Cielo is an expert in technology. In 2021, he launched his Filipino company, Cloud Aide Solutions, to provide technical virtual assistants to help business owners around the world. This is in addition to his online pet store, Fur Paws. He is the first family member to graduate from college, participate in a college pageant (Mr. University), the first in the family to create a company...

Nadine O. Vogel is the CEO of Springboard Global Enterprises which is home to Springboard Consulting, Disability Mama, The WIP Group and The Springboard Foundation which is an affiliated charity. Springboard Consulting was the first for-profit group to work with corporations to mainstream people with disabilities as candidates, employees, or customers. Nadine was a corporate executive when she cre...

Molly Creese is a shy, talented woman who grew up singing in her parents' church (both parents are pastors) in St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Her parents wanted her to become a gospel singer – any other kind of singing was not accepted; now, she sings a different song of self-confidence. Molly came to New York to attend school and went to Monroe College for her Bachelor's degree and LIU for her Mas...

Emmy-award-winning cameraman, Howie Zales, makes money every time you watch a TV show! He provides independent camera people to TV stations and networks to broadcast games or events like football, wrestling, golf, or NASCAR. Howie is the first entrepreneur in his family, and today they own three different businesses within the TV community. His great-uncle was a photographer for the New York Times...

Ketriana Yvonne is a woman with two first names! She is a force in her community and believes that "Everyone is a celebrity...we just don't know their names yet!" She is a talk show host and producer at BRIC where The Ketriana Yvonne Show features the best of people you need to know about, mainly in the arts and local neighborhood. She's the author and poet of Sequin Soul, which is a book of poetr...

Linda was the first to go to college in her family and to become a Certified Public Accountant. She was born to very young, uneducated parents who reinforced the importance of school. After her uncle shamed her for getting a bad report card in first grade, it had a tremendous effect on her – so much so that she never brought home a bad report card again! After high school, she was not thinking of...

Beatrice Weber is truly a First! She took a path that no woman in her ancestral Jewish lineage had ever taken - leaving her dowry behind. Beatrice was an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish mother of 10 who chose to believe in herself over her husband. By choosing herself, she decided to be on her own, manage her own finances, and fight for custody of her children. As Beatrice said in her Medium post, "Choosing...

Jessica Gardner was a 15-year workforce professional who left her job to form an event planning company on December 31, 2016 – she did not want to go into a new year without starting her business. She is the first of her Costa Rican family to graduate from college and to start a business. After watching the women in her family (her grandmother, mother, and aunt) plan events, she knew she wanted to...

Have you ever thought about getting old and who would take care of you? Most of us do. But what if you're pretty young and something happens to you as it did to Erna's mom who had a stroke? Erna became an unpaid caregiver at 21! That became her reality. She changed jobs and had to move. Now Erna has decided that this is happening far too frequently, and there should be resources to help people lik...

What made Rickie James the first in his family to go to college? During high school, he realized his siblings left high school and went to work – sometimes out of necessity. Rickie grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and went to Fort Hamilton High School where they stressed going to college. He went to NY Technical College because it was the only college in the state that had the course he wanted - T...

Full disclosure, Peggy McHale is my business partner in our current company, Pandi-App, LLC, and our former company, Consultants 2 Go. I still learned a lot of new things about her after almost twenty years. Peggy McHale's story started with her mom, Beatrice, who had her own real estate business that she sold, and then managed properties. However, even though Bea went to Hunter High School and ha...

Today, Allan Berger is a business architect and strategist working with established, successful, privately-held technology, professional services firms, distributors, and manufacturers. But there was a time when Allan was a young man, finding his way to college and becoming the first to graduate. He is the son of first-generation Americans who didn't have the finances to go to college, so he staye...

Hear how my Jamaican cousin, soccer superstar, @Shavine Webster, got to play on a male school soccer team at ten years old. She knew that soccer was her future and the means to a better life. In high school, she played for Lennon's male soccer team and then helped to form the first female soccer team for the school…and then went on to the Jamaican national soccer team at 15 years old! Shavine was...