‘What changed was finding that I could stick to a regimen and follow a process to get me to the finish line. I got down to 172 pounds.’

NOAH LAM, STONY BROOK

“I was overweight at 245 pounds in 2007, balancing a pint of ice cream on my belly and watching Forrest Gump run across America. I decided to run the 2008 New York City Marathon. I was totally clueless and started with a 10K, then learned about 5K runs. It took me a while to figure out the schedule. What changed was finding that I could stick to a regimen and follow a process to get me to the finish line. I got down to 172 pounds.

“In 2013, I had a seizure. Waking up in the hospital made me think about life and all the possibilities that I have not ventured. I had wanted to register for a full Ironman. I couldn’t even swim across the pool, let alone do a 2.4-mile swim.

“My biggest inspiration to try the triathlon was when my then-preteen daughter was feeling stuck in life, and we talked about change. She said she knew it was possible because she’d seen me do it. Knowing that she’d been watching, and that I’d made an impact on her, shifted the focus for me.

“Since then, I’ve completed 12 marathons and one full Ironman triathlon in 2014: 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run. From the Ironman, I understood that I could do more than I thought was possible.

“My fitness journey inspired my wife to also do marathons as well as a full Ironman triathlon. And that led to my son starting to get into triathlon. He got competitive and really good at the sport. But I realized going to different races around the country that it wasn’t available to a lot of kids. I noticed that there was a big gap between who’s doing racing and who’s not doing racing. There was no real program out there that had kids doing triathlon as a sport.

“I decided to pay it forward by creating the nonprofit youth triathlon team the Lightning Warriors in 2017. The mission is triathlon for all kids. The vision is that encouraging lifelong fitness begins by inspiring our youth. We have about 111 boys and girls ages 7 to 17 on the roster now from both counties and Brooklyn and Queens.”

I learned the cancer has been growing for about 10 years, which means I’ve been swimming, biking and running with it growing.

“Since creating the team, we’ve helped hundreds of kids cross the finish line of different youth triathlons, including our own race, the Mini Maniac Youth Triathlon, established in 2019. We’ve supported several kids who qualify for nationals, and one has qualified for worlds 2024.

“Also, in 2023, we earned the New York State high school club championship. We help families who cannot afford to participate. But towards the end of July 2023, I was diagnosed with a nodule in the thyroid, and with further tests and scans, it turned out to be a metastasized papillary thyroid carcinoma infiltrating the thyroid, surrounding lymph nodes and moved a little to the lungs.

“It’s a slow-growing cancer that was finally discovered by a pre-exam for a colonoscopy. I learned the cancer has been growing for about 10 years, which means I’ve been swimming, biking and running with it growing. I believe that if I were not that active, we probably wouldn’t be having this dialogue. But my family and I are very glad that we can now stop it, so I can continue to help more kids and do more things for the community.

“I’m doing a clinical trial to reduce the cancer to make my surgery less morbid. I’ve gained some weight with all the stress, but now that we have a solution, I’m feeling better and getting back on the horse to get back into shape. I don’t think I would have been able to deal with this mentally without the training that I’ve done. With all my training, I’ve learned you can push through a lot more than you think you could. I would say weight loss is a big factor in terms of making sure this is managed a little bit better.

“I recommend everyone always get a checkup. I think we take things for granted and don’t realize how important we are in people’s lives, so we need to maintain our health.

“Having the big picture and vision that involves knowing that you need to stay healthy, and that you can lean on others to make sure that your vision happens, is important.”

Interviewed by Liza N. Burby

‘I’ve been dealing with bipolar disorder, which hasn’t been the easiest because I had to overcome suicidal ideations.’

GERALDINE SMITH, ELMONT

“I started in makeup about five to 10 years ago. I was in high school, and I saw a friend of mine who was really fascinated with it. Because she was heavily into makeup, it motivated me. I thought it was cool the way she could transform a person’s features and enhance her beauty. So, from there, I started practicing on other people, family members and close friends.

“I had mental struggles from when I was 17. I’ve been dealing with bipolar disorder, which hasn’t been the easiest because I had to overcome suicidal ideations. It was hard even sometimes with being around close relatives. There was a lot of relationship issues going around within my life. I think that’s what affected me to the extent where I didn’t even want to be here anymore because I felt I was at a place where nobody was able to really be there for me or really treat me right.

I take my passion and my clientele seriously.

“My mental health struggles did affect me when it came to my business. A lot of the times I would be very depressed and stressed out. I would have to put on a face like I was OK around clientele. I think that’s what made it hard because a lot of the times I was not OK. I would just suck it up and tell myself, ‘Well, I have to be strong about it.’ In reality, I was breaking down.

“But over time, I told myself this is something that I have to accept. Ever since I started to accept it, I started to realize there’s nothing really wrong with me. It’s just a matter of diagnosis. It doesn’t define me. It doesn’t make me a bad person. I just had to be strong about it.

“So, right now, my business name is @finessedbygee. I do have my business registered. I want to get back into being in a space. My goal right now is to get out of my parents’ home pretty much and into my own apartment, which I’m working on. Once I do that, I can focus on bringing in clients, doing makeovers and seeing my business take off.

“Ultimately, my goal is to be full time with the makeup. I would say it’s a career choice. I take my passion and my clientele seriously. I want to be able to get as much exposure as possible, so that way I can really excel when it comes to having a thriving business.”

Interviewed by Victoria Bell

‘I had always been a fan of professional wrestling growing up. Announcing saved my life.’

Ryan Peterson, Bethpage

“I have two jobs: By day, I’m a technical assistant for account managers at an insurance broker, and by night, I’m a sports announcer for sporting events, including MMA, kickboxing and professional wrestling. I’m basically the gentleman in the suit introducing the fighters coming into the ring or cage. It was a long road to get to this point.

“I grew up in a single-parent home. I had a difficult time because I was bullied in middle school. By the time I got to college, I was still a shy guy, but I loved working on an internet radio show. I had always been a fan of professional wrestling growing up.

I try to get the crowd involved. If the kids are happy, it makes me and the fighters love what we do even more.

“In my 20s, I became friends with people who did professional independent wrestling. In the beginning, I tried wrestling myself. It’s not as easy as people think. I quit after the first two weeks because it wasn’t for me.

“There was a training school that hosted a seminar by WWE Hall of Famer ‘Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart. I said to Mr. Hart, ‘I’d like to participate, but I’m not a wrestler. What can I do?’ He said, ‘Why don’t you try being a referee?’ I wasn’t good. The school said, ‘This guy is actually a radio DJ. Why don’t you give him a shot at announcing?’ So, I took the microphone, did what I normally observe, and he said, ‘Son, that is your calling.’ Those four words are near and dear to my heart.

“Two months later, I officially made my announcing debut in front of 300 people. Until that point, I hated public speaking. I was a nervous wreck, but the adrenaline kicked in, and all my fears went away. It has been more than 10 years, and now I’ve done shows all over the U.S.

“I’ve also been featured on global pay-per-view, and I’m a mainstay at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, which hosts 10,000 people. I’m living my childhood dream in that I’m involved with wrestling but not getting hurt.

“I try to get the crowd involved. If the kids are happy, it makes me and the fighters love what we do even more. It’s all about giving back to the fans. Announcing saved my life. I’ve lost a lot of weight since beginning, and it made me feel good about myself again. I feel more competent in interacting with people. I’m very happy with the person that I am today.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘I sat on the couch and felt this pull from the universe. I stayed there and wrote mantras on different topics.’

Erin Marrazzo, Holbrook

“I was a shy child, afraid to be myself and of what others might think of me. What led me to want to teach was to inspire children, to be that special person for a child, and to give them the tools that they would need to feel confident and be able to shine.

“Yoga helped me a great deal over the years. Saying positive mantras helped me evolve as a mother, teacher and wife. I wanted to bring that to the children that I teach, but I wasn’t certified. I reached a point where I didn’t want to put it on the back burner anymore. In 2022, I received my first yoga teaching certification for adults and brought yoga into my classroom.

I sought advice. A self-published author told me, ‘I think you have something here.

“I obtained my children’s yoga teaching certification after pursuing my certification to teach adults. I then offered to teach yoga to the kids during the school day, and received a wonderful response of interest and encouragement from the parents. It was such a beautiful time developing this weekly practice with my students. They really benefited from the positive self-talk. Some of them had struggles with self-confidence and emotions, which is typical, but especially so as the COVID years impacted them emotionally and socially. I started writing. I wrote little mantras for children to say to themselves and saw positive benefits. Soon we were saying mantras in the classroom to start our day.

“Last June, I put the kids in bed one night and told my husband I was going to stay downstairs for a while. I sat on the couch and felt this pull from the universe. I stayed there and wrote mantras on different topics. The next day, I told some of my friends about it, saying, maybe I’ll use this with my students. A few more days passed before I realized there might be more to this.

“I sought advice. A self-published author told me, ‘I think you have something here. This might be bigger than your classroom.’ That’s where it began. I never planned to write a children’s wellness book or thought of myself as an author, but I found an editor and a wonderful illustrator. This team helped bring my book, ‘Everyday Mindful Mantras for Minis,’ to life.

“It’s been such a wonderful journey. I’ve been able to share this book with children. It’s a book that all children can benefit from. I receive great feedback, and it’s been nice to share this not just with my schoolchildren, but beyond.”

Interviewed by Shoshanna McCollum

‘I want to make sure that the people who need help get it.’

POLO LAGRANDIER III, BAY SHORE

“I was born in Bay Shore, one of three, and was raised by two wonderful parents. My father was a New York City firefighter. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire right after 9/11 because he got hurt while responding, and he lost a lot of friends. That took a toll on my family. He’s my inspiration for the stuff I do now. I’ve seen him help so many people.

“My mother’s the same way. They’re great people, very loving, very caring, very giving. We didn’t have a lot to give when I was growing up, but they gave what they could. My father is a hero in my eyes; I want to make him proud.

It hits my soul. I started the organization with three guys in my backyard and I just love watching it grow.

“I started Sons of Liberty LI as a nonprofit charitable organization a few years ago. We do a lot of charitable events for the United Veterans Beacon House, a shelter that takes in homeless veterans and gives them a place to stay. We’ve donated over 1,000 turkeys in the last few years, really anything they need, like blankets, towels. We also work with the American Veterans Association. I do a ton of work for Toys for Tots, as well as cancer hospitals. All of this stuff hits my heart. I want to make sure that the people who need help get it.

“We have about 20 members, plus our wives and families are heavily involved. We have a huge support base in our community. We have a clubhouse, and we have fundraisers. People donate their time. We get live bands, DJs. People donate baskets to raffle off. People come and dance and have a good time; it’s very family oriented. They bring things to donate, and they get to enjoy themselves; they love the atmosphere.

“It hits my soul. I started the organization with three guys in my backyard and I just love watching it grow. My son, who’s only 8 years old, gets an opportunity to see how it feels to be a part of loving an organization and to see my satisfaction in helping people who really need it.

“It goes back to when I was a kid and I used to travel to the city with my father, just watching the way he interacted with the homeless people. He would always give what he could. I really respected that. I’m not wealthy, I’m comfortable — I’m a maintenance supervisor for the Brentwood School District. But I feel like if you can give back, you live a good life.”

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘Now that I’m an endo warrior, I pay more attention to my body. I learned that I am tougher than I thought.’

Krystal Chocianowski, Massapequa

“Endometriosis is a terrible disease that affects 1 in 10 women. Most women don’t know they have it. I had very painful periods ever since I started puberty; I needed a heating pad in my lap while at work and Tylenol and Motrin to just get me through the day. When I told the gynecologist I had a lot of pain, he told me to take birth control. I was still doubled over in pain.

“In 2019, I was trying to conceive. It didn’t go well, so my gynecologist suggested a test to see if my fallopian tubes were blocked. He suspected that I had endometriosis, which is a uterine lining-like tissue that grows outside of the uterus. It’s like having a spider web inside of your abdomen. It tends to stick to your organs.

Women with pain often get blown off because doctors just can’t see the problem.

“I found out my left tube was blocked, so I was sent to an endometriosis specialist. There are very few doctors who specialize in endometriosis, especially excision surgery which is known as the golden standard for treatment. In June, I ended up having scheduled excision surgery, during which they go in robotically to remove it. I had it stuck to my bladder and all around my abdomen. There is no cure, so it’s possible that it will grow back.

“Because I had lost a fallopian tube, I went through the IVF process. I was told there was a 25 percent chance I would be able to get pregnant. I started my first IVF treatment in August, but that didn’t work. I started the next cycle in December and was lucky to enough to get pregnant. I now have beautiful twins. After that, I was able to have another child without IVF.

“Everybody is not lucky enough to be fertile after they have endometriosis. Women need to realize what a normal amount of pain is when they have their periods. After the surgery, I finally had regular periods and I’m not in pain. Now that I’m an endo warrior, I pay more attention to my body. I learned that I am tougher than I thought.

“People should advocate for themselves with their health and do their own research while looking for a specialist. Women with pain often get blown off because doctors just can’t see the problem. If you keep pushing and looking for the right doctor to help you, somebody will eventually be able to find it and help.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘It turns out I ended up with the ability to do things with my hands, thanks to the things my uncle and aunt showed me.’

Pasquale Giaquinto, Lido Beach

“My dad died at age 37, when I was 3. However, I had a next-door neighbor who took over as my father figure. I used to go over to his house starting when I was as young as 4 years old. He would give me a hammer and nails and let me watch him build things like chairs and a treehouse, which showed me how to do things with my hands. His wife also taught me about things like nature and gardening. I called them my uncle and aunt. I spent a lot of time with them; they were there for me and helped build the foundation of who I am.

“Growing up in Elmont, I had an interest in the arts as a kid. After graduating high school in 1970, I went to an art school, but after that I realized that I couldn’t make money in the art field. A girl I was dating at the time had a floor waxing machine in her house, and I always loved the smell when my mom waxed our floors as a kid, so I was inspired and started a floor waxing business.

“I bought a truck, did some residential floor waxing and some stores, too, then eventually started a commercial cleaning business, which I’ve been doing for 50 years now.

“I ended up with a lot of free time after a while because my business was running well, so I ended up buying a shack in Patchogue and made the whole thing over — the architecture, the landscaping, the whole nine yards, the interior, all the construction. I didn’t hire any contractors, so it was a slower build, but I did it all with my own hands.

“It turns out I ended up with the ability to do things with my hands, thanks to the things my uncle and aunt showed me. I ended up selling that house and then moved to Lido Beach in 1993, where I bought a fixer-upper and redid that house, where I live today. I redid it room by room. I did intricate sculpture artwork, including moldings. I built the staircases, the outside deck and more.

“The house is filled with artwork, so much so that I can’t fit anything else on my walls. I also collect statues, and I have over 700 sculptures and statues in and outside my house in my collection. My house is like a museum.”

I had taken some boxing lessons as a teenager before I got started with martial arts. I studied tae kwon do and then got a black belt in American Combat.

“I’ve been doing martial arts for 50 years. I got started when I was 20. It was the Bruce Lee period, and I got really inspired by his movies. I also really loved watching boxing, and I was intrigued by the combat. I had taken some boxing lessons as a teenager before I got started with martial arts. I studied tae kwon do, and then got a black belt in American Combat. I used to fight in competitions, and I’ve taught Muay Thai kickboxing for 20 years.

“Today. I teach aerobic kickboxing, and I’m an official for the ISKA [International Sport Karate and Kickboxing Association], helping with fights. The martial arts are definitely an art form of their own. Learning martial arts requires repeating kicks and punches thousands and thousands of times so that you don’t need to think about what to do during a fight.

“When it comes to fighting somebody, it helps to be a creative person. You might throw a blow to the face, which distracts your opponent, and his hands go up, and then you hit him in the ribs. So a creative mind is definitely beneficial. It was the same in art school, using repetition learning to draw figures and using models, learning to draw the human body.

“Whether it’s art or martial arts, I think of myself as a creative person. I also love cooking; my mom inspired me that way. She was a single parent, but she loved to cook and cook for people. It could have been 2 in the morning, but she’d ask, ‘Do you want me to cook you something?’ She would also always tell me, ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s all going to work out.’ That’s how I live my life. I don’t worry about anything but my health. She made me into a positive person.

“All these things I do in my life, I feel, come from a great foundation that was formed by the people who raised me, who taught me to care about people and want to help them out. I like teaching people, and I like helping people with their statue repairs, or really any kind of help. Whatever people need, I’m here for them.”

Interviewed by Ian Stark

‘I remember one time my mother and I were arguing about something, and I slammed my bedroom door in anger, which accidentally slammed on her hand.’

David Morgan, Stony Brook

“I had a hard time in school when I was a kid. At one point, I actually went to the guidance counselor to see if I could be put into special education classes. My grades were bad, but standardized testing showed I had a high average IQ. It turned out I had an attention deficit disorder, but that really wasn’t something kids were diagnosed with back then.

“I was also a very angry kid, which was caused by my attention issues. I got into some fights. Although I didn’t really seek them out, it was more about being tough and not being someone that you’d want to mess with.

“I remember one time my mother and I were arguing about something, and I slammed my bedroom door in anger, which accidentally slammed on her hand. I still feel terrible about that today.

“Most of my anger went toward my parents, but I also played football and lacrosse, which was an outlet for some of that anger. Coaches would say ‘Get angry’ to motivate players, which, looking back, wasn’t probably the best thing to tell a kid like me. My parents did have me see a therapist, who ended up telling me I was just lazy, which is wrong. Aside from sports, I did jobs like delivering Newsday, mowing lawns and things like that.

“I started at Suffolk Community College, where I figured, after two years, I’d finish and become a cop. However, I started getting good grades, probably because of the different style of teaching you get in college, and after taking a psychology class, found myself going in a new direction. I then went to [SUNY] Oswego, and then to Stony Brook [University], where I got my master’s degree.

“Soon after, I started working at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, where I often worked with kids, mostly boys, in the psychiatric emergency room. Maybe it was because of my experiences growing up, but I felt like I was connecting with a lot of the patients.

“I also worked in my own practice as a psychotherapist. It was during this work I began to get an idea of how anger was a factor in some psychiatric situations and also how it was impacting people’s lives — but also based on what I went through as a kid.”

We try and teach people to not let things lead to anger. If your boss is giving you a hard time, leave it at work.

“Anger is a secondary emotion. It comes from a primitive part of our brain called the amygdala. At one time, anger was more of an important function we used to protect ourselves, but today it can cause us a lot of problems. It’s like if there’s a triangle, anger is at the peak. Below that is an initial emotional response, and at the bottom there’s an unresolved issue. If we can’t resolve something with our first emotional response, we get angry.

“Today I’m the director of operations of Anger Management U, a company that teaches anger management skills to people of all ages. A lot of people come to us because of how their anger issues are affecting their relationships, but anger is important to address for other reasons. It can lead to unhappiness and depression, whether it’s because someone is acting out or pointing it inward. It can be harder to spot in someone who isn’t clearly angry, but maybe instead is acting in a passive-aggressive way.

“It can also be caused by frustration, like what I went through as a kid. We try and teach people to not let things lead to anger. If your boss is giving you a hard time, leave it at work instead of coming home and yelling at your spouse. If you’re driving, try to think of the consequences of what getting angry can be.

“A lot of times anger is associated with being a man, and a scary man can be more obvious and intimidating when a man is larger, but women can have anger issues too, and while sometimes a male is told things like ‘Man up’ and ‘Act like a man’ when it comes to their emotions, women may be told to be more ‘ladylike.’ Anger can interfere with a woman’s life, too, so really anyone can benefit from learning how to deal with their anger. I personally think they should teach anger management in school. I wish when I was a kid someone recognized what I was dealing with; it would have helped a lot.”

Interviewed by Ian Stark

‘I wear many hats, but essentially, I am an energy worker, a teacher and a therapist. They all blend pretty much together.’

KAITLYN GAJEWSKI, PATCHOGUE

“I wear many hats, but essentially, I am an energy worker, a teacher and a therapist. They all blend together. I started my reiki journey eight years ago. I’ve been professionally practicing for seven years. I always knew that I wanted to help people. I didn’t know what direction that was going to leave me in, so I studied a whole bunch of things. I went to school and graduated with my bachelor of science in psych. Then I decided I didn’t want to be a conventional therapist.

“Every time I was doing jobs, they felt nice, but it wasn’t pulling at my soul. And for years, reiki was nudging me. Every time I was like internally having like one of those moments, a little angel in the form of a stranger or a coworker would say, you should try reiki.

“I tried it because I heard it could help me physically. And it did. But it also helped me on so many other levels. It changed my whole life, changed my whole awareness about myself. I was so unaware of the stuff I was carrying — trauma, heartbreak, everything. It just slowly helps you see that in a gentle way so that you can move it. Six months after, I asked to learn it, and my teacher nearly hopped out of her chair. She was like, ‘This is what you’re supposed to be doing!’

I love to help people, and it’s all about the energy and the person’s willingness to have the experience.

“Reiki could be defined in so many words, but simply put, I like to say it’s the soul massage you’ve been waiting for. It’s a practice that helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The practitioner channels the energy that’s all around us through them and guides it into the person’s body to help push out, gently guide out, the stagnant energy within them that’s causing them discomfort or worry.

“When people come in and I ask them what their intention is, I really believe everything should be intentional. And when we’re more intentional, the energy is more directed, so they receive more of a directed outcome. So, what is it you want to let go of? Or if you can’t think of anything you want to let go of, what is it you’re creating space for?

“I love to help people, and it’s all about the energy and the person’s willingness to have the experience. I’m just the bridge, but still, I’m witnessing it, you know, and it’s a true honor every time.”

Interviewed by Maggie Melito

‘What’s important to me is knowing that I made a significant effort to have a positive influence on the lives of others.’

Arthur Dobrin, Westbury

“When my wife, Lyn, and I joined the Peace Corps after graduating from college in January of 1965, there were only two places in the world that were taking Peace Corps volunteers — Kenya and Thailand. I was very interested in Africa because I had been a history major and thought that I would continue with African studies. We were in Kenya for two years, and our son was born there. Later we led educational safaris and sponsored a school. I was involved with farmers cooperatives — people who grew coffee — and Lyn was involved with women’s empowerment initiatives.

“What most impressed us was how people who can be very different from you fundamentally are also very much like you; it’s appreciation of good people who can be found anyplace, anywhere, anytime. Beyond the cultural differences, there are things that make us all human. We all seek to be respected, and we all desire to have lives that are filled with happiness. When we moved back to America, I became the leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, where I served as a minister. For many years, I was also a teacher at Hofstra University.

“What’s important to me is knowing that I made a significant effort to have a positive influence on the lives of others. Writing has always been central to everything that I do. I’ve published 30 books ranging from fiction to poetry to philosophy to children’s books. ‘Westbury Imagined’ is my latest; it’s historical fiction with a bit of poetry included. We have lived in the same house in Westbury since 1969. Our children also live in this town, our grandchildren grew up here, and we are still very involved in community organizations such as Westbury Arts.

“I started writing ‘Westbury Imagined’ about all the people who have lived in the houses on my street, and it quickly expanded to across the street, down the block and further. I think there is value in recognizing wherever you are it is really infinitely interesting and full of very human stories.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan