Ariel Mondlak
29 | Entrepreneur and Creator, Making Stellar Things
Residence: Waterbury
Career highlight(s) you are most proud of:
Creating and continuously enhancing the DiscoverWaterbury.com website.
Your community involvement:
A large portion of my community involvement is through the Waterbury Rotary Club, where I currently serve as president-elect. Through 
Rotary, I have been able to give back to the community through everything from food drives to trail cleanups to free events.
Inspiration for living and working in Vermont:
After spending a few years postcollege living out of state, I was motivated to return to Vermont by homesickness for the uniquely “Vermont” sense of community that I’ve only found here.
Best career advice you have received:
“Follow your effort,” which someone passed along shortly after I decided to turn my hobby of crafting into a business. Since that’s where I’ve already been spending so much of my effort and free time, it felt like the perfect words of wisdom for this new venture.
Something fun about yourself that few people know:
I am an avid fantasy football player as well as a budding analyst and writer.
Three words that best describe you:
Creative, passionate and organized.
Favorite Vermont escape:
The Shelburne Museum. Despite having visited the museum countless times — and even working there for a summer — I always find something new that catches my eye and piques my interest.
Favorite Vermont season:
Fall. Between the beautiful colors, delicious flavors and that crispness in the air, it’s easily the best time to be in Vermont.
Favorite downtime activity:
Crafting and creating. Whether it’s knitting, sewing, embroidery, drawing or writing, I love any kind of creative pursuit where I can let my imagination run rampant and make something.
Cause(s) you would support if you had unlimited funds:
Animal rescue. As the proud owner of a sweet, formerly stray dog, I would love to see all animals find loving homes where they can be safe and spoiled.
A song on your playlist you are embarrassed to admit to your best friend:
“All Star” by Smash Mouth. It’s such a good pump-up song!
Goal(s) you’d like to accomplish in the next five to 10 years:
Turning my lifelong hobby of crafting into a successful business.
How your community service has changed since the pandemic:
While the overall nature of my community service has not changed during the pandemic, some of the specifics have. Many of the Rotary activities and events needed to be reconfigured to work in a virtual or socially distanced world, which was an interesting challenge to solve.
