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.

Daniel Jerez

Personally, success comes in stages. The small successes turn into big ones and it helps to take it one step at a time. Being successful varies person to person and can change depending on your current goals and ambitions. The thing that matters most to keep in mind is to allow yourself to fail. I know this is something that has been said before, but it is so important that you not only fail but allow yourself to be ok with it and learn to surpass and improve from those failures. Read more>>

Lina Thomas

The most important factor behind my success is believing in the work that I do. The brand is just the outward label of whatever it is you do. There are lots of people going to mundane jobs every day because they feel they need the income to pay their bills, rather than doing what they believe in. Read more>>

Joaquin Hernandez

I believe that today to be successful you must necessarily have built a wall with blocks of failure, that wall is called success, sometimes people do not take risks because they are afraid of failing; and I understand, failure is hard but when you get up you are full of wisdom and you don’t repeat the same mistakes. Of course I have failed, I am an immigrant and I was the owner of two businesses, a butcher shop and another one that sold hamburgers. Read more>>

Jennifer Williams

Being successful can mean different things to different people, it can vary based on individual goals and aspirations. Success often involves navigating through failures, rejections, and unexpected changes. I had to develop resilience to bounce back from setbacks and learn from them. I had to cultivate a positive mindset and maintain a positive attitude, even in challenging times,(side note this is an ongoing everyday process for me) Read more>>

Angela Hall

I think success is in the eyes of the beholder. One’s success is measured by the goals they have accomplished to fulfill their dreams. Success is not about any monetary measures. It is about one’s own sense of self accomplishments. My level of success for me doesn’t start until I have accomplished all my goals and until I reach a level of comfort. One might say I am successful now. You have a good job.(9-5) and 2 businesses. However, I have more to accomplish and goals to reach.. Read more>>

J. Joy

I think it takes proper preparation, dedication, consistency, work ethic, strategic planning, and execution to progress and be successful. Talent and skill alone won’t take you there, it could get you in the door or noticed, but long term success requires more. Read more>>

Pepa Ivanoff

I think you need to understand what success truly looks and feels like for you, and then create a life that Is the most authentic expression of it. Curating a Life that is a Work of Art. Read more>>

Nick Terpstra

For me, being successful comes down to a few things. You have to be willing to do pretty much anything to advance your service or grow your business. I don’t turn down any gig or event that I have room on my calendar for. Just the other weekend I had 3 shows in the matter of 24 hours: 11p-2a, then again from 7:30a-10a, and then another event that evening from 9p-1:30a. Read more>>

James Williams

It takes dedication, determination, and time to become and stay successful. No business makes a million sales over night and you have to have the right motives to get a business up and running. I don’t take no for an answer and I believe anything can be done. You literally have to fail a few times just to see the light a little and then after you have to have the skills to be able to get up and stay up. Read more>>

Emma Leigh Reed

Without a doubt, perseverance is needed to be successful. Many times we feel defeated and beaten down when things don’t seem successful. What what is success? That is a very individualized answer. My dream of being a fiction writer has been with me since I was a child. This dream had many starts and stops to it. It seemed obstacle after obstacle was thrown at me. Read more>>

Sara Schroeder

Success takes one really important thing: the thoughts you think. Thoughts about you, first and foremost, and then, thoughts about your business, others, what it means to serve, the impact you want to make, and thoughts about consistently taking action One of my favorite definitions is “success is faith in action.” Read more>>

Natalie Joseph

Success means something different to everyone. For me, I have truly dissected the meaning so I can embrace it fully. I have to start off by explaining that my role model as a kid was my dad— He was a brilliant nuclear physicist who developed hundreds of patents and built several companies based on his inventions. He also traveled the world for business. I saw him as successful. But, I also saw how stressed he was; Read more>>

Tanoka Adams Jr.

What it takes to be successful is found within I truly believe. Although success is a good thing what we forget to mention success is achieving the highest version of yourself. What it takes to achieve that is an continuation pattern of discipline. Developing discipline can be very difficult when starting out due to the lack of good habits we do not notice in ourself. During this period of time we have to began to understand our mistake more clearly as we remove ourselves from the bad habits, its like the scenario of saying “removing yourself outside of your body”. Read more>>

Jeff Ragovin

To be successful, it takes grit and drive but fundamentally, relationships sit at the core foundation of everything you do. Building strong relationships is essential for success in both personal and professional endeavors. Here are a few areas that are paramount to being successful: Read more>>

Jessica Gonzalez

It takes a vast amount of creativity. You must always think about a new way of doing things or understand how your industry is changing. eLearning is one of the latest fields with many opportunities, from course creation to podcasts to online coaching; the possibilities are infinite! When I started my eLearning company, we focused mainly on traditional virtual tutoring and then saw that we could offer more to everyone. Read more>>

Harris Choe

I strongly believe that passion and self-awareness are key factors in becoming a successful business owner. Starting a business is a difficult journey; however, if you build a business around your passions, you’ll never lose the fire that started in the first place. In addition, having the self-awareness to know your own strength and weaknesses is key. As a young business owner, you’ll want to do everything on your own, but knowing when to ask for help and to delegate tasks can exponentially help with the growth of your business. Read more>>

Monique de Oliveira, Fernando Senges N/A

I believe that being successful when starting a small food business requires dedication, hard work, and perseverance. Being prepared to face challenges along the way and learn from your experiences is a must. But there are also other key factors that will help you to succeed, for example offering a unique and high-quality product that stands out in the market and differentiating yourself from competitors by focusing on a niche. Read more>>

Danielle Ambry-Fogarty

Being successful is all about taking risks and embracing your fears. Fear of failure and lack of self-confidence often hold us back from pursuing our dreams. However, taking imperfect action can lead to growth, learning experiences, and ultimately success. Failure may happen, but I urge you to NOT look at it as a negative outcome. Instead failure is an opportunity to become stronger and wiser, and to use that knowledge to achieve better outcomes in the future! Read more>>

Kelly Bourque

We have to first define success. For some, that’s a bottom line. I refuse to see success as a monetary number. I measure success with how spacious I feel on the inside (and how often I feel that space). Part of the spaciousness is having enough money so you’re not pre-occupied or worried. Another part of it is knowing when enough is enough and actually being in the life you’ve created. My biggest fear is not being present to the life I have. Read more>>

Tania Becker

What does it take to be successful? I think a big helping of curiosity! In the good times – curiosity keeps me moving forward, it excites me about innovation and change. Less TV time, more time learning about what’s going on in my industry and in the world! Learning energizes me. Read more>>

Jay Malloyd

I’ve mused on the idea of what success is for….my entire life basically. From the moment we say our first word, take our first steps, etc. we’re fed this idea of what success should look like. I drove myself insane trying to live up to someone else’s definition of success; as a result of that, I developed a habit of people pleasing and a pretty toxic negative self-dialogue. Read more>>

Angie Keeslar

Success is a process, it starts with knowing where you are now and where you want to go, then taking the first step, no matter how big or small that step may be. Most people have dreams or ideas, but until they know where they are going and take the first step, they are only thoughts. It can be scary to begin, but to make anything happen you must have activity. Read more>>

Andra Douglas

Above all, perseverance. One story that illustrates this is my book; Black & Blue; Love, Sports and the Art of Empowerment. I wrote the book over a twenty-year period. I never intended it to take that long but the story continued to build as the years went by. Each day of the 18 years that I owned the team, there was something that was worth writing down; humorous, sad, inspiring, thrilling, poignant, memorable —a veritable color wheel of emotions and events that I wanted to somehow capture. Read more>>

Laura Prechel

I think it takes hard work, and a willingness to do whatever it takes, to be successful. If it was easy, everyone would do it! I believe it’s important to honor your commitments, even when it’s difficult. People need to know you’re dependable and trustworthy so they know they can take you at your word. It’s important to treat people with kindness and respect and to show grace under pressure. I believe in servant leadership where the head of an organization is willing to do any task that’s necessary to move the business forward, even if it seems menial. Read more>>

Kai Chase

To be successful it takes commitment, determination, positive thinking, creative expression and a little bit of selfishness. One doesn’t thrive without the other. I remember when I started my culinary career about 24 years ago and I knew the career path I was about to embark on was not going to be an easy one. First of all, I jumped into the culinary arts field back in the late 90’s when women were the minorities in professional kitchens. Read more>>

Hannah Wentz

Everyone says that the best job in the world is one where you get to work for yourself. In part, this is true. People think that if they start their own businesses that they won’t have to work 40 hour work weeks anymore, and they are right. You need to put in far more than 40 hours to build a business from the ground up. This requires trail and error, failure, ups, downs, doubts, and can overall question your abilities. Read more>>

Payton Russell

In order to be successful or find success in something is to be extremely passionate about it. Constantly wanting to improve, finding new ways to grow and learning from the experiences you have throughout each day. The number one way to thrive in anything is by learning from your mistakes. Nothing goes accordingly, so rolling with the punches and taking each day one day at a time is how I best get to where I want to be and achieve my goals. Read more>>

Devon Teeple

It’s tough to define success, I think it’s always evolving. I tend to think back to my own experiences and relive those moments. What transpired from those occasions has helped me be a part of some pretty special conversations with some pretty incredible people. Even being asked to try and to define such a term is one of those moments I’ll reflect on. Read more>>