Vanessa Hudgens at right place, right time for discovery

Vanessa Hudgens hails from a family environment that was suitable for her rise to fame. Both sets of her grandparents were musicians. Her parents were encouraging.

She and her family lived all over the West Coast. But it was not until her family settled in greater Los Angeles,  a promising environment for a talented teenager, when Hudgens' star began to illuminate. 

It was in 2003 when the Disney "High School Musical" star was discovered by music mogul Jay Pugh  while shopping in a Blockbuster video store. Hudgens was age 14. Pugh, who worked with such iconic entertainers as Prince and Michael Jackson, managed her career trajectory by creating a pop R&B group around her called BITTERSWEET.  He is president of RK Records, a Beverly Hills-based company.

"Even at an early age, Vanessa possessed the it factor," said Pugh. "She had talent, brains, enthusiasm and drive. She also had supportive and protective parents."

Hudgens later signed with Hollywood Records. After winning the 2006 Teen Choice Awards for "High School Musical," she became a movie star.

Pugh's love of the music industry took flight when he shared the same environment as Run-D.M.C., a hip-hop group founded by Joseph Simmons whose brother, promoter Russell Simmons, introduced rapper Kurtis Blow to the mix.

Since then, Pugh has collaborated as either a writer, producer or arranger on nearly 20 movie soundtracks and scores of movie commercials. He has produced for well over 100 of the industry's top recording artists.

Since 2003, Hudgens has appeared in more than a dozen film and television projects. In 2008, she won Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in the category of "Favorite Movie Actress."

Hudgens' career path is a good example of how environment, whether it be natural or man made, has a profound effect on growth and productivity. 

No one may never know what would have become of Hudgens had her parents created a different environment for her and if she and Pugh had never met on that fateful day in 2003.