The president of School Solutions, Inc. has watched his school furniture and equipment business quadruple its sales dollars in three years, to a high of $4.2 million. Founded in 1999, Mike Sigsbee credits the much of company's success to the selection of quality product lines and reliable manufacturers. But he also praises School Solutions' two other sales representatives; the three have a combined 30 years of experience in the school supply industry. That's only three years fewer than Sigsbee has been able to talk.

Another inspiring growth Sigsbee witnessed was that of his Youth Friends partner, Eric Wood, as he matured from a ten-year-old boy to an eighteen-year-old young man. "Helping him work through many difficult issues in his life, and sharing my lessons learned with him continues to be the greatest achievement, if you can call it that, for me," he says. Sigsbee remains active in the YMCA and the Young Entrepreneur's Organization. A resolution to re-center his time around family has opened Sigsbee's eyes and heart to a more satisfying personal life.

Jeff Simon carries a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote clipped from the newspaper on the day his father passed away in 1991. It finishes, " . . . to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived . . . this is to have succeeded." Upholding the law is his primary service: the Husch & Eppenberger member was recently named among Kansas City attorneys as Best of Bar; he is the youngest president to lead the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners; and he founded the exclusive Irish Police Commissioners Association. But Simon acknowledges "solving the world's problems over a pint with close friends is what I will cherish most when it comes time to hang up my cleats."

He treasures big moments with wife Amy and their four sons as well, like first communions, reading books aloud, and anniversary dinners. Simon began a new chapter of service last May when appointed by Governor Holden as a board member of the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority, collaborating to find low-cost financing alternatives for the state’s non-profit health and educational institutions.

Grateful for the opportunities and support this Missourian was given throughout his young career as a lawyer, Steve Soden doles time back to some of the very establishments behind what he is today. As a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, Soden chairs the Search Committee. He's responsible for new and lateral associate hiring in Kansas City and SHB's five other office locations. Soden has taken on numerous pro bono cases involving civil rights violations and juvenile criminal actions. Actively involved in the Student Law Internship Program, he helps place KCMO public high school students at law firms for summer jobs. Introducing hundreds of local students to a professional work environment strikes a chord within Soden because he attended KCMO public schools from kindergarten through high school, "and I recognize some of the challenges faced by these students," he says. With an undergraduate and law degree from the University of Missouri, Soden is firmly rooted in the area.

Soden and his wife Sarah are expecting their second child very soon.

Amy Sokol received both a law degree and Master in Health Administration from St. Louis University, with high honors in each. Seven years later, she joins these two professional passions into her job as Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Responsibility Officer for Carondelet Health. "I am driven by my desire to improve health care and advocate for the inherent dignity and respect of all individuals," says Sokol. She must determine "the right thing to do" not only for the organization but for the patient, and then look at what is required under the law. She began her career as an associate at Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy law firm.

Sokol has published numerous articles and co-authored books addressing legal issues on topics from health insurance to healthcare business transactions via the internet. She also shares her knowledge as an adjunct professor at both Rockhurst and Kansas Universities. Sokol and her husband Steven undertake their toughest yet most rewarding challenge in raising Katie, "our precocious three-year-old."