The First With Dr. Sandi Webster

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 pregnancies, and planned to get and remain married. By doing so, she shifted the culture in her entire family. #entrepreneur #collegedegree #thefirst #socialworker #inspired

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 after by Princeton and Rensselaer for engineering…but became a music theater major at Syracuse University, where she started a photography business with her college roommate. After a stint at Merrill Lynch in the Futures Department, they built a successful decades-old photography business. Today, Elizabeth owns her own photography agency where she created the photobooth that we know today. She is the proud solopreneur of Fifth Avenue Digital. This dynamic photography agency works alongside many of NY and NJ's top event planners and venues to provide the perfect photographer forspecial occasions. #valedictorian #entrepreneur #homemaker #syracuseuniversity #photography #photobooth

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 minutes introduction. Vik knows that entrepreneurs put off creating videos because we think of it as tedious so it goes on the back burner. Vik records our online introductions during our networking sessions. Then, he edits in the bells and whistles like close captioning and your logo so, within a few hours, you can utilize this video for social media marketing or use as a part of your speaker reel. #business #entrepreneur #videosocials #thefirstwithdrsandi #networking #Toastmasters

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 and to purchase a house and own property. Arvin is also in charge of the family farm. Arvin is a trailblazer. He works in silence in the background and lets his work be the noise. He is focused on accomplishing his goals and has an annual checklist and vision board to ensure he stays on track. He is admired by his friends who all want to join his entrepreneurial journey. His goal is to curate young entrepreneurial talent and ensure that they can own their businesses in the Philippines. #business #entrepreneur #mentoring #thefirst

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 created a company division that helped special needs family plan for the future. This new idea was important to her because her oldest child had significant disabilities. Her boss asked her why she didn't start her own company – so she did! Her boss became one of her first clients as well an advisory board. Her family and friends thought she was having a midlife crisis when she started her company because they knew that she always wanted to be in the corporate world. However, she felt the idea had merit and she trusted her instincts – now, she's a huge success. Because she was the first to enter the disabilities market with corporations, mentoring is important to her and she has mentored at the Harvard Kennedy School and serves as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Business School. Best of all, her daughter who was the inspiration for Springboard Consulting has now started her own company for disabled artists! Full Circle moment! #business #entrepreneurship #mentoring #nadinevogel #springboardconsulting #disabilities #specialneeds #advisoryboard

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 Master's degree. Like most people, Molly was heads-down working hard towards graduation. When Molly started to look for work, she realized that she did not use college to form alliances - she was too busy with school work. No one told her to foster those relations because she would need them later. She was introduced to networking through the National MBA Conference. Now, her company, We Network Services LLC, provides coaching, workshops, and events to women business owners, using networking as a means to meet other business owners with whom they can potentially do business. #network #business #entrepreneurship #graduation #wenetworkservicesllc

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, but he's the first videographer. He stays on top of the newest communication needs in the industry, pivoted during the pandemic to morphed his business into customized live streaming for everything from cooking shows, concerts, talk shows to corporate meetings and medical interviews! Since he's the first to provide this camera service, he's learning as he goes along but has become an expert in resolving the problems that they are encountering for the first time in the industry. Howie has become a mentor for some of the best cameramen in the business and gives back whenever he can.

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 poetry from the heart. She says, "I wrote these poems from my soul to help someone on the journey they may be walking. Life is like shiny sequins sometimes flashy most times you lose some pieces." Ketriana is a member of the Old Brooklynite Society and feels strongly about giving people their flowers while they are here and letting them know they are a positive force in your life. She honors the elders and her neighbors who support her. #sequinsoul #theketrianayvonneshow #oldbrooklynite #poems

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 going to college until her boss on her first job at Lloyd's Department store recognized that she was good with numbers and encouraged her to go to school for bookkeeping…and she fell in love with it. After many years of school, and supporting herself, she got her accounting degree and later became a CPA at Coopers & Lybrand, a prestigious New York financial services company. Now, she is the CEO of her 30-year old company, Linda Hamilton, CPA LLC. Linda gives back by mentoring and supporting the community and other business owners.

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 myself over the financial support of my parents was one of the most life-affirming choices I have made. It allowed me to spread my wings, explore new experiences, and connect with my true inner strength." Now, the mother of 10 is an Interspiritual Minister, writer, speaker, and coach. She empowers people who have experienced religious, familial, or community trauma to connect with their own inner voice and create empowered and joyful lives. I thank Beatrice for her brutal honesty of life then and now.