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.

Dawn Del Russo

To be successful takes many things. The number one way I believe we become successful is to have the proper mindset. Keep going no matter what. Sometimes you will have to pivot in business and make changes. Trust the process. Have a supportive team or people around that can keep you on track when you are ready to give up. Find a mentor. A person that has been through it before can catapult your business by skipping some of the pitfalls through their guidance. Read more>>

Blake Shook

This may sound overly simplistic, but in many ways, success in small business is a combination of incredibly hard work, persistence, and being at the right place at the right time. I’ve been a fortunate part of starting and running 6 different businesses at this point and I’ve always been stuck by the need for all 3 of those elements. Read more>>

Naomi Phelps

It takes a lot to be successful: from sacrificing personal time, sleep, and money to being vulnerable and putting yourself out there, asking a plethora of questions, and going out of your comfort zone and taking chances. But you don’t know who you are or where your business can go if you don’t. Read more>>

Tianna Curatalo

Everyone has their own measure of success. Whether it be income, the car they drive, etc… For me, to be successful means to make my clients happy. The ultimate reward of delivering a final project is hearing the words of content from them. It truly brings me joy to help my clients elevate their brands to new levels. I am a people pleaser by nature and I aim to please EVERY TIME. Read more>>

Jerson Navasca

To be successful you need to have goals, Predetermined goals guide you to what you want to achieve. What I wanted to achieve when I started photography was that I wanted to be an all around photographer. So that meant that I needed to learn all different styles of photography. With that I managed to get different kinds of gigs which eventually got me traveling around places capturing moments. Read more>>

Randall Davis

The main thing it takes to be successful in anything is consistency! Maintaining consistency with everything you do you will always show great results! Some results may come soon some may come later but they’ll for sure come! Read more>>

Ashley Nicole

Consistency. The name of the game is consistency. Before you can be consistent, you have to set a goal, create a plan, follow the plan until it becomes a habit and continue pushing through! Don’t stop until you are successful. You may have some failed attempts, but learn from them and keep going. Even when you reach your goal of success, you should repeating this same cycle with another goal that will take you to the next level. The hardest part is getting started. You’ll never know what it is to be successful if you never start. Read more>>

Erin McInerney

money you make, the more expensive things you have or more you can show off, especially on Social Media, the more successful you are. My business shifted completely when I realized success, for me, couldn’t be measured in dollars. I came to this conclusion for a few reasons. The first being, whether you are suffer from lack or you are filthy rich, two very opposing ends of the spectrum, money is still controlling you. And what exactly is money? It’s really a piece of nothing until WE give it value. Read more>>

Lesley Pyle

First, I think you have to define success for yourself. My version of success may look very different from someone else’s. For instance, in my definition of success I want to include being a great wife, mother and friend, not just being successful in business and making money. I want to give back and leave a Godly legacy behind. I want to run my business with integrity and never put success before my faith and my family. Read more>>

Breanna Miller

The key to success in anything in life is building relationships, effective communication, and creativity. By having connections with others, and creating a network of people who you can rely on and vise versa, it enables everyone to grow and/or benefit. Everyone has a different set of skills, knowledge, experience, and expertise. By sharing what we know and are able to give, Read more>>

Samantha Pantazopoulos

Everyone’s definition of success is different, and I think that is a really good thing. Diversity of thought and diversity of action is what creates a thriving society. When discussing the meaning of success, I always encourage people to think critically about what success means to them. How do they want to feel? How do they want their days to look? When they look back in reflection, will they be happy with how they spent their time? Often, our culture positions success as a destination, but I now prefer to view it as a state of being. Read more>>

Antonio Becker

I think it takes a clear definition of what success is to you! Often it seems we focus on the right way to attain success be it financially, socially, spiritually but I don’t know if there’s a right way. If you feel successful, by all means you are successful. Read more>>

Vee Davis

It takes hard work, sleepless nights, lots of sacrifice’s, consistency and dedication. I had a ton of no’s before I had one yes so many doors closed on me too many failures but I kept going there were times I wanted to throw the towel in but I had to speak to myself in third person lots of times like Vee you got this keep going you didn’t come this far just to come this far and don’t look for nobody else to believe in you the belief starts with you never seek validation and that was my problem seeking for family, friends to believe in me once I started believing in myself I stop looking for that light at the end of the tunnel and lit that bad boy myself. Read more>>

Corey Dunlap

I think being successful means something different to everyone. For me, being successful in business means I’m able to do what I love and provide a living for my family. To do this you must know your craft in and out and be honest with your clients. Obviously, business owners have businesses to make money. But there’s so much more to it than that. I started my own business to feed my passion for knifemaking and sharpening. Read more>>

Nicole Saavedra

Being successful is one of those things that vary in definition depending on each person and their goals. Personally, being successful is about being genuinely happy and at peace with yourself. Being able to live the life you desire, being in a position to help family, friends and those in need. It’s making your dreams become reality. And accomplishing what I believe we all aspire, financial freedom. Read more>>

Felicia Vaughn

For me, success means ‘surrender to God’. Over the course of building my company, Wonderfully Well™, I have learned that my success is incumbent upon my ability to surrender the building direction and design of my company to God which requires that I let go of my plans and allow Him to create His masterpiece. As I embark on a task that feels like moving into unknown territory, Read more>>

Shelby Hancock

I think at the end of the day in order to be successful you have to have passion about what you are doing. I knew that I wanted to work in the music industry but was having trouble finding a job and getting into the industry itself. I stumbled across a few different music industry resources that I thought were amazing and knew that there had to be more out there. Read more>>

Elaysha Bazil

To be successful is to make sacrifices, for the bigger picture. Knowing that those sacrifices are small in comparison to what’s to come. It’s knowing that those sacrifices come in many forms. Being tired, failing, and lost, possibly broke! Lol, I’ve been there. Let me not forget patience, because nothing happens overnight. There are good things of course that happen along the journey. You may surprise yourself by doing what seemed impossible. Read more>>

Daunea

Success is relative. So whatever a person’s goal or dream life is , in order to achieve it they must be ambitious, proactive, consistent,aligned,resilient, disciplined, patient, focused, self motivated, humble, determined, strong and optimistic & they must take action. To be successful, I believe that it takes service, you must first learn to serve, assist and provide value to others..I also believe that you should have a willingness to learn, research and to become a subject matter expert in your field/industry. Read more>>

Andrea Hammond

My personal brand of success required a few different things. First and foremost, I simply wanted a career where I felt like I belonged. I have had plenty of jobs where it just didn’t feel like the right fit. I think it’s important to find something that you feel passionate about and I knew I wanted the freedom to be creative, work with my hands, and utilize my love for art and aesthetics. I wanted to work in a field where I could feel excited day in and day out. I wanted a career that felt so right that even on the worst days, it still felt good. I wanted to contribute financially to my household while maintaining a strong work-life balance. And I wanted to feel like I was helping others in some way, shape, or form. Read more>>

Shelley Wenzel

I believe there are many factors that come into play when describing what it takes to be successful. With that being said, I also believe that we all have our own definition of what success looks like. In my experience determination, discipline, and honesty are at the top of the list of qualities of a person I deem successful. Read more>>

Ray Sherman

I think it takes a willingness to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. I know that in my industry there are many people calling themselves photographers but few actually know professional lighting or have training. Read more>>

Tim Boudreaux

What does it take to be successful in your business? A lot of hard work and tenacity. You must be organized. You must be detailed.
You must analyze your competition. Understand the risks and rewards of your work. Be Creative in what you do. Stay Focused. Prepare to make sacrifices Provide great service and product to your customers. Be consistent. Read more>>