Anne Jaeger loves to garden, but it took a life-threatening illness to force her to truly pursue her passion.

Anne was working as a television reporter when she was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare form of lymphatic cancer. Facing possible death, Anne decided she could not live with regret inside of her and, with the support of her employer, began to do the work she always dreamed of. Changes in management left her facing possible unemployment, but Anne would not be deterred. She picked up her show, and her sponsor, and took them to a different network. Instead of unemployment, she now faced a primetime Saturday night television show, hosted mostly from her own garden.

Recently 49, and glad to have made it, Anne is a correspondent for Smart Gardening, a PBS gardening show broadcast around the nation. A beautiful woman, who at one point lost her hair and faced a very uncertain future, Anne now does what she has always wanted to do, and glows with excitement when talking about it.

To arrive at this point, the most difficult step, she says, is overcoming fear. “Fear keeps us in some pretty tight boxes,” she says, suggesting that younger people find a job that satisfies them. “Have fun,” she says, “Take time to enjoy life.” It is a good reminder to anyone stuck in a rut; life is too short to be lived in a rut.

Peter Gros needs very little introduction. As the host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Peter has been seen by countless millions of people. Every year, Peter has the opportunity to speak with hundreds of thousands of young people across the United States, hoping to inspire the next generation to not lose faith in the infinite possibility of the natural world.

The grandson of a forester, Peter grew up in the wild, but almost entered the world of sales. A series of strange occurrences, and one lucky photo-op, landed Peter on the Johnny Carson Show, and soon after, he began hosting the Wild Kingdom.

Peter lavishes praise upon his wife for standing by him through uncertain time; her support allowed him to take opportunities running, and never compromises his dreams. The other target of his praise is Mutual of Omaha, the company that provides the backing for everything Peter has been able to do. It is not a shameless corporate plug. Without the sponsorship of such a company, there is simply no reasonable method for Peter to have reached the audience he has.

Peter’s most sage advice comes when speaking about the future; too often in modernity is doom forecasted for the natural word. Peter says, “We definitely have serious problems, but we’re turning the corner. We’re making a difference. My personal goal, until I die, is to convince as many young people as I can that it’s not too late to make a difference.”

Growing up, Chris always knew that he wanted to work in the news business, despite both of his parents being doctors. At a young age he dreamed of being a reporter on camera and before he graduated college he got his first taste of the business through an internship at NBC for the Today Show.

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