As almost any entrepreneur or creative will tell you, unexpected problems are to be expected. Below, you’ll hear some incredible stories that highlight and illustrate the kinds of issues and problems entrepreneurs and creatives are dealing with everyday. It’s not easy, but the silver lining is that dealing with unexpected problems is one of the best ways to develop antifragility.

Conchita GarSantiago

As soon as I put “The End” in my first book that I finished, I jumped in pure jubilation and overwhelming satisfaction. I yelled, feeling a surge of accomplishment rush through me. Little did I know I had only just begun. Because, what is the point of writing a book if you can’t publish it? Read more>>

Noah Lopata

One of the unexpected problems I faced and solved in my business was getting visitors to my website and then turning them into actual leads and then customers.When I first started doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) years ago I was under the impression that all you had to do to get customers was build a website. Read more>>

Kelly Chelena

My college years began with an interest in journalism. After taking an art class as an elective, I began to gravitate toward art. I thought I had to concentrate on graphic design or illustration. When I left school, my husband and I moved to Saint Petersburg Florida. It was during this time that I embraced painting for myself in an extra room of our apartment. Read more>>

Bailey Erickson

In November 2023, the organizer for a local Christkindlmarkt asked us to make our authentic Belgian Liege waffles for their market. They needed us to be present for five consecutive weekends. This opportunity entailed long hours and more man/womanpower than we currently have available. Read more>>

Dina Pisani

I opened my business on the LES of NYC 1 month before 9/11. Up To that point my little custom made hat business was doing ok out of the gate. The city pretty much shutdown below 14th street and many people just left for good. It was a dead zone. Read more>>

Taniah English

Some of the most unexpected problems I faced in my business were related to my own mental health. As the head of the company, I fell into a serious depression that affected my ability to run the company effectively. This led to a decline in business numbers and strained relationships with partners, competitors, and clients. Read more>>

Kim Nogueira

In 2017, the tiny Caribbean island of St John that I call home was catastrophically devastated by a Cat. 5 hurricane and hit two weeks later by a Cat. 3 hurricane. Tucked away in a valley, narrowly escaping the path of a tornado, my home and studio sustained minimal damage, but 90% of the island was left decimated and almost all connection with the outside world ceased. Read more>>

Emerson Haile

All things considered, ever since i began doing this, it has been nothing but baffling problems/issues, that i could have never foreseen. I started doing the jewelry and gem/mineral thing in 2020, and despite literally finding a huge previously undiscovered fossil bed. Read more>>

Dr. Elayne Brunson

When Dr. Elayne Brunson began investing in commercial real estate through purchasing unwanted dilapidated buildings on Main St. Districts she had no clue what she was embarking on. Unexpectedly in 2022 she became the youngest, the only woman, and the only black woman to redevelop a historic municipal electric power plant. Read more>>

Candace Davenport

This journey has had its ups and downs. I started my club during Covid and that was for sure a game changer. Having to stop our season during the middle of our club season was hard but it taught me to fight for what I believe in and that the kids I coach matter above all. Read more>>

Karen Golightly

In 2017, Paint Memphis held its largest festival, with 167 artists taking over an entire city block and an underpass with murals. It was a huge undertaking, and we worked diligently to get lifts, bucket trucks, scaffolding, ladders, bucket and spray paint, and all sorts of artists, vendors, volunteers, and participants (one woman fainted). Read more>>

Brianna Albers

I realized a fourth of the way through 2023 that the book I’d been working on for two years wasn’t something I wanted to publish. It was a very strange experience, as I had written the book for the market and was hoping to secure an agent for it by the end of the year. Read more>>

Alexandra Borzo

Most of the unexpected problems I’ve faced have been the result of two factors: moving abroad, and working independently. Both inherently produce the unexpected because neither fits a common mold. (As a side note, it’s become a popular statistic that over one third of working Americans freelance now, but it’s a much smaller number that freelance 100% of their work, and a subset of that population who lives outside the U.S.) Read more>>

Blanca Bermúdez

Being a business owner you are ready for everything business related i believe. I will admit i was ready. However, one thing business owners forget is how much personal life can affect you. For example in a two year span I got separated from a 25 yr relationship, my father passed and my little sister was in a terrible accident that changed her life and everything i knew to be my normal was not and i had to hurt and still manage to push through. Read more>>

TV ART

Getting our music recordedSo we formed in the fall of 2022 and from the start had an interest in eventually getting our music recorded, we never doubted that we would be able to do it as our lead singer had previously recorded music so that he could get into the UC CCM Commercial Music Production program. Read more>>

AMBIA PHELAN

I’ve always been a firm believer that issues arise to make you grow as an artist in your craft. Whenever problems show up its is if God is asking “Are you sure you still want this?” and giving me an opportunity to either change courses or grow into the person I need to become to fulfill my dreams. Read more>>

Casey Willax

We all have problems! its about making them of the highest quality! Read more>>

Vanessa Rudd

When running a business, unexpected problems are something that come with it. I have few unexpected problems pop up on me, but the main one is social media marketing. When I first started doing hair, social media marketing was just starting in the beauty industry. Let’s be honest my main focus around that time was hair and hair only, not marketing myself at all. Read more>>

Fenia Bozionelou

A real moment of struggle in building La Route Coaching, wasn’t just about business obstacles, but hit me on a personal level. In my quest to make La Route Coaching a success, I started facing panic attacks and an anxiety disorder. It was bizarre because I’d never dealt with that kind of thing before. Read more>>

Zemo Zheng

We recently had the wonderful opportunity of working with one of the top institutions in Beijing, China, on a huge immersive LED digital installation. The installation is now currently being exhibited as part an international symposium with all eyes on it. Read more>>

Cale Conrad

In the Live Event industry there are a litany of variables that are at hand. Most people look at the lights, sound, and instruments and think “wow, I can’t imagine how many technical difficulties you run into.”. Which is absolutely the case, it is a constant onslaught of problem solving. Read more>>

P.Gutter

Probably the most unexpected issues I ran into was the enormous amount of of money that I would have to invest in myself before I would ever start making money in the entertainment industry Read more>>