Having to overcome unexpected problems is a hallmark of entrepreneurship. Almost every business owner, artist, maker, and creative we know has had to deal with countless unexpected problems that arise in the journey and so we asked some brilliant folks from the community to share their stories of the unexpected problems they’ve faced along the way.

AURORA

A problem I never anticipated having is dealing with burnout. I started having burnout back in 2018. I was having difficulty navigating a workplace that encouraged overwork and the environment ultimately became detrimental to my mental health. The difficult thing about burnout, as I experienced it, was that it was such a gradual onset. I didn’t know I was burnt out until I was in the middle of it. Read more>>

Tyshon Tufi

Heartbreak. Losing that somebody you thought would be your forever. The amount of struggles I’ve faced having to try to heal has been a challenge and depressing. My creative process is different now because of it to, theirs not structure to how I want things to be done I can simply just wake up and start crying to motivate me to channel that pain into a recording. I read the other day that ” Everything you need to know about the way they loved you is in the way they left you.” I personally don’t think that the loyalty I was exhibiting for so long was reciprocated with my ex. Read more>>

Lawrence Johnson

One of the most unexpected problems I have had to face as a coffee roaster has been the price of green coffee (raw coffee before it is roasted) nearly doubling in price due to inflation. Of course, coffee is a commodity. But, I did not anticipate the price of coffee getting so expensive. This affects my profit margins as a coffee roaster and I cannot just hike the prices up for my wholesale customers or individual coffee customers! Basically, we are just playing the waiting game and hoping that coffee comes down in price! We are not large enough of a roastery to invest thousands of dollars into raw coffee so we are having to do what we can! Read more>>

Tyler Humphries

The most unexpected problem I’ve faced in my business was the supply breakdown during the height of the pandemic. It was so strange. One day you could get wax but couldn’t find jars. Or you could find jars but not lids. And then you could get lids but not wicks. It was very frustrating but caused me to pivot in my business to stay afloat. While I slowly acquired the delayed supplies I needed to make candles, I started really marketing my wax melts. Initially, I made wax melts as a cheaper version of my candles for people who didn’t want to pay full price for a glass jar candle but now they’ve become essential to my business. Read more>>

Courtney Wilson

Being a wedding planner comes with its own set challenges. Not only are you helping couples plan their dream wedding but you are also their emotional support during their time of engagement. Every challenge or problem we face is different when it comes to each couple. Some problems that can come up could have to do with design elements, dealing with an assortment of requests from different family members, helping execute requests from the couple, overall, there are many ways problems can arise. We at Moonstruck Events strive to make the wedding planning process a joyful time for our couples. We make sure that when challenges do pop up, we are on top of them immediately and we make sure that our couples don’t have to stress during wedding planning. Read more>>

Rebel Foxx

When I first started this article, I was a different woman, in a different time, facing different problems. Instead of speaking on behalf of one particular problem, I’ll carefully speak upon my life as I reflect upon it. As of today, I am officially 27 years old, laying in a man’s bed who has broken it off with me who is under the impression that he will get to see me one more time before I leave for Nashville, TN. I told him last night I was going to stay there longer because what’s the point of returning to Atlanta when I have no one to come back to. This person works in film, often grimacing at me because my presence is “[him] in the past”. Read more>>

Brandon Maahs

This year I was diagnosed with leukemia. It was a surprise when the word came from the doctor, but I had been struggling with the symptoms for months: exhaustion, weakness, lack of energy. It really gave me pause because I’d been playing through the pain for so long, and really only hearing from my coworkers and clients and peers about where and when I wasn’t keeping up. Of course, when the doctor finally told me, all of a sudden I was hearing “I’m so sorry” and “please take a break”. But that wasn’t the sentiment until a doctor confirmed it. It really made me stop and examine the “grind culture”, the “hustle culture” that’s baked into the creative industry and the modern workforce. Read more>>

Keshawna Robinson

My entire life I’ve been met with obstacles. Throughout that time dance has always been my outlet. In 2019, when I lost my brother and closet friend, I found comfort in my grieving process by actually dancing for him at his funeral service. He was one of my biggest creative supporters, and that’s what has pushed me to always create through motion. While carrying the burden of not having my brother, my father left this earth suddenly in January of 2022. Needless to say, this shook my world. Knowing that my father was a creative himself, giving up dance was never an option. Some days are harder than others, but I can truly say I gain strength in the acknowledgment of the people and things that I’ve lost. I must stay in motion. It’s my life. Read more>>

Jill Bannink-Albrecht

Tyson’s Place Animal Rescue is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that assists terminally ill people with finding new families for their pets. We interpret that mission to include those pet owners going into hospice, assisted living, nursing homes, and after the owner has passed away. We are a very small rescue that relies on volunteers to temporarily house the animals until they are adopted. We began taking in animals in 2015, and as the years went on, we began struggling to find enough volunteer foster homes to meet the demand of taking in animals, especially cats, that meet our mission. We discovered that our mission is filling a gap in services in animal welfare. Read more>>

jaquan fulton

Most of the struggles I faced in the beginning came because of my age and me balancing keeping a job, building a career, and obtaining a degree. When I first enrolled in the Atlanta Partners Real Estate, I started my 2nd semester of my freshmen year in January of 2019 and balancing both loads of school work was vigorous. At the time, I was working at Chick Fil A on campus and my hours made it difficult for me to find time to do my real estate class, causing me to miss the 6-month time limit I had to complete the class. There was a 50$ fee I had to pay to get a 3-month extension, which led into the fall semester of my sophomore year. Read more>>

Bleugangsta

As an independent artist you will come across some unexpected issues. Depending how determined you are to see your goals accomplish dictates whether the unexpected issues will make or break you. In this line of business, I have come across many unexpected problems and issues including: studio time issues, purchasing beats issues, copyright issues, having a artist featured on my album issues, show issues and etc. Anything can happen good or bad. Being prepared for the unexpected is a must and knowing how to recover. Always being positive and never letting the unexpected stop you in your tracks. Read more>>

Randy Jimenez

During my journey on YouTube, I faced a lot of adversity, especially throughout high school. Back when I first started YouTube, before I had 10,000 subscribers there was a group of kids who would always play my videos out loud trying to embarrass me. They would always make fun of me to my face, tell me to “stop click-baiting”, to quit YouTube, and other things like that to get a reaction out of me. These were the same people that I considered my friends, and they did it to me out of nowhere. I felt very annoyed by this, and I was almost about to quit making videos. Read more>>

Shannon Campbell

The most unexpected problem I have had so far is the global pandemic. I was so excited to get my website up and running. I was ordering merchandise, packaging supplies, and all the other things you need to start a boutique. I am finally ready to launch my website on Black Friday of 2019. Little did I know that the whole world was about to shut down. When the fear of the pandemic hit in 2020 my boutique had zero traffic and zero business. No one knew what to expect and with all the uncertainty in the world, no one was interested in a new online boutique. People were not even looking at my website. I had a decision to make, do I fold up and quit before I even got started or should I just keep posting on my pages and try to find my customers. Read more>>

jimmy.

When I began this musical journey it was all about the vibes. I’ve seen greed in so many different ways. Girlfriends actually being groupies. Money coming and going. Artists getting poor management. But all and all I’ve managed to endure and keep my vision focus. I don’t want to prove my worth to people who aren’t better than me. So, I’m just claiming what’s mine. Obstacles will no longer hinder my purpose. I like to keep brief, but art can be beautiful even when you surrounded by dirt. As long as you’re nurturing the seed in that dirt. But, I’m ready to grow. I promise, I’ll make something of myself through the trials and tribulations. Period. Read more>>

Lisa Taylor

Originally from Middletown, Ohio, and recently graduated from high school in 1982, I applied for a job with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. I was hired as a Cadet Dispatcher at the age of 18, where I learned the job of a dispatcher but agreed that upon reaching the age of 21, I had to enter the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy to begin training as an Ohio State Trooper. Read more>>