Success Stories

Rob Lamb, Mighty Dog Roofing
“Success is being the best version of yourself.” – September 19, 2025

Brandon Blake, Advocacy Director for the State of Arizona AARP
“The first place I would start is, as much as I love talking about our wins we have gotten, and we have certainly done a lot of great stuff to try to provide support for older adults in Arizona, I care less about the number of wins that we have and more about the impact that those wins actually do have.” – September 12, 2025

Seidy Dominguez, Tucson-Mexico Sister Cities
“I think success is just getting out there, meeting new people and connecting, and, being able to expose people to new things. I think that is the main thing, for us to learn and be curious.” – August 29, 2025

Kari Gallardo, Southern Arizona Cleaning and Supply
“You know what, I think it is a balance of a lot of things, not only business goals but also personal goals. I can say that we are truly in success now but we still have a lot to go. When I can check off boxes off the bucket list for the business and personal I feel we’re in success right now.” – August 15, 2025

Matt August, Arizona Theatre Company
“Success to me, it means that when our work entertains differently than any other form, it sparks dialogue, it deepens people’s empathy and it brings people together. So that it is not just about ticket sales or reviews, it’s about the joy and conversations in the lobby after the show. It’s the moment of recognition between strangers who might be very different, but after spending an hour and a half, two hours alone in the dark, listening to a story we have shared with them, that they feel both inspired, and brought together and connected. And you know that’s the magic that theatre really can provide that no other media can. It is a way engage the imagination, to tap into our hearts, our philosophies and our mind and make people feel just better about being a part of a community then they did when they walked into the theatre.” – August 8, 2025

Elizabeth Slater, CEO of Youth On Their Own
“We had a wonderful woman in our program, named Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez. She became on her own her sophomore year in high school. She did couch surf for a couple years and she also live on her own as a senior. And so, we were able to support her and help her finish high school. She did exceptionally well in school. She went on to the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated. And then she worked in finance at Wells Fargo and she also worked for Google and Meta for a while. She is returning to share her own story. A couple of years ago she published a memoir called ‘My Side of the River,’ which is and excellent book, and really kind of gives people a real insight to what it feels like to go through that as a teenager, to be on your own, what caused it, what does it feel like day to day to try to be relying on the good will of other adults to have a roof over your head temporarily as you are couch surfing. And then, what it takes to persevere, because it is very hard and there are many barriers. But there is this internal drive that young people have to change their circumstances. So it is a really empowering story about how she was able to do that. And she is just a great spokesperson and and a great supporter of other young people who are going through a similar thing that she did.
For me, success is not just what we are doing but how we are doing it. So, people feeling aligned with a mission, feeling really respected, especially the youth that we serve. We try to provide services with dignity. So, I think for success for me is when we were able to achieve the goal and people feel good about the way we did it.” – August 1, 2025

Sandra Sagehorn-Elliot, CEO of Vantage West Credit Union
“I think making a meaningful and lasting impact. So that is why we certainly donate to Youth On Their Own. But I think going deeper as a business and forming a long term partnership has a lot more meaning and you can make a much larger impact in the community.” – August 1, 2025

Laura Staley, Reachout Women’s Center
“I think the people at Reachout Women’s Center are willing to be that compassionate presence to each and every person that calls and walks through the door. And, taking that time to care about the person and not just checking a box, but to be there to listen to walk the walk with them.” – July 25, 2025

RJ Saavedra, Reachout Women’s Center
“When the client has gone through our program and our services and she comes out and she hugs us. She hugs us because of the products she received at our clinic. She hugs us because of the pregnancy testing and the ultra-sound they just experienced with empathy and love and a listening ear. And that, to me, is powerful. And then the just stay in touch with us even beyond the pregnancy and we are there to support them and assist them with referrals and partnerships in the community.” – July 25, 2025

Juan Franco, Regional Fuel and Convenience Manager for Walmart
“I think success is best defined by how you impact those around you rather than your own personal success.  I think personal success is often times, is going to be tied on to the value you bring to others around you. So, for me, I always try to be a resource and help those around me, and I think, working for Walmart, it allows me to fulfil that personal approach to success because that’s basically what our mission is about helping others so they can live better. So I think it brings success to everybody.” – July 11, 2025

Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, TUSD Superintendent
“By the time kids leave us in twelfth grade, my definition of success is that they will have found their passion and their career path. That’s our goal, right. Whether that is military, college, career or work force.  I want to see that every graduation season when I shake hands with those seniors that are leaving us, I always ask them, ‘Where are you going?’  And it brings a smile to my face when they know exactly what they are going to do.”   – July 11, 2025

Elisa Ross, Vice President of Marketing, Hughes Federal Credit Union
“I would say to be able to give back to the community in a way that makes a difference. Providing financial education to those that need it. Helping people improve their financial life and helping them reach their financial goals.” – June 27, 2025

Patricia Madonna, RoadHouse Cinema
“I define success as being goal oriented and being driven to work hard.” June 20, 2023

Justin Friedman – Wild Bird Store
“So, in as much as we have it, I define success as some amount of happiness and the ability to have a full life.” June 13, 2025

Si Bok Blue Shaolin Kung Fu Academy ‘Girl Power’
“Honestly, for myself, I have always defined success as consistent growth. I feel that goes hand in hand with the way that we teach as well.  I never want to reach a point where I go, ‘yeah I’m done’. I’m always learning. I am always finding ways to incorporate the things that I teach into lessons for myself. My kids teach me more than I teach them.
Success for me is  constantly moving forward to be able to own up to my mistakes, acknowledge them, and move forward for as long as I live.” June 13, 2025

Peter James, Area Director of Rudy’s Bar-B-Q
“Our goal is to always take care of the guests… We just feel that if we take good care of the guests, we get good word-of-mouth advertisement. Once we hear that good buzz within our community, we feel like we are doing good, and it has been a success. Once we start seeing those same people coming in day in and day out and weekly, we build our relationship, and we feel like we are doing a great job.
The reason why we don’t open a lot of Rudy’s back-to-back-to-back is that we like to make sure we are ready. Ready to take care of the guests and the community, and be involved.
So, I think success is promoting within and building within and taking care of the guests, and being a part of the community. Once they know who we are, we have succeeded.” June 6, 2025

Robert and Terry Villelas, Owners of Young Donuts by Rise and Shine
“The best part of owning a donut shop for me is meeting people and helping out,” said Robert.

“At the end of the day, for me, success is bringing a smile to someone. I meet so many individuals from different parts of our country, or from out of the country, and it’s just a pleasure to meet them.
Like, right now, I am learning Italian from one customer. He speaks Italian. He comes and gets his burrito, he gets his donut holes, he gets his variety of donuts once in a while, sometimes he shows up three times out of the week. And just learning his language, it is new to me, I don’t have to go to Italy or take a class to learn it. I am learning it here.
It is just having that one-to-one communication with another human being,” said Terry.

“I thought making donuts was fascinating because it is an art form in itself. I have a background in art. I love to draw and paint. I thought this would go hand in hand. Being creative with another sense of direction, but you can eat the art,” said Robert. June 6, 2025

Dr. Jonathan Scott Crider, Director of External Relations, Fox Tucson Theatre
“Success to me means realizing the mission that you set out. The Fox’s mission is to make connections with people and make Tucson proud.
Every time I walk into the Theatre with a full house I am just reminded that all the work is worth it to have the collective people enjoying the work.” May 30, 2025

Jesus Acuña with his wife Annette, Owners of Resilient Fitness
“I think a big part of success in the business for both of us has been grit.
Just being able to put in the time, put in the work, shake the hands, meet with the people, meeting adversity, going through the obstacles, and really kind of making the decision that we are going to find a way to make it work.
When we opened up the gym in late 2019, eight months later, Covid hit, and we had to shut down.
I think I lost sleep one night. And then we woke up and we were like nope! We are going to go online! We are going to hand off equipment to the members who are going to work at home. When we reopened, we figured out how to get folks in and moving to the next location.
For me it was, I’m going to work out at the park! You’re going to work out in my garage!
I have been thankful enough that people have followed us since the beginning!
I think of Rhonda, she has been with us from the park to the garage to the gyms and she has probably been with us as long as Eli has been born, ten plus years for our members.
I think the other component of success has been the relationships.
When we were online, we found that was the hardest part, how to establish that relationship and keep that relationship.
So, grit, tenacity, and relationships have been a big part of it. May 30, 2025