We asked some very talented folks to talk to us about success and what it takes to be successful. We’ve shared their responses below.

Domeanic Carter-Banks

What I think it takes for a person to be successful is the willingness to push through any obstacle or circumstance. That includes failure. All too often we confuse success with perfection, which to me is humanely unattainable. Failure teaches us lessons, it’s not always bad. Success takes excellence which includes someone falling and getting back up again to keep striving for the finish line. Not only do they have the bruises and scars to show, but they can help others learn from their journey as well. Read more>>

Taylor Onze

If I know one thing, it’s that success looks different for everyone. However, I do believe there are key qualities and habits that can contribute to one’s journey of success. To become successful one must acquire a ton of discipline and hard work. One must be willing to put in long hours, work diligently, and make sacrifices to achieve their desired outcomes. I have a few things that come to mind when I think of my own success and how I got to where I am today. Read more>>

KAYLA ZAMOT

Success is something that I feel would be defined differently by any person you asked. For me; determination, consistency, hard work, dedication are all things I’d say you need to be successful. Photography is a very competitive industry and if I would’ve given up during the first few years when I wasn’t booking any shoots or when I was comparing myself to all these incredible successful photographers in my area; I would’ve never gotten to where I am now. I’m not at the level of success I wanna be, but to be honest that’s constantly changing as are my goals because GROWTH! Read more>>

Marcella Palumbo

What it takes to be successful is to truly love what you do. I know the expression is said a thousand times over “if you love what you do you never work a day in your life”. Yes I do work 5-6 days a week BUT I love every minute of it. If you have the passion, the drive, and the courage to go for it– you will absolutely be successful with whatever you do. Read more>>

Mercedes Sykes

I believe in order to be successful you must be willing to work hard. It’s not too many people, if any, that become successful from doing nothing. You have to want it, smell it, feel it, and be confident that you can and will be successful in life. Some people measure success by simple waking up everyday while others measure success on the impact they have on the community. Read more>>

Schalene Houston-Butler

I think there are different variations of what being successful looks like to each person. For me, it’s all about being consistent and persevering through all obstacles to achieve the goal. I feel as if being successful is a personal mindset for every individual. It’s easy to look at someone else and view them as successful but you don’t know what the person went through to get them to that particular point. I would rather focus on my small wins because every small win leads to an overall bigger win for my business. Read more>>

Belle Teria

To be successful, it takes dedication, communication, and embracing failure. When things get complicated, you must maintain your composure and stick to your plan. Stay dedicated to your goals and have faith in your plan. Communication is vital as it helps your peers clearly understand who you are and what you can provide. In wedding planning, you communicate with everyone from the bride and bridal party to vendors. Learning to convey your message effectively is essential, showing that you are professional and personable. Read more>>

Gabe Alonso

Being successful is about preparation & execution. I have always been a huge believer that proper preparation produces prime results & that is what I have always lived by in any avenue of business. Hard work and sheer determination in any project or venture is what can separate you from the rest. Although working hard is a huge part of success, in my opinion someone who is truly successful is in a full-time success mindset and lifestyle! Read more>>

Tasha Adams

There are many factors that makes a business successful, One of the biggest factors is customer service. But not just any customer service, customer service that exceeds expectations. Customer service that makes thier guest come back for the experience of feeling valued and getting all questions and answers to their planty needs. Treating each person as an individual, learning thier names knowing them each time they come back. Read more>>

Samantha Courtois

What does it take to be successful? To answer this question you must first define what success means to you. For me, success would be having a complete work/life balance and never losing my passion for what I do every day. Having all the money in the world is not worth anything if your not happy, and don’t have time to share it with loved ones. I feel so fortunate to have found a career I enjoy walking into every day. Read more>>

Elaina Grove

To be successful, it takes a lot of hard work and determination. You have to be persistent and dedicated to the kind of work you are choosing to do. Starting my own business wasn’t always easy, but I was dedicated to what I was starting. I kept getting back up when I would fall. There were so many failed interviews, jobs, and projects. But, I stayed persistent. Read more>>

Ryan Castelaz

To be successful as a small business owner, you must have a relentless desire to bring your vision to the world, no matter what stands in your way. Being a business owner is one of the hardest things you can choose to do. You will be constantly challenged by new situations that you are unfamiliar with and unequipped to handle, and it will likely take all of you to overcome them. Without a relentless desire to realize your vision, the countless obstacles before you can crush your ambitions. Read more>>

Drake Terry

Obsession! I believe you will never achieve success if your not willing to submerge yourself into whatever your doing. Never taking a day off and being obsess with building this idea, this business, or this life your wanting. There hasn’t ever been someone that truly accomplished greatness without being obsessed with their desires. Read more>>

Tyler Gibbs

To be successful you first have to find what you’re passionate about. It takes giving your best effort every day and dedicating endless hours of the day. It’s important to stay focused on your goals and maintain a limitless mindset. Read more>>

Jennifer Micciche

While there are numerous qualities that contribute to one’s success, two stand out to me the most. Those qualities are patience and an unwavering resolve. Starting a business, any business, is one of the hardest things you can ever do. I learned a hard lesson here. I remember when I first started, I was under the disillusion that after I perfected my craft I would launch my website, tell a few friends and family members, make a Facebook post, and then sales would just magically start rolling in. Read more>>

Yarden Ronen-van Heerden

Achieving success in any career can be challenging, particularly in real estate, where many people come to it later in life! Drawing on your life and career experiences and applying them to your current goals can help build on previous successes. Adopting a growth mindset is one of the most critical factors in achieving success in my field. You’ll need to keep up-to-date with new developments, continually improve the skills most beneficial to your clients, and stay in front of them as current, valuable, and available. Read more>>

Jessica Baker-Bentley

I think it takes availability, braveness, consistency, commitment, determination, dedication, discipline, effort, faith, faithful, mentorship and so much more to be successful. And a mindset to know that you can be successful. And you must always stay focus on your destination and believe that you will get there by any means necessary. Believe in and trust God and keep him first in all you do. Read more>>

Jamie Musgrove

To me, being “successful” is subjective. You have to ask yourself what goal you’re trying to achieve, and then comes the question of what you’re willing to do to make it happen. You can create something and call it a successful venture, but is the venture fulfilling everything you had hoped for when you came up with your idea? If not, then is it really a success? For me, success depends on one principle: Do the work! Read more>>

Lori Blad

To be successful, you have to let go of your ego and focus on your clients. Focus on your clients needs and wants, follow through, support them, support your partners in business, and success is inevitable. Be yourself, have fun, and be consistent. In my industry there are some really big egos, at the end of the day, none of our business is about us as realtors or loan officers, it’s all about helping people get what they want. Read more>>

Josh Fitz

It depends on what you define as successful! In my mind success is defined as doing what you love and making a living off of it. My passion and my purpose make me successful. My passion is the driving fuel for my success because I feel I am serving my purpose in life by servicing others in an industry I love! Read more>>

Quincy Palmer

I believe success takes sacrifice, discipline and consistency. Although it seems as if luck or “chance” leads some people to success, but we often don’t consider the sacrifice or consistency that was needed to fall upon that perceived luck. If your growth is dependent on your network, then getting out, shaking hands and making connections is something that needs to be done consistently. Even if you don’t feel like it, stepping out for the 15th time might be more crucial to that next step than the last 14 failed attempts to make connections. Read more>>

Ciara White-Sparks

Success doesn’t come easy, but those who strive to exude excellence, perseverance, and determination tend to reach their goals. As someone who is still navigating life and discovering my own voice through the lens of the media; I always take a moment to acknowledge the moments in which I have displayed significant growth. One of my favorite messages from former Miss USA Deshauna Barber states, “When someone tells me I can’t do something, Read more>>

Deyla Sabio

Sacrifice, hunger and faith. Oftentimes we frown upon the word “sacrifice”, mainly because it is often painted as a negative word. But I have learned that sacrifice can serve us positively and be a benefit to us overall. Sacrifice is the offer that one puts on a table in exchange for battle scars. Battle scars that carry strength, wisdom. Read more>>

Aniko Adams

As a successful entrepreneur, you have to be passionate about what you love to turn your dreams into reality. You cannot be afraid of taking risks, have good planning, organization skills and always believe in yourself. You have to invest a lot of hours into your business at first to get started and most people underestimate the dedication that goes into it. Once you realize that, your business will expand and grow each and every day a little bit more and you see success in the long run. Read more>>

Hayley Stevens

I think success requires many ingredients, but some of the first that come to mind are uniqueness in the industry, product integrity, human to human customer service, and open mindedness. Read more>>

Lyndsay Peterson

Let’s be honest, the restaurant industry is physically and mentally demanding and has some of the slimmest profit margins of any industry you may try to succeed in. In my opinion, to be successful in this industry, you have to be willing to sacrifice, work extremely hard and be insanely creative when it comes to marketing and drawing more business in. Read more>>

Cierra Starr

Being successful first starts with putting God first with everything you do. Secondly would be to never give up, always stay consistent even when it gets hard. The reason I say this is because we have to go through things to get a better understanding at everything we do. Without experience how can we tell a person something if we never been through anything? Third always remember your why, why did you start? Read more>>

Rafael Matias

To be successful, first and foremost you need to have passion for what you do. I think that if the only motivation is money, we will burn out and never feel fulfilled. Some other ingredients need to be in the mix as well, like patience, knowledge, and integrity to what we do. Knowledge is important, as soon as we embark in a project we start to figure out that we might not know as much as we though about any given field. So keep educating ourself in our craft is instrumental. Read more>>

Dennis Rodgers

In my opinion to be successful you have to have an uncanny ability to always reinvent yourself in ways that you stand out amongst others, you have to constantly develop those around you to operate in excellence always, and never compromise the integrity of your brand. Stand on your key values and never be afraid to go against the grain, its good trust your gut feelings and just jump into go mode, sometimes you just have to start and build as you go. Starting is the most important part of being successful, not starting will only guarantee that you wont be successful. Read more>>

lisa shepard stewart

I think the first step is to define what “success” means for you – is it simply making lots of money, having control of your time/schedule, making a contribution to society, sharing your knowledge or talent, etc. Another important factor in success is to have a genuine passion for whatever you’re doing, and to approach it with an open, flexible mindset. Authenticity is also an important factor. Read more>>

Wakkirea Levatte

I think to be successful, you have to be consistent and dedicated to your goals, You can’t be afraid to put yourself out there and network, you have to take risk, be confident and patience. I think you also need to have a plan and make small goals for yourself while trying to get to the bigger ones you trying to achieve. Small goals will keep your motivated to keep going and not to give up. You also need to study and learn new things they will help you, be better at your craft Read more>>