We believe that success can mean different things to different people – not everyone wants the same thing, what drives happiness and fulfillment for one person doesn’t necessarily predict what will for another. That said – if we simply think of success as being effective at achieving one’s goal – whatever those goals might be – then we can set a sort of common

Lexi Parker

I strongly believe that having the right mindset is the key to success. Skills, resources, and connections are important, but without the right mindset, none of those things will take you far. Success starts internally-with confidence, discipline, and an unshakable belief in yourself. I’ve always trusted that I’m capable of achieving everything I desire, and that belief has guided me through every challenge. Read more>>

Nikkie Hancock

Success is about showing up every day and learning and adapting. Showing up everyday helps with your mindset and staying resilient.
Also passion and committment to your business you will fail. Community and Family are everything for your business to succeed. Without support from your family and community no one succeeds. No one can juggle all business hats alone. You need support, don’t try and do things alone. Read more>>

Meghan Harris

First, I feel like I should define my own version of success, because we all have different definitions of what it means to be successful. For me, success has always been more of a feeling than it is a measurable quantity. Like the feeling of freedom, of having agency over my own time. Freedom to spend my days how I want to spend them. Freedom to create for a living and to follow each new curiosity, and being able to do so with an abundant vs scarcity mindset. It’s being content in a home that is less about size and more about being an inspirational space, with just enough I can garden on and play with my dogs. Read more>>

Tamara Brandon

I think success isn’t just about talent or luck but it’s about consistency, adaptability, and staying true to your values. Whether it’s social media, modeling, or wellness, I’ve learned that showing up, experimenting, and evolving are what truly lead to growth. Read more>>

Hanna Riaboshapka

Success is not a coincidence; it is the result of consistent actions, courage, and a willingness to take responsibility. I firmly believe that achieving success requires a combination of several key factors:

Passion for your work
I have always known that I wanted to work in the beauty industry. For me, it is not just a profession—it is a way to help people feel confident and beautiful. This passion fuels my energy every day, driving me to develop my business, seek new solutions, and keep moving forward even when challenges arise. Read more>>

Erica Wiley

I think the number one thing it takes to make a business successful is consistency. Even when you’re exhausted, experiencing a slow week in sales, or feeling like your efforts won’t make a difference. Consistency, consistency, and more consistency is key. When I first started my business, I had the support of family and friends to help me get it off the ground. However, it was my consistency that sustained my sales once that initial support faded. I constantly posted on social media about my products and topics related to the central themes of my business, and often attended events where I had the opportunity to sell my products and share my business with new groups of people. Read more>>

Ashley Johnson

I’ve found that success really comes down to understanding who you are and what matters to you. Early in my business journey, I got caught up in what others told me success should look like. But I’ve learned that when you take time for self-discovery and define success on your own terms, you often realize it’s more attainable than you initially thought. Read more>>

Arshula Lynn

When it comes to success, it’s a collective of mindset, discipline, persistence and most importantly faith. My path to achieving lasting success came from developing habits that kept me moving forward despite setbacks. Over time, I learned to view my mistakes as a lesson and not a defeat.

In order to be successful you have to remain consistent, making small daily efforts that lead to big results. Success is easier when you genuinely care about what you’re doing. One major key in being successful is to be passionate about what you’re doing and to lead with purpose. Read more>>

Quinn Edwards

I think being successful takes a lot of determination. You are always going to come up against people who don’t believe in you or people who think that you should be doing something else with your life. This can be friends, family, or random strangers you meet at a networking event. A lot of those negative comments come from a place of fear. Fear of the unknown and doing something outside of the norm. There is this cultural myth that if you leave a “good job” and pursue a passion, that you will not be successful. There can be some truth in that if you aren’t willing to make sacrifices but, at the end of the day, if you believe in yourself and what you are doing, you will be successful. Read more>>

Hannah Burroughs

Before I decided to pursue my photography business, I started getting more heavily into the live music scene. Specifically a lot of female led pop punk, folk punk, and rock bands. I discovered Charlotte Sands when she was just starting out, and developed an online friendship with her. She gave me advice, and was honest about how hard you have to work. Then when her next show rolled around her and Hannah got me a media pass. Three years into this, I am a firm believer that it doesn’t matter how smart or wealthy you are, it’s about sinking your teeth into the passions you have and not letting go. Anyone can have the desire to do something artistic, but it’s another thing to have the drive. Read more>>

Kelsie Fitchie

When I first started SkyDance, I had this big dream of creating a booming studio that brought in tons of cash and produced top-tier athletes. I was 23, excited, and ready to bring something completely new to my small town—pole dancing classes had never existed here before. Back then, I thought success was purely about numbers—how many people walked through the doors and how much money the business was making. So, when that didn’t happen right away, I felt like I had failed. Read more>>

Mark Burkhalter

I personally have an odd way of looking at success. I feel most people measure success as how much money they make, or what they own, I measure it with happiness. When it comes to my photos and videos, I don’t look at how much money I made, I look at how the content makes my client and myself feel. If it’s capturing a wedding, the paycheck is great but the client having the photos I took to look back at with a smile in 20 years? That’s priceless. I have two digital photo frames in my office with all met favorite photos in them, it brings me so much joy seeing all these photos I’ve taken over the years and when I finish a shoot and can add more to them from it, that’s success to me. Read more>>

Nicole Harlot

Collaboration. Understanding that there are more than enough resources to be successful and doing it alone is working harder not smarter. Working together with others, specifically in industries with focus on women, allows for positive outcomes to happen quicker and more robust. When we focus on our zone of genius and stay within in, more productivity happens. It also allows for rest phases when they are needed because we are all cyclical humans. We help fill gaps. Other women are the secret to your success.. Read more>>

Ella Ibasan

For much of my life, I believed success was measured by financial stability and securing a high paying career. After earning my BA in Psychology, I thought I was on the right path to becoming a pediatrician, but something felt off. No matter how hard I pushed forward, I struggled with my mental health. When it was time to write personal statements, I couldn’t even articulate why I wanted to be a doctor. It felt like a goal that had simply appeared rather than one I truly desired. When I finally chose to pursue my jewelry business full-time instead of medicine, I braced myself for backlash from my family, only to realize the success I had been chasing wasn’t my own. It has been built on the expectations of others. Read more>>

Lorne Graham

Overall, I believe success to be a very personal benchmark for each business owner, whether it means a larger net profit year over year, or more contacts with customers to educate them about your offerings and their benefits. For us, we thoroughly enjoy talking with people about our hot sauces and the joy we experience in being a part of the hot sauce community which is very supportive and close-knit. We had a successful first hot sauce festival in 2021 when we were invited by a fellow sauce maker in NJ who reached out to the two green newbies with just two sauces. On Day One, another sauce maker, Maggie Dilley from DefCon Sauces, came to us at the end of that first day and kindly explained that we should have plastic squeeze bottles for offering sample tastings instead of pouring straight out of the 5 oz woozy bottles. She told us she had a couple at her house and would bring them for us the next day so we and our customers would have a better experience. Read more>>

Brianna Salazar

To me, success is about growth, support, and perseverance. When I started my business in 2020, I had no idea how far it would take me. As someone who’s always been shy and introverted, stepping into the vibrant and colorful world of balloon decor was completely outside of my comfort zone. But success, for me, has always been about embracing challenges and growing along the way. Read more>>

Emily Coyne

I believe that being relentless is necessary to become successful. Both of these come in varying degrees, but some level of never settling, pushing past boundaries, and going at it again and again is key to achieve success. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the years, and one that has changed how our entire team approaches work, is that with diligence and creative thinking, very few problems can’t be solved. Tenacity, forcing yourself to set preconceived notions aside, thinking outside the box, and believing with conviction that there is no way forward except through building a solution, allows us to accomplish what others can’t (or more accurately, won’t). Read more>>