Risk is a topic that comes up a lot in our conversations with entrepreneurs and creatives, but a related topic is investments. Investments come in many forms – investing your time, money, heart and soul, etc. So, with that broad definition of investment in mind, we asked rising stars in the community to tell us the stories of the best or worst investments they’ve made.

Kyle Ligon

When we started our gym back in 2012, it was just my partner, Blake Holman, and me. We had tons of passion and were extremly excited to build our business, but it wasn’t until I was 100% owner and finally took the time to define why the business exists, its main purpose, and its core values that the gym could really build some momentum. There were MANY business books, but one in particular the helped us nail down our specifics was Traction by Gino Wickman. Once the business, the coaches, and the clients were all clear on the direction we were trying to go, the momentum we gained was enormous. Read more>>

Janessa White

When we started Simply Eloped it was only my partner and I for the first year-and-a-half. We wore all hats and built all systems, processes and automations from the ground up. There was real value in this in multiple ways. First, we didn’t fundraise and were able to grow organically and at our own rate. There was no pressure of being responsible for other’s expectations: either investors or the livelihood of employees! This truly gave us the opportunity to learn at our own speed. Read more>>

Julia Edelman

The best investment I have ever made for my business (other than essential equipment) is hiring a branding company to create a comprehensive branding design package for Edelman New York. Being able to show internal sources this, along with new hires, etc., has been invaluable – a visual presentation of Edelman New York, our story and what we look like across the board. Thank you Ro and Co Studio! Read more>>

Petra Mason

Buying art by living artists. In my early thirties I went on a shopping spree I’ve never regretted: investing in limited edition lithographic prints by South African artists. Artist Claudette Schreuders had just printed her first impressions with The Artists’ Press in Mbombela. Sam Nhlengethwa had recently signed his legendary Jazz Series. Robert Hodgins was joyfully printing in the print studio blissfully unaware of the impending sold out status of all of his works. Read more>>

Chantal Piet

The best investment we’re working on right now, is to transition our brand into plant-based with Organic Certified ingredients. It took us so much time to get the ingredients right, to get everything certified, to work with our co-packer (and it took so much time from him!!!!) We also work other small brands for ingredients for our variety flavors like Chai spice blends and Coffee so we needed to coordinate so many little things all together. Read more>>

Samsara

The best investment I could have ever made was in myself. It sounds cliché, but taking the time and investing the money into my own soul searching, self study, taking classes, and courses has lead me to an unshakeable foundation of knowing who I am, what I love to do, and what people enjoy to see most from me. Knowing what I bring to the table in my music and how I can use my natural energy best to entertain and delight others makes me confident in speaking about the value of myself, Read more>>

Tyler Sarter

The best investment I have ever made was in myself. Investing in yourself has the greatest return on investment, to me that means your health mentally and physically. Your mind and your body are the driving forces behind all success, without sound mind and body you wont be able to accomplish much. Read often, exercise and focus on your craft, strive to master your particular industry in my case I want to be at the top of my game with regards to real estate so I’m always learning and executing but it starts with investing yourself. Read more>>

Markecia Dudley

My best investment was my bus to travel to do nails in! Being stationary is boring to me so I got a bus so that would I have little to no overhead and started to travel to people’s homes which was a great market and an untouched Market as well. And even if I no longer wanted to do nails anymore I can transform that bus into something else and have a whole new adventure! Read more>>

Heidi Garbo

The best investment was hiring people to do the jobs that I didn’t feel confident in such as a bookkeeper. This definitely helps keep thing in order when my first priority was the guest, not the books Read more>>

Courtney Green

The best investment I made was the investment in myself. Along my entrepreneurial journey it dawn on me no one cares about my vision more then I do. No one is willing to give not only there hard earn money but there last dime to see my vision through like I would. I Invested my time, money, and resources into other artist as I built my production company to give me more time to work on my short film projects as well as designing apparel for my clothing brand. Read more>>

LaShunda Rena

I would say that the worst investment I made was spending tons of money for free shoots with photographers. I would buy new clothes, jewelry, bags, makeup, etc. In the beginning I would work with any and everyone just to get free photos. I realize now that I should’ve been selective in who I worked with. Not everyone gave me those high quality photos to add value to my portfolio and book paying jobs. Free isn’t always a good thing. Read more>>

Hima Bindu

I believe that the best investment you can make, is an investment in yourself. I invested in learning the craft from the photographers I admire and it’s a total game changer. Read more>>

Lysa Middleton Phillips

My best investment, hands down, is my travel agency. My first business venture and my first peek at multilevel marketing. Book With tha Boss Lady began as me having a hobby and traveling more for less while earning money. It ended up being so much more! If I had never invested that $200 in this travel agency, I would never have met so many wonderful people, been so many exotic places, learned so many valuable lessons, and upgraded the lifestyle for myself and my children. Read more>>

Jonathan Richter

If you have a question or are looking for a product or service, where’s the first place you go to search? Google search is the obvious answer! As a business owner, you want your business to show up as a result when people are searching for what you offer. But running Google ads can be expensive, especially if you’re a startup. Read more>>

NewLife

From the start it’s been myself and my cameras. The deeper you get into your career and life , you realize the value of teamwork . The saying “ Teamwork makes the Dream work “ , is a real life experience. Stepping into a leader position is allowing me to be more open and excited to build my team . I’ve had the past 2 years to learn how to become my true self in every form, from that I build. It’s more fun with a team , especially when we can grow , make money. , and travel the world creating the Greatest Content ever . The exciting part is starting it , the rest is already there for us .  Read more>>

Riley Gersch

When I first started Elegant Affairs by Design, I did not have any employees. It was just me, myself, and I handling all of the tasks from answering emails, calls, drafting proposals, finalizing and sending out timelines, ordering rental equipment, coordinating with vendors, etc. I quickly learned that no matter how good you are at your job, you can’t be good at everything. Read more>>

Christina Karin

Building your team is one of the most important parts of growing your business. I could never do my job without the amazing people around me. Most of our full time employees started out as interns and learned the brand over time. It is so important to create a space where everyone is heard and where everyone feels confident in sharing their opinions and ideas. Read more>>

Destineé Spruell

This all started mainly with myself going out into the community and offering my services for free. I began doing smaller events and family parties to build my portfolio as well as my skill. Once I was able to get a feel of the techniques as a photographer from a creative standpoint and business owner, I was able to turn those same clients into profitable ones. Word of mouth (direct marketing) is a great way of getting your name out there besides using social media (digital marketing). Which gained enough clientele to be able to expand into what is now the Your Favorite Shooter Production Team. Read more>>

Megan Romine

Luxuré Real Estate started from a dream to build something unique that did not follow the standard real estate brokerage business model. I started the company under the mentorship and guidance of my successors; our agents up to this point have not been recruited. I believe that like minded individuals are attracted to the same, and we have been blessed by attracting incredible talent in such a unique way. Read more>>