CINspirational People
CINspirational People: Cathyann Dempsey
CINspirational People is a new feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. Know someone for us to consider? Please submit your idea.
Cathyann Dempsey is from Galway, Ireland. Intern Liza Hartke interviewed her.
GTGA Intern Liza: What is a recent accomplishment that you are proud of?
Cathyann: I am proud of my dedication to this thing called life; I set goals, one of them being American citizenship and I stick to them. I have worked hard to get where I am today, it hasn’t always been easy, but challenges make you the person you are in the moment. We are defined not by how we fall, but by how we pick ourselves up again.
GTGA Intern Liza: When did you first come to the United States and how was the journey? Have you always wanted to come to America?
Cathyann: I first came to the states when I was 2 1/2 years old. I remember parts of my trip but not a whole lot. My whole family came over for the summer of 1987 and we lived with my aunt in her beautiful Victorian in North Avondale, which to this day is still one of my favorite houses. My parents worked for my aunt that summer, and as the youngest of 5, I spent a lot of time playing, swimming, and just being a baby!
We came back the following summer and I have a lot more vivid memories from that year. It was the Cincinnati bicentennial, we all had jobs to do, as my aunt was a member of the parade committee. I remember there were lots of Styrofoam hats that needed to have ribbons and buttons put on them – fun activities for a 3 year old!! I made a fort out of the boxes in the foyer of my aunt’s house.
After those two summers, I always wanted to come back. My parents spent many years taking my whole family back and forth. One year, they surprised me with a short trip during the school year – I was 12 and it was glorious! My sister, who had since moved here, took me for a drive in her black mustang convertible; it is one of my favorite memories. I wanted that life.
GTGA Intern Liza: What is your absolute favorite thing about living in America?
Cathyann: There are lots of things I love about living here, but my favorite would have to be my independence. It sounds corny, but the life I lived before I moved here, was completely different. I felt like I was always making decisions based on other people’s happiness. Over here, my decisions are made based solely on what is best for me. Of course I take other people into consideration and sometimes my system has its flaws, but for the most part, my independence is intact and thriving!
GTGA Intern Liza: What advice would you give to people who are in need or some inspiration and motivation in their lives.
Cathyann: Follow your instincts, take risks, you have nothing to lose but your potential happiness and fulfillment. Even if it means some people are not happy with your choices, go for it. And if it was the wrong choice, don’t regret the experience, learn from it, rise up, move on and try again, we only have this one life to live!
GTGA Intern Liza: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Cathyann: This is difficult. There have been a lot of positive influences throughout my life, my family members are all successful and happy, so they have been inspirational to me, but I am also the youngest, so they have always been protective. I have had a lot of friends throughout my life that have been positive, in many different ways. But I have also learned that you can look up to someone and believe that they have a positive influence on your existence, but find out that you yourself have surpassed their positivity and have become a person you never thought you could be.
GTGA Intern Liza: What is your biggest motivator?
Cathyann: I think my biggest motivator is my ambition. I constantly want to achieve more, do more, learn more, and that pushes me to keep moving. There’s so much to see, learn and do in the world, I don’t want to miss out on anything!!!!!
GTGA Intern Liza: Finish this sentence: America is ….
Cathyann: America is……my freedom
GTGA Intern Liza: What is a motto you live by and why?
Cathyann: You are the author of your own destiny; you are exactly where you are supposed to be, because everything happens for a reason.
GTGA Intern Liza: Any other information or quotes you would like for us to feature in your post.
Cathyann: I love being Irish. It’s who I am. And I will never lose it. But it makes me incredibly proud to live in a country where being Irish is so celebrated, it makes me even more proud of my roots.
CINspirational People: Jill Dunne
CINspirational People is a new feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. Know someone for us to consider? Please submit your idea.
GTGA: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Jill: Professionally, I am proud to have represented some of Cincinnati’s best organizations. Having a career that I love is something I will never take for granted. Plus, I can’t help but tell people that I was on the Today Show and Good Morning America.
GTGA: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Jill: It’s a cliché to say my mom – but it’s absolutely true. I’ve never met someone more patient, kind and loving. She has been an inspiration to me, my four sisters and so many others.
GTGA: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impact you?
Jill: I remember watching David Letterman on the Late Show when I was a teenager and hearing him say: “If you think life is boring, you are doing something wrong.” Through the years, I think of that quote when I feel overwhelmed and I remind myself I must be doing things right. I am NEVER bored.
GTGA: What is your biggest motivator?
My family is my motivation. My parents, sisters, husband and my daughter give me my drive. They are so awesome – I want to make them proud.
GTGA: Tell us about what you do and what are some of the reasons why you enjoy it.
Jill: I love my job as the marketing and communications director for the Cincinnati Art Museum because I get to tell the stories of 65,000 works of art spanning 6,000 years. Although I’ve been in this role for just seven months, I am passionate about bringing art into the lives of the people of Cincinnati. My husband and I got married at the Cincinnati Art Museum well before I started working here, so that’s proof that I genuinely love this place.
CINspirational People: Bryan Sickling
GTGA Intern Liza Hartke met Bryan Sickling walking his cat outside. He is our #CINspirational People profile today.
Liza: Your cat is adorable, what is it’s name?
Bryan: Basket!
Liza: So, I’m curious; what made you decide to walk your cat?
Bryan: I used to live near the Bengal’s stadium. On my way home, I used to always see an old man walking his black cat on a leash. So I thought “hey, I might try this out!”
This way he can get out and enjoy the weather.
Liza: Not a bad idea, Bryan!
CINspirational People: Sherry Hopkins
CINspirational People is a new feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. Know someone for us to consider? Please submit your idea.
Sherry Hopkins
GTGA: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Sherry: Overcoming my fear of public speaking!
GTGA: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Sherry: My Grandfather, William Symons, who lived to be 100 years old, embodied the spirit of living life to the fullest, and believed that five words applied to 
anything worth doing: knowledge, education, curiosity, imagination, and perseverance. His strong work ethics began as a 10-year-old boy working 20-hour days for a grocery store, during the summer. With a boy scout’s handbook, he made his first ham-radio receiver using a “coherer” and 2 electric doorbells. After taking violin lessons, he played in the high school orchestra, and went on to become a Concert Master for Symphonies in Indiana, Illinois, California, Florida, and Cincinnati. Working as a Radio Engineer for WLW in Cincinnati, he witnessed the Flood of 1937. He held a variety of engineering positions for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, in Munich, Berlin, and other Cities across Germany. He designed and built the first portable sound projector and portable public address system. We have so much to learn from this generation of individuals!
GTGA: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impacted you?
Sherry: I have quite a few…here are two of them: “In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take” and “Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching.” These resonate with me, because too often people make fear based choices, and if you follow your passions, you’ll be successful!
GTGA: What is your biggest motivator?
Sherry: The passing of time.
GTGA: Tell us about an act of kindness you have done, witnessed or been the recipient of and how that made you feel.
Sherry: A few years ago, I made “care bags” for homeless people, filled with deodorant, toothpaste, razor, crackers, fruit snacks, pudding, etc., and gave some of them to friends and family to keep in their cars for the opportunity to give to the needy.
GTGA: Tell us about what you do and what are some of the reasons why you enjoy it.
Sherry: Having served in the U.S. Army following High School to take advantage of the G.I. Bill for college, and working in the corporate world for 30 years, I’ve been fortunate to follow my passions and have my own company, “Sherry Lachelle Photography”, and am a freelance photographer for Local 12’s online magazine, “Cincinnati Refined”. I also take people on trips around the world as a Tour Director through my “Travel Spirit Meetup”, and help elderly people organize their homes. These are all things I love to do and did them for free before they turned into money-making ventures. If you haven’t heard, Scientists have identified a “travel” gene and I’m sure I was born with it!
CINspirational People: Amy Scalia
We are eager to share our first CINspirational People feature focusing on Amy Scalia, publisher of Cincy Chic. CINspirational People will spotlight a broad range of people in Greater Cincinnati and some of what inspires them. Please read what Amy shared with us.
GTGA: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Amy: Being a mom is hands-down my greatest accomplishment. Not just because bringing a child into the world is a miracle (which it is and it’s amazing!), but we experienced many issues getting pregnant. I wrote more about that here — but in short, after years of thinking I might not ever be a mom, I was able to and she’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.
Second to that achievement is starting my business, being the proud owner for eight years, and the impact we have on the community. We provide weekly content to 25,000 subscribers, help hundreds of local businesses grow through our services, and we donate nearly $20,000 annually to local charities through our events.
Mabel Storer
GTGA: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Amy: My grandma, Mabel Storer, was one of the first female newspaper reporters in Ohio. She had so many amazing stories, and it sparked a life-long fascination with media. She had such a giving heart, too, and that inspired me to add the philanthropy arm of our business where all our event proceeds are donated to select local charities.
GTGA: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impact you?
Amy: “Go to sleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose.” This is my motto because I think it’s important to not just dream, but also figure out a way to bring those dreams into reality.
GTGA: What is your biggest motivator?
Amy: Life is short. What more motivation do you need?
GTGA: Tell us about an act of kindness you have done, witnessed or been the recipient of and how that made you feel.
Amy: My husband has a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis and it’s gotten much worse over the past few years. In fact, he got double hip replacements last year and double knee replacements a few months ago. All of this while I was pregnant and then with a newborn. I’d be writing this from the looney bin if it wasn’t for the kindness of others. They came out of the woodwork for us. Bringing us food, helping us bring in and put together baby furniture, do yard work, you name it. Even just recently, we were at a restaurant after Pete got his new knees and we had the baby with us. The restaurant had a 45 minute wait and someone who already had a seat gave us theirs so we didn’t need to wait and they sat there and waited again for a table. I couldn’t believe it. These past few years have been my most challenging by far, but I’m humbled by and so thankful for all the acts of kindness that got us through it.
GTGA: Tell us about what you do and what are some of the reasons why you enjoy it.
Oh gosh. What don’t I do?! haha! My main responsibility is running Cincy Chic, an online publication in Greater Cincinnati. I also oversee its sister publication in Columbus, which is called Cbus Chic, and its “brother” publication called Cincinnati Profile. In addition to that, I blog for Cincinnati.com and am on-air talent for Star64. What I love is that every day is different, but what remains constant is that everything I do tells the stories of local business owners and helps them grow.
