Insight_Inaugural Edition

14 Inaugural Edition | Marquis Who ’ s Who Insight MERVYNW. ADAMS SELDON Artist Claremont, CA How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? Simply by reading what’s out there and visiting galleries. I have been in my profession for many years and have shown my pieces through opportunities with my retirement community. Also, I have been offered opportunities to show my work in Milan and Paris. What are two key behaviors/ personality traits that allow you to be effective in your role? I am focused on my artwork and I enjoy every aspect of my artistic abilities. How do you feel your industry has changed/evolved over time? People’s interests always change and affect what people are painting today. There is more experimental and abstract work available nowadays. Art as a field changes all the time. MARY K. SPORE ALHADEF Librarian Palo Alto, CA What is the most important issue/ challenge you are dealing with in your industry right now? The biggest challenge is the need for a good education in order to be effective with patrons. You have to know what kinds of information you can and cannot find. If you have a good education, you’re always useful in a library. How do you feel your industry has changed/evolved over time? Libraries oftentimes – especially in recent years – have grouped together larger geographical entities for catalog and circulation systems. This gives you a broader range of materials to pull from, and oftentimes, you will get to meet with people from other libraries within the system, so you can learn things from them, too. D. RUSSELL THOMAS, ESQ. President, The Thomas Law Firm Murfreesboro, TN What is the most important issue/ challenge you are dealing with in your industry right now? Juror perception. We are fully into the second generation of people who have been tort reformed from birth, and they really do not understand the seventh amendment — the right to jury trial as they should. How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? I have a variety of interests. Personal injury law encompasses so many different types of cases that if there have been negative legislative changes in one area, I have just shifted to other areas. For instance, workers’ compensation law wasn’t completely destroyed, but it was very much reduced as of July 1, 2014. At that point, I shifted to practice more personal injury law.