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.

Tykie Singleton

Being on a creative path means not following the crowd. So I would most definitely say that One unexpected issue that kept on occurring was that my family and some friends would not support me during my creative journey, strangers supported me 1st and then my family and friends started to afterwards. Once I found out that my Warm market would not support me at the beginning, I started to network with other people And share my vision with them. Read more>>

Sean Starr

Unexpected issues and problems are very common when working with gold leaf. I run into new challenges all the time even though I have done this work for may years now. Each project requires a certain amount of new research to determine the best approach when gilding, especially if the piece is an antique. Determining the origin and materials on projects is a really important step and if it’s decorative painting then there is also the need to research fully to make sure that the design elements and motifs are either historically correct or proper for the overall design. Read more>>

JUAN GONZALEZ

I am in an industry comprised of many companies with very deep advertising budgets and with large investors. When our advertising budget is eclipsed by companies that are blanketing the airwaves, tv commercials, billboards, sponsorships, etc we have to be very creative with what we do and the strategic alliances we create. We learned early on that it all had to do with the good will of our partners, their established reputations and how that would transition over to us. Read more>>

Rich Rudzinski

After a few years of running my software development agency, we started to gain some great traction. We were a team of ~5, and we landed a big software project with a solar finance company based in Northern California, which took a large portion of my team to execute. We were leading the strategy, design, and development; while working collaboratively with internal team members to execute. Read more>>

Angela Masker

The most unexpected issue that I have faced as an artist is actually very recent. In September of last year (2021), my partner and I were in a very bad car accident. I was unable to work for several weeks afterward due to body pain, etc. but even once I had physically recovered enough to paint, I was still unable to do so. The depression, anxiety, brain fog, and other issues that have followed the accident still affect my ability to function even now. Read more>>