Doing things your way is one of the best parts of being your own boss and when done right seems to be highly correlated with outsized success. So, we wanted to gather real-world examples to shed more light on how the best artists, entrepreneurs and leaders differentiate themselves from others in their respective industries.

Megan Harris & Mallory Brown

In the wedding coordination and planning industry, a lot of companies sell their services for either month of or even day of coverage. Although we obviously aren’t physically coordinating a wedding day until the rehearsal and the day of the wedding, we do everything we can to coordinate all plans and details (no matter how big or small) with our clients as soon as they book with us. Marmaros Productions aims to sell our services to our clients with no real boundaries as to when their coverage begins or ends. Read more>>

Carissa Marie

I love this question, because the root of my entire business is doing things different from the industry standard. I am a wedding photographer, specializing in shooting adventurous elopements, which are all about breaking traditions and doing things different from what the standard is. I started out photographing larger, more traditional weddings, but overtime I started to realized that these big weddings weren’t fulfilling my passion for storytelling. I decided to ditch the industry standard, rebranded my entire business to specialize in adventure elopements, and never looked back. Read more>>

Joshua Bonnici

My firm has handled personal injury claims for nearly 10 years, spanning from car accidents, dog bites, pedestrian injuries and trip-and-fall accidents. However, starting in 2015, I decided to niche into representing bicycle accident victims as I have been an avid cyclist for the past 25 years. In doing so, I decided to get involved in the local cycling community and begin to give back and educate people on how to handle accident claims, how to read and interpret relevant California bicycle laws, and be a resource for cyclists who are hit by cars .Read more>>

Toby Morgan

LUSCA was actually made with the intention of shaking up the fashion industry’s bodysuit norms. Deviating from the current standard of placing buttons and hook-and-eye clasps on women’s bodysuits (in inconvenient and uncomfortable locations) we have invented a magnetic clasp that’s placed higher up on the mons pubis so women can *gasp* actually see what they’re doing. It always seemed to not make much sense to me to place such tiny clasps between our legs. Read more>>

Laurie Victor Kay Charles Kay Jr

Charles and I have been working together for 25 years. I can definitely say that there are a number of things we’ve done differently. The photography industry has seen immense changes over this time. We’ve certainly had to adapt and be nimble, sensing change and being in front of it when we can. One of the things that has been important to us from day one is that we value our imagery, something more important than ever. From the very beginning of our process, we see the big picture while also paying attention to small details. Our creative process is farther reaching than just taking a photograph. Read more>>

Stacey Zayas

In the salon industry there is no standard in hair smoothing safety standards. When I first started doing Brazilian Keratin Treatments (smoothing treatments) I really had to learn as I went because I was one of the first stylist in the southern CA doing them. When BKT first came out they produced a lot of fumes and smoke. As time has gone on they have gotten a little better but some still produce toxins into the air. Read more>>

Philippe Horowicz

One of Carousel Art Group’s core business model is the fine art staging of multi million dollar properties for sale. Every gallery has a storage / warehouse where they keep art to use for fairs, exhibitions and rotation within the gallery. At Carousel, we utilise not only our own inventory, but also other galleries’ inventory and stage them all around the country. Read more>>

Barton Damer

3D animation studios are infamous for burning out artists. It’s very common for young artists to be “done” by the time they are 30 and looking for a new career path because they were in toxic work environments, often sleeping at work for weeks to hit deadlines. At Alreadybeenchewed.tv, we want an environment where artists and employees can thrive and raise families if they choose! Read more>>

Bradley Rodgers

The insurance industry for the last ~25 years (since the dot-com boom) has been transitioning to a completely automated experience. While the convenience of this is great it’s leaving everyday people, who don’t know the ins and outs of insurance, with large gaps in coverage that could potentially change their life if they were involved in a serious claim. Every day you see commercials and ads about going online and saving money on your insurance but not once do these commercials really breakdown coverage and what you’re paying for. Read more>>

Steve Dininno

Before I became a realtor, I was a full-time illustrator for over 30 years. Drawing from that experience, I’m heavily involved in my own marketing and design and illustrate all my marketing materials. On business cards, direct mail, social media posts, etc., I don’t use the standard head shot used by almost all realtors, but use an illustrated version of myself. It sets me apart. Read more>>

Kim Taylor

I am the Team Lead of the Kim Taylor Real Estate Group, servicing the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex. One thing my team and I do differently, is we are a Spirit led group of Realtors. Nothing in the market, whether you are buying or selling, can be controlled. I learned early on to let the Big Man upstairs be the driver of the bus…this takes a huge amount of pressure off of me. When one door closes, another one opens. We all pray for each of our buyers and sellers, believing that timing is everything. We try to take the first day of every month to fast and pray. Read more>>

Emma Maldonado

I treat each of my client like family. My standard is much higher than the regular lash industry standard. I raise the bar high every single day for myself in order to serve my clients with the most up to date advancements and knowledge in the lash industry. There’s a lot of ‘’extra steps’’ I take to make my clients feel as comfortable, and relaxed as possible. Read more>>

James Gibson

There are two things that stand out to me. First, we are ruthless when it comes to our design ethos. What I mean by that is that there are a myriad of designs that we have come up with over the years that, no matter how much we like them, we have not made because they do not fit within our point of view. The net effect is that all of our garments, whether part of the same collection or not, are curated. As a result, you can find ancestral links between the very first garments we ever made and our most current garments of today. All of them are born in the same up-country home, if you get my meaning. Read more>>

Hannah Upham

I am a sustainable florist/flower farmer in an industry that grows flowers with pesticides, uses an extreme amount of floral foam and other products that are completely non-sustainable and not environmentally friendly. Usually, weddings and events are a one-off and there is a lot of waste. My mission is to use sustainable practices and products in my growing and designing. We use and re-use, thrift, take back and rent many of our vases, containers and forms for weddings and events. Read more>>

Nicole Raymond

I think the industry standard believes that to lose body fat and be healthy that you must track macro and also doesn’t put enough importance on the sourcing of food and what food does to your body on a hormonal level. Food can be medicine or it can be poison and eating 5-6 small meals per day is NOT how to achieve optimal health! I believe in eating less often, having restricted feeding times, and allowing your body’s insulin levels to come down so you can actually tap into stored body fat vs the SAD diet where everyone eats frequent, eats lots of processed “fake” foods and are constantly spiking insulin level all day long. Read more>>

Anna Mannerfelt Fingers

We do not ever make our clients sign up for long term contracts. We do month to month and after 5 years in business we still have 97% of our clients as we produce results generating sales for them… Read more>>