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.

Jecara Rivera

One of the most unexpected challenges I faced in my business was battling self-doubt, even after experiencing success in other areas of my life. A particularly memorable instance was early in my speaking career when I approached an event planner to pitch my message of work-life balance. I had years of corporate experience and had achieved a balance in my own life that many people aspire to. I also had practical strategies to share that could truly help others. But as I prepared for that conversation, a voice in my head whispered, What if they don’t think this is valuable? What if no one cares about this topic? Read more>>

Jaxx Theatricals

Last year at this time, we had to move from our two-story theatre which housed a 99-seat theatre, a black box and large storage room into a much smaller space. In the summer of 2023, our landlord at the time requested we meet with him. When we met with our former landlord, there was a new “Director of Operations” working with him. They explained that they had been approached by new prospective tenants who were interested in the space. Read more>>

Libby Rochelle

How many times have you looked in the mirror and felt that sad feeling creep up, the one we all hate so much so we try to avoid acknowledging it in entirety, you know the word: insecurity.
It’s a scary word to me. I say that probably bc of the industry am in. The industry that has their claws sunk into me and affected everyone in entirety.
Well I’m referring to the beauty industry of course. . Read more>>

Bridget Derville-teer

I decided to give my entire life to dance when I turned thirteen. My peers loved dance from the time we were in pre-ballet together. So even though I had been dancing since I could walk, I felt like I had a lot of hard work and catching up to do. I would eat, sleep, and breathe dance to the point where days off and vacations caused me great stress. I worked as hard as anyone could imagine. My inner dialogue turned unhealthy, and a lot of my hard work came from a place of self hatred. I was working hard to change into something else. Read more>>

Ryan Stull

One of the most unexpected challenges I’ve faced in my creative journey was transitioning from a successful Twitch streaming career to pursuing music seriously. From 2013 to 2019, I built a full-time income on Twitch with my channel, KingVeeTV. Streaming video games allowed me to not only connect with a passionate audience but also showcase my freestyle talent, blending my love for gaming with music. During that time, I built strong connections, met prominent creators like Pokimane, and had the stability of consistent income. Read more>>

Renaud Nogrix

I got this family of 4 that was coming from Cuba, and with no credit score yet and not 6 months of rent to give upfront, finding a place is always a challenge. We went through 5 offers, and honestly the 4th one, they were taking it by default. The worst is we got denied on this house which was not even well maintained. So through more looking from me, we finally got to this apartment in a complex with pool in Coral Gables, and finally we found them a great place. The daughters were really excited by the pool, and the parents happy to get a great apartment in a safe environment. Read more>>

Megan Grant

The biggest unexpected problem I have faced, and continue to face, is feeling the lack of time. I feel many creatives, and adults for that matter, can relate. The hours spent working my day job to have consistent income, being a mother to a small child, and also taking time to be present for others during the day. All while sprinkling in some self-care as well, which isn’t always creating something. I used to feel guilty about not utilizing the precious time I did have to work towards my artistic goals, but it made creating feel more like a chore. I did not want it to feel like a chore, and never do, because it brings me tremendous joy. Read more>>

Tellygp

Health issues plus mental health issues, that came constant and recurred. Health is vital and I’ve dealt with issues to this day that stems from birth, being under developed for months before finally growing and also in my upbringing how I faced life fast, had felt real trauma and having ptsd early on that I still deal with till this day. So using art within those issues has giving me reason and purpose to create them moments outside those unexpected issues that occurred so much. A rose from concrete feel, eating clean will have you thinking clean so cleansing falls within that, so when the listener hears what I tend to create its understood it’s always much more to a story and felt, I’m working on becoming a cleanse for the world. Read more>>

Tabia Ceja

One of the most unexpected challenges I’ve faced as a creator is navigating situations where brands repurpose my content for advertising and marketing without proper compensation or permission. This has happened to me multiple times, and it’s an issue many creators encounter as they grow in the industry. Read more>>

Kathryn Lang

In 2020, the world turned upside down and then a tornado fell on our house just to keep things interesting. I went from having the house to myself, to having a house full of people in quarentine, to not having a house within the span of a few weeks. I thought about giving up until everything settled down. But I knew that if I wanted to react my BIG DREAM goals, every day counted. Read more>>

Sydni Dupre

I started creating fun and silly video content on my social media platform in 2019. Once I started gaining more of a following in 2020, people could obviously see in my videos that I am a wheelchair user. When people saw a young adult using a wheelchair, naturally that came with lots of curiosity. People were commenting, “Why are you in a wheelchair?” “What’s wrong with you?” “Why can’t you walk?” I also constantly receive hate comments from people trying to bully me for my disability. Read more>>