Meet Allisyn “Meeks,” Jasmin, and Ezequias "Zeek"—three young people on a mission to meet and learn from other Arizonans working in education, marketing, government, and more—and follow them as they travel across their home state in search of fulfilling and inspiring career paths. 

All Paths Arizona

Insights From The Film

See the hidden gems and inspiring career possibilities available in Arizona.

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.406 align:center line:-1 position:50% size:12% [MUSIC] think of Arizona, you think of deserts and when I think of Arizona, I think of hidden gems, have an amazing time at. that are outside of Arizona, it's just a big dust rock or see all the different things and each city has its own qualities. I've been learning a lot more about what's in Arizona, are doing in Arizona. I still don't know, I think friction. doing it sometimes, you know? a fancy technique. I'm really comfortable, I love traveling. [CROSSTALK] I love my family, don't get me wrong, but. so I know I'm gonna miss her, but be a few weeks. feel like I'm always on the go, always doing something. therapeutic [INAUDIBLE]. What do you guys interested in most? meet people honestly, all these leaders in Arizona, it's me state, I need to move somewhere else to find what I want to do. interviews with the leaders make me a little nervous just to see question to ask them? ask them to get them talking? &gt;&gt; [MUSIC] Jasmin are gonna be in this big green RV. through Arizona. meeting different leaders. successful leaders in Arizona. on an adventure. name is Ezequias Fuentes. just finished my sophomore year at Arizona State University. six guys, four girls, we have my nieces and nephew there. get quiet at all. right now actually. be careful okay [INAUDIBLE] &gt;&gt; Ezequias: I'm kind of put myself in a position where I can be stable in life. the house, you know I live with a lot people [LAUGH]. very humble beginnings. able to prove to myself and family that we can come from absolutely nothing, through, we can use all that to kind of elevate us. out of 10 siblings to go to university on a full ride. a lot of pressure. I'm at right now. out exactly what opportunity I need to take now that'll that I want in the future. Jasmin Esmeralda Menjivar. I am, nope [LAUGH]. Jasmin Esmeralda Menjivar and my pronouns are she, her, hers. with a minor in chemistry at Northern Arizona University. a little bit more outdoorsy. just to like stargaze. many different things that I'm really interested in. Latinx student. I feel like I always have to know what I'm doing. got to do the best you can and it seemed it's never enough but we're working really hard, very high expectations. my life is super stressed to the point where I was the same time, ups and downs all the time. just super overwhelming. to take some time for myself and do things and enjoy life. the other roadtrippers. interests but, in the same time, never have heard of. throw your hands up in the sky. I'm 22. production at Glendale Community College, where I go. classes in digital arts. music since I was younger. in engineering and producing. Throw a compressor on there for the snare and for the kicks. was like alright, what am I supposed to do now? out the next step, do I wanna just start working in it? I get to see the process of like actually creating shirts. in graphic design and like the arts. school for graphic design but I switched it to music. interest just cuz I like to see visuals and album covers and outs for their albums and things like that, I like that process. how are you all doing? good, nice to meet you. Angela. you made [CROSSTALK]. definitely rocking it. my biggest supporter. want to do, just do it. like you're not doing good in life. the self doubt comes from. the back of my mind. because I want to see what's the final thing, what I want to do? this is cool. It's a really big RV. lying when it's big and green. being on an RV so it's like very new to me but it's really cool. house [LAUGH] [CROSSTALK]. floor right here. really excited for on top of meeting all these successful leaders in Arizona interview Omar Duron. a Stanford study that says that his district is growth. he's doing it right. what he's all about. here you come. &gt;&gt; Allisyn: No cameras please. &gt;&gt; Ezequias: Okay so, we'd love to hear a little bit about your &gt;&gt; Omar: My name is Omar Duron, I am a principal, year as a principal. Gadsden as a third grader. education in in Mexico. bit of a background, I'm the youngest of seven. would always, every weekend, dad to work in the fields. that it really takes from 4 in the afternoon. family work in the fields and I didn't want to follow suit. I follow my own dreams. and second in Mexico. States, and so I started my education here in third grade. strongly about education. that I stuck through it. relate to that a lot. out of 10. the years of my education and being in school, my own as far as motivating myself to continue, goals, sharing that cuz I can definitely relate to that. relate to that. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: Yeah. [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Jasmin: I was low key about talking about your family, I was like. a great connection because, [LAUGH] even as a principal, as back to making sure that I think of my roots and my background. cool to hear that. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: No, it was cool. always have this passion to educate the youth? not initially, but then I was hired at one of our education instructional aide. when I started working there, that's when I felt like, okay, I felt it. seven years, teaching between third grade to sixth grade. to see how else you can impact within our school. teacher and instructional coach, in Educational Leadership. district level and then I became a principal at Southwest and it's like coming full circle. necessarily feel I had growing up in education, stepped into a classroom, that I could to ensure that all of my students within that not only learn the content, but also the language. passionate about what you do and are very lucky to have you as their principal. I appreciate that. [LAUGH] Every day is a new opportunity to face your fears, someone, a new opportunity to make a difference. a really great person. in his big family to attend a university, reach for with learning English, and sure that his students have what he didn't. what he's doing in Arizona, in his community, in his school, this? this? &gt;&gt; Jasmin: [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Allisyn: Let's go. to meet you guys. happy to have you. gonna wear these harnesses. pair of underwear. of the click-it to go on your magnet and then you push it on. all right, these are jiggly. the rope or you're falling. the hardest part, as far as getting through. course, at first I was scared. but if I start crying, that's on you. to live in the moment, so I was having fun. Jasmin on the string course. no, I wanna be careful. scares you, until it doesn't. moving them more. get off the bridge. Jasmin! hella buff after this. the course itself, whether it's school, whether it's work, I'm trying new in life, all the way to the floor and hurt myself. know that are rooting for me. system [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Jasmin: The adventure course why am I scared? do things. say yes to the opportunity. we finally made it to Footprint. planet is healthier people. my sophomore year at Arizona State University. into my junior year. on this trip today and like yourself is just kind of put my foot in the door and of opportunities that there's out there for me. co-founder of Footprint. corporate headquarters. large R&amp;D facility. you see manufacturing, but transfer process. has to innovate everything. competes with plastic in price, develop material science. technologies that actually can produce it. that's competitive with plastic. [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Jasmin: Yeah. of talk a little bit about your high school journey I grew up a fairly, for lack of a better term, poor kid. shoes that anybody bought me, it was a ninth grade. later on in high school, safety pinning my shoes together and was a cool thing. I was poor, couldn't afford another pair of shoes. take an internship at Intel and I loved it. problems with plastic contaminating Intel's product. was contaminating products. was thinking about everything that you bring home from product into Intel, which is probably a big no-no, and everything that we tested was contaminated with plastic. cut fruits, you know, macaroni and cheese, that was stored in plastic. that led us to say, let's go out and create Footprint. your academic success for you or that impacted your life and how has that been for you? learner, for sure. at Yale right now, Yale School of Management, of what I didn't know. inside me, that I needed to learn more, read more. I read a, probably a book and a half a week. a book a week. to prove that you have discipline and skills, is through your education. bring up is because you do come from humble beginnings because I reason why this entrepreneurial spirit came out, and just re-humbling yourself? forget where I come from. about something. even have shoes before. complaining about? How do you manage that? when it comes to business. done anything yet, right? but we're still in the very beginnings of a long journey. that perspective. amount of shoes. they don't even ask for because I didn't have shoes as a kid. of dad being weird about shoes, right? to your question, got to bring yourself back to. to be here, right? keep yourself motivated? ended up learning that I had the right answer. listen to somebody else that may tell you to sit down, to not continue to push. keep pushing. everybody says you have to take risks in life, but it in perspective and like damn. just to say, it's actually something you really got to do. how you feeling? &gt;&gt; Jasmin: My stomach hurts, aah! I got butterflies. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: Dr Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz is an OB Gyn, Health Microbiome Initiative. how we store our samples. supernatants coming off of the cells. really excited for Jasmin. like, this is this, cuz I'm looking at her like, wow, a box. this is for this. her. a vagina essentially. make it easier to study. professor here at the University of Arizona College of medical sciences and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Program and a microbiome initiative here on campus. a little bit more about how you got to where you are today. school I went to undergrad, and at a clinic. maybe this isn't what I want to do. a new faculty member came on board in our department, and and he was, was working on Sin Nombre virus. with him, and so sharing the data that I generated I was like, my gosh, I love this so much. you know what, I think I want to go to grad school. lot of women in this field, but of male gynecologists, how have you overcome those hurdles? gen college student and professional. in Arizona, and so of challenges, right? your head so maybe you guys are first gens too. when you don't have a support system that's been there, can kind of guide you. mentors along the way. strong family of women, and so that's really helped do what I wanna do, and that I have a seat at the table. personal experience, a long time ago when I was in high school. health plays a big part, cuz we're four girls. the Latinx community, we don't really talk about these things late, or you've already been living with this experience for vaginosis and endometriosis. inspired to continue on and the vaginal microbiome. the Latinx community, and I definitely wanna make an impact in here in Arizona. Native American communities, because they are understudied, underrepresented. women in clinical trials, more diverse women. I've really I tried to do through the work that I'm doing. if you want to go and get that professional degree, in what you're doing, don't do it. it just feels right. telling me you need to go back to school and you retain all this information, all these exciting things. I'll be your guide today. feet up the Mogollon Rim. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: I'm excited! through Arizona into New Mexico, the Colorado Plateau. think it was really dope getting up that high on the mountain. those core muscles. a six pack at the end of this. like double up the seatbelts? go out there and see it from an eagle's perspective, basically. I'm working on her. heard because they're shy. just kinda open up, so. grown from being awkward [LAUGH] like a shy person. a little bit more, and see how I feel more comfortable around everyone. that's when I was like, this is amazing. much stress on my shoulders. it's just like, wow. calm in my life. excited to continue this trip with confidence. I still don't know what to expect on this trip nine more days to go We're getting ready to meet the owner of the biggest studio in Arizona Hello Roadtrippers Welcome to the Salt Mine Studio Oasis Share what I am and  for me only you are the person &gt;&gt; Allisyn I know, I was like "oof" My eyes are so open right now.  

Meet Allisyn “Meeks,” Jasmin, and Ezequias—three young people on a mission to meet and learn from other Arizonans working in education, marketing, government, and more—and follow them as they travel across their home state in search of fulfilling and inspiring career paths.

Episode 1: Ways Ahead

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.072 align:center line:-1 position:50% size:12% [MUSIC] days on the road trip. like nine more days to go. we're doing on this trip is going around meeting different getting more insight, like basically, their journeys, we can take in order to get to where we want to go. the crater out in Winslow, Arizona. we're gonna go hiking. hole in the ground. sounded very excited. yeah, my God. losing it right now. the dinosaur extinction one? years ago, so that's too recent. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: Lets go. still in the wind. The other roadtrippers are really cool. she's very laid back. I'm not gonna say nothing, but I'm gonna give you that look. Jasmin, I'm gonna chill out. he's the hype man. our personalities win. what to expect from this trip. to meet Don Salter, the owner of Saltmine Studios. studio in Arizona. in the production of music. audio production at Glendale Community College. of went into me making my own, to get better at making it. sometimes I feel it's frustrating to kinda do it, not good enough. I have a lot of self doubt. listen to a lot of music and like the music I listen to. mind like, no, that's not good enough, or that beat's trash. the self doubt comes from. finish this trip because I want to see if this is really what I something else in the back of my mind that I want to do. I would never think, right, all these artists in Arizona. yes we have big names like Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, DMX. &gt;&gt; Don: Hello Roadtrippers! how are you doing? &gt;&gt; Don: Welcome to let's go. recording studio compound. it's all about the vibe. Oasis, the largest studio in the state of Arizona. recording studios, and four lounges, and bedrooms, and four kitchens. existence that seems like it's all full of a great, scripted life. it's been very organic for me. it's a confidence that you have, happen if you just keep applying yourself to it. is a bunch of speakers, are those NS10s? very wisely pointed out. in operation for. Meeks, I went to school at Glendale Community College for to get more knowledge and be able to pick your brain and who is the Don Salter. high school, I went with my brother to Arizona to open we made Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. real estate, and I found myself making money. to think about, what would you do with the money now? buying recording equipment, writing songs. real estate office closed, and a band that I had started. house, a recording studio. I put more capital into it, and grew it. what I have today. evolution for me. basically make your path out of that second guessing yourself? I'm like is this the right move, me, basically. trying to find a way. a common denominator for me all my life. successful job I applied to be a record store clerk. work here, this is great. there's about 100 people that want a job in a record store. I'm gonna get this job. here for free until you hire me. going down the line and said, hey, can I help you? came down to the fact that I've loved music. in that particular case, they hired me. from the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, ASU and so forth. they become engineers here. me to look back at my life and of my life leading to this exact place. estate, for me to buy this multi the restaurant business customer service. and Swizz Beats, and at 3 o'clock in the morning. hey, thanks for feeding my crew. I happen to be able to do that. blueprint for success. opposition and failure, go cool, that doesn't work. can find a way to make it work. which direction to go but my cheek and I walk that way. we can't do if we just go for it. awesome to meet him. to kind of expand my horizons. I feel like a more diverse education will help resume cuz I felt like I lost all my steam. to kind of get back into it. are headed to Donna. up your lane, so how do you feel like going into this interview. I feel like I love talking, cuz I know I talk a lot, in this business people, they talk a lot, too. I'm currently studying interdisciplinary studies with sales and digital audiences at Arizona State University. and experiencing to do. my best life and traveling and and talking to these amazing leaders and kinda when I think about home or think about family. it's one of the few pictures that are all of us together. kinda like the first out of ten a university on a full ride. you're gonna do big things, you're gonna go out there do it, a lot of pressure. a long time away from them. home, my mom's home with my nephew and nieces, and so being there for them. that was a good one. &gt;&gt; Speaker 5: I want two. &gt;&gt; Ezequias: All right, I'm going to give you one first, will give you another one. as far as this transition from childhood to becoming an adult, figuring out exactly what I wanna do to find who I to do and what I'm meant to do in this world. interviewing Donna Werking, a marketing professional who owns Northern Arizona Social, which is based in Prescott. my name is Donna Werking, I'm a marketing strategist and Northern AZ Social. was really young, and I think I get that from my mother. that actually moved here to the United States, really hard. job to raise four children. me as a child to see how hard my mother would work. I lived on a farm, and actually went to Yavapai College. there in the marketing arena, actually went to NAU. everything on my own. &gt;&gt; Ezequias: We also come from very humble beginnings, point, and my mom has 10 kids. I feel like I haven't been able to fully focus on one thing. don't have that stability and I struggle with is I feel like I'm holding myself back. comfortable at home. out there, I need to just do it on my own for a little bit but conscious of leaving my family behind in a way. going out there and doing it, as much of a go-getter I am. only you are the person that can hold yourself back, or definitely that struggle of having a responsibility to portion where you need to break away to find your dreams and it actually benefits everyone, from your family to your future. humble beginnings builds a lot of character, and that I got out of my youth, grown up and they've gone to the same schools. growing up, I actually had to transition and make new friends and so change is actually not a hard thing for me. an industry that was constantly changing and think, a part of who I am today and my success in my industry. about marketing, and I'm more in the science field area. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: But you're kinda super inspiring. someone at this stage in life, marketing is doable? what would you tell someone at my stage? I mean, absolutely. whatever you do in life, to evolve and change. stay in one area. can put you in a box. I like to problem solve, and way to take all of these special talents that you have, apply it to your industry and what you do. marketing, we do media buys, we work with videographers and to fulfill photography and things like that. it's finding what suits you and what makes you happy. about what makes you happy. I'm happy with what I do. make me really happy, and it's not saying yes to every opportunity will be right for you. tidbit of advice to just moving forward and with whatever you gut, and it feels like it's a good move for you, then do it. thing that you could ever say is yes or no in life. is everything, but learn how to go off and do your own thing. want to see me doing good. marketing is sales and digital audiences and in all their offices. Donna had hosted for motivated to like I can go out there and kill it already. to Donna, marketing just seemed really interesting, a lot of marketing in biology, and it's really needed. gonna make us some pupusas, which I'm excited for. a ball of dough and you start finding out you put on a stove. plancha or komal or a pan. &gt;&gt; [MUSIC] really nervous, especially because there's just so make pupusas, I noticed that I could just ask for help. can you open them a &gt;&gt; Ezequias: Yeah. put a little bit of it. bit in a cup? two Roadtrippers were calling me chef. the beginning of the trip, I was more of an observer. everything, and not really living at the moment, I can talk to these people and everyone and I can have fun. look at that! the last interview. mayor of Flagstaff, Arizona. public policy entrepreneur. are you doing today? &gt;&gt; Coral: Nice meeting all of you. Just to start off, could you tell us a little bit more about all the roles you basically take over here in this city? generation Arizonian. serve as mayor of the city of Flagstaff for two terms and the opportunity to be a DJ. business owner, ran a bar. off with nonprofits for like the last 25 years. I'm one of those individuals that if I see something and then I'm gonna be all up in the mix and doing it. like you were gonna be like, did you always want to be mayor or. did I want to be mayor? I grew up in the projects, everybody, right? in the projects. graduate from high school. went to community college, bounced to University of Phoenix, got my MBA. got a certificate in public administration, a neighborhood here in town, and there was a shooting. I'm standing next to the police officer, and I am mediating between the police and the neighborhood. neighborhood where the city was going to tear down a historic they were going to sell it, hey, wait a minute, that's our building. an effort there. into me running for council. I was gonna quit and not run for council. day and was like, you think because a black guy won in in hell at being on the Flagstaff City Council. Illinois, had no clue. any of this stuff. that there's this guy and he's black and he's running for ahead we're going to get the rest of these signatures. what we have to do. expect you to be and be a part of that, right? people, LGBTQ, indigenous. understand that, I know for at least for a field where it's mostly white and dominantly male, so that pressure of being the black woman in the entire crowd? when I walk in that room I'm walking in that room with that is all there is to it. my grandma's there, I got my kid, I got my [FOREIGN], walking in the room, but I got people behind me and business, period end of story. proverb that says, if you have no enemy within, the projects, I know I came from a single parent family. a single parent. So was, I, okay? been a dishwasher. the Arizona Roadhouse which is a straight-up bar, okay. because that's who I am and I've had in my life is what made me good at being mayor. that cuz sometimes I think about the past jobs that I've done, mention them on my resume. feel like, I did small jobs. a journey that I went through to become who I am now, I appreciate what you just said. to be mediocre is to follow somebody else and that's the best way. go through that a lot with always feeling like I got to make it, you know? do your own sound. &gt;&gt; [MUSIC] &gt;&gt; [MUSIC] be 100% in the moment. to figure out what you want to be when you grow up. think you guys should be figuring that out. 100% enjoying the ride, to everybody you can, right? journey, you should walk it. hey, you know what, I'm gonna do this for gonna do something else. you are walking your path, you'll figure it out. really cool because it is like something for all of us. I was like, she came for me, man, I was like. stop playing myself to a point of I'm not good enough. very, very true to herself and where she came from. it was very reassuring cuz a lot of the times when I'm going for in this educational environment, I felt like where I came from away so that I can present myself in a different way. not and along the way she stayed true to who she was and where she came from. I used to be this, this, and this, and this, and mayor and then I became this and I've only done like two things. you need to think about it. out what you want to do. you take this slower. know that there's gonna be opportunities in not stress myself out about it. where's the laundry? day for the road trip. I think all of us were kind of really shy, comfortable with them. Allisyn are super funny, it made me realize that with off with being myself 100%, from this trip. what, Mesa? very beautiful place. more beautiful than I thought. a lot of things that people don't know about. beautiful here. &gt;&gt; Jasmin: I've actually been like dropping pins on places would like to take the family or some friends. have been opened on this trip. those rooms made it kind of easier to say okay, across from a CEO, sat across from a business owner. resonated with was Don when we went to Saltmine. school, getting back into music. really good to go home actually, I feel like a good amount of school, and kind of put my everything back into it. home for a bit was definitely good, I was able to see who you are, just be myself, talk, kind of share what I am. out there for &gt;&gt; Allisyn: Thanks for making this trip memorable. something. &gt;&gt; Allisyn: I guess. Schedule me in? &gt;&gt; Jasmin: What sticks out to me the most is like you need to special group of people that empower you to do things. the leaders and stuff like that, &gt;&gt; Jasmin: Gets you really motivated. me realize like wow, I can do so much. 

How do you connect your purpose to the place you call home? Follow three young people from Arizona as they explore how they can connect their ambitions and interests to the state’s educational pathways and realize their future visions. And hear the inspiring stories of other Arizonans who have made an incredible impact on their home state.

Episode 2: Making Progress

For you guys that are outside of Arizona, it's just a big dusty rock or something like that. &gt;&gt; But when I think of Arizona I think of hidden gems. It's so beautiful here. &gt;&gt; There's a lot of things that people don't know about. &gt;&gt; I'm really excited for all these cool activities. On top of meeting all these successful leaders in Arizona. Me, Jasmine are going to be in this big green RV. &gt;&gt; Going through Arizona. &gt;&gt; Meeting different leaders just basically getting more insight, their journeys, understanding what paths we can take in order to get to where we wanna go. &gt;&gt; Going on an adventure. &gt;&gt; Y'all ready for this? &gt;&gt; [MUSIC] &gt;&gt; I grew up here in Arizona. I'm a first gen college student. I was seeing you guys shake your heads, so maybe you guys are first gens too. &gt;&gt; You know, we also come from very humble beginnings, close to having nothing at one point. Did you always feel, did you always want to be mayor or- &gt;&gt; No, did I wanna be mayor? I grew up in a project, so I gotta be cool with everybody right? &gt;&gt; Even as a principle as a 40 year old man, I always go back to making sure that I think of my roots and my background &gt;&gt; Being around all the leaders and stuff like that gets you really motivated &gt;&gt; Prepare to engage those core muscles. &gt;&gt; So I'm about to have a six pack at he end of this? &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] [MUSIC] &gt;&gt; There's no absolute blueprint for success. There's absolutely, nothing that we can't do. [MUSIC] If we just go for it. &gt;&gt; The best way to be mediocre is to follow somebody else. &gt;&gt; [INAUDIBLE] &gt;&gt; She's like don't conform. And I was like, where she came for me, man. [MUSIC] &gt;&gt; How do you keep yourself motivated? Ultimately, I ended up learning that I had the right answer. It was in me. &gt;&gt; And it's not saying yes to every opportunity, because not every opportunity will be right for you. &gt;&gt; My heart is telling me, you need to go back to school and find that strive again where you retain all this information, all these exciting things. &gt;&gt; If you wanna go and get that professional degree, it's four years of your life in the grand scheme of things. &gt;&gt; I really feel that as long as you are walking your path, figure it out. [MUSIC] 

Three Arizonans see what their home state has to offer as they seek to find themselves and pursue their dream careers.

All Paths Trailer

Follow three young Arizonans across their home state as they meet mayors, social media experts, and more.

Photo of the roadtrippers taking their own pictures of the photographer in front of the green RV

Headshot of Southwest Junior High principal Omar Duron

Photo of the roadtrippers behind the green RV with Southwest Junior High principal Omar Duron

Photo of Don Salter, owner of The Saltmine Studio Oasis, inside of his studio

Photo of former Flagstaff mayor Coral Evans alongside the three roadtrippers

Photo of Donna Werking, owner of Northern AZ Social, by the side of the green RV

Photo of roadtripper Ezequias (also known as "Zeek") in a library

Photo of roadtripper Jasmin smiling at the camera

Photo of roadtripper Allisyn (also known as "Meeks") against natural backdrop

Photo of University of Arizona professor Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz taking a selfie with the roadtrippers

Headshot of former Flagstaff mayor Coral Evans

Photo of the three roadtrippers in front of the green RV

Young Arizonans explore opportunity in their home state

Photo of red rock cliffs in the background

Movie poster with the text "Roadtrip Nation: All Paths Arizona"

Photo of the roadtripper Allisyn (also known as Meeks)

Headshot photo of the roadtripper Allisyn (also known as Meeks)

Photo of the roadtripper Ezequias (also known as Zeek)

Headshot photo of the roadtripper Ezequias (also known as Zeek)