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.

Hannah Mead

nervous to let my creativity within taking photos shine through. I was anxiously focused on “getting the shot” and checking off bullet points of what I thought a photo gallery should look like. Obviously this is forever important in my job regardless, but I wasn’t allowing myself to open up artistically in fear of rejection or a client not liking my work. Read more>>

Abbie Mirata

The most important key to becoming successful is defining success, as early as possible. And not what the world tells us success is, but what success really means to you. When we see all these stories of people who’ve worked like crazy and all of a sudden realize they want to be home more, they want to travel more, they want more time with their kids so they “walk away” from that corporate job……… it’s because you never knew what success was in the first place. Why did you ever need all that money or the title or the recognition if what you wanted was to engage with life more. Read more>>

Gennifer Rose

My husband and I work as a team to build and contribute to our California travel and lifestyle blog. We’ve been busy doing photography and creating detailed travel guides for our brand for over 7 years now. We’ve seen great success with well over 10,000 readers a month using our content to plan and inspire their own vacations. Read more>>

Vintage Mozart

Simply put, success is the achievement of a defined goal. We constantly make objectives for ourselves, whether consciously or subconsciously. The answer is how determined are you as an individual to follow the laws you make for yourself. There is no right answer for this because goals should change after ever milestone, true success to me is always finding yourself hungry for what you like to do. Read more>>

Cyndi Dinh

Some define success as a satisfactory completion of something. Others may also defined success as gaining of wealth, fame or respect. Success means different things to different people. Personally, I measure my success through authentic relationships I have with my family, friends and community. Read more>>

Jazlyn Jade

There’s this quote that I remind myself of because it’s helped me so much. It goes, “the easiest way to achieve everything you want in life is to fall in love with the process of becoming the best version of yourself.” There is a lot of definitions for the word “success” and most of the time, it is defined as some sort of overall happiness. I believe success is to truly live in your purpose, and to be successful is to actively live a lifestyle that feeds into your overall wellness and establishes your place in the world. Read more>>

Carlos Colon

Anytime anyone asks me – Carlos, what do you think it takes to be successful? My answer is always the same; (At least in the little bit of success I’ve been able to achieve so far) It is having incredible resilience. Your professional journey and your business or career journey will go side-by-side and through that journey, you will experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. You will more than likely fail more than you succeed! Read more>>

Cathy Raymonvil

To become successful it takes a lot of hard work. I’ve been taught that hard work pays off and I still believe it till this day. Work can mean a lot of things, overcoming fear, self motivation, staying focus, and being comfortable with being uncomfortable all take some type of work to be successful. In my experience as an Entrepreneur who strives for success, I had to learn a lot about myself and work on different strategies to change certain things about me that came with being a business owner. Read more>>

Terri Sherman

I think successful small business owners have a lot of the same traits. Here are some of the qualities I have found many of them have in common: • They are adaptable—They understand that as much as the world is dynamic, so it is in business also, and they are less rigid and less resistant to making necessary changes in their businesses when they need to, especially if it means that change or pivot will result in greater success for their business and/or their team. Read more>>

Rudy Mage

i think to be successful you have to be willing to risk it all for a dream that nobody sees but you. I think your drive and ambition have to be relentless, you need to worker harder than the average person day in day out. it could take one year or it can take 10. find something you love and just put in the work. hard work will always pay off. Read more>>

Abdull Albeloushi

I think self-confidence is the key to being successful. Believing in yourself is the first step toward a successful path. Sometimes people put other people down and try to crush their dream but that’s just them projecting their lack of self-confidence and insecurities on others. Read more>>

Brittany Anderson

What I think it will take to be successful Staying determined and never giving up no matter if my business is slow always promoting myself always promoting my brand always going to community events and Keeping my name out there and in the air Read more>>

Ainsley Lopez

Success comes in many different forms whether it’s financial or mental. I think the beauty in success is that to each person it’s curated to what they believe it is. For La Tablera Boards, success is still being here after a year and a half of being in business. Success is more than one thing, it’s almost like building a puzzle and making sure every single piece fits. Read more>>

Crishtbel Mora

Achieving success is possible regardless of the obstacles, and the frequency with which they appear in your life. In our time, it is a great responsibility to teach the new generations that dedication, perseverance, resistance to adversity, and having a positive attitude in addition to being grateful for each experience, is the right path to achieve any goal you set for yourself. Read more>>

Sejal Patel

Success to me is maintaining focus on your goals. Once you set your goals, it becomes easier to overcome them by focusing on that “next” step that will get you closer to achieving your goal. Cultivate good habits and make most of the finite amount of time we all have in a day. Personally, making a small change and waking up earlier has proven, they are my most productive hours. My willpower is at its peak, leading to better decisions and sets a positive tone to my day. Read more>>

Tim & Heather Kostka

The biggest factors in success – tenacity and heart. We have found in our entrepreneurial journey that there are always folks better than you, more skilled or talented, more creative or innovative, but what can set you apart is your heart – your intentions, your mission, your aim, your beliefs, and your willingness to keep pushing regardless of the noise, competition, circumstances surrounding you. Read more>>

Victoria Nugent

Success is a very relative term. It looks different from one person to the next. Websters defines it as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. When I envision what success looks like for me, I picture myself with a strong relationship with God, mental clarity, financial security, physical health, and thriving relationships. But what it takes to get there is universal! Self-discipline alone is what will lead to success. Read more>>

Emmarie Jackson

I’ve personally discovered that success is driven by a lot of passion, and perseverance through failure. Failure is necessary to achieve success. And that success is not defined by the amount of money you make, nor your popularity. But rather, it is defined by the peace and satisfaction you achieve from your work, and continuing to have that same level of passion as you grow. The financial and social success will follow, as long as you continue to dedicate time and effort to maintain the same quality, continue to keep focused, and have love for what you do. Read more>>

Lil Hendrix

It takes a lot to be successful, a lot of countless long nights either sitting in the studio or at work trying to make something out of nothing , there’s going to be a lot of times where you fail and you’re going to feel like giving up but don’t give up , wether it’s a goal you’re trying to reach or wether it’s your dream , I would say you should never give up cause you never know when it’s going to be your lucky day. If I never kept going writing songs and making music I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at right now having this interview with y’all everything takes time and things are going to come to you when the universe feels like you are ready to take on that new challenge. Read more>>

Chandra Richardson

Success comes from having a strategic plan and working at it consistently, with intention. I think of success as a bullseye. If I just throw darts randomly without focusing, they’ll go everywhere and I’ll never hit the target, I may even cause some damage. But if I take my time and notice any mistakes, I can learn from them and create a better plan. Then, with my eyes on my goal, I’m guaranteed to hit my target if I aim with intention and stay consistent. Read more>>

Sawyer Jones

Success is one of those things that is subjective in my opinion. From work to personal life, success looks different for all people and it’s one of those things that is solely based on how you want to live. For myself, success takes dedication and hard work – like most people would say. Success is a place of feeling at ease but yet a little scared of what you are working towards. You might say, scared?  Read more>>

Tamar Hermes

I actually responded to these three questions. Let me know if you want me to elaborate on any of them and I can add more to the portal. I am not sure how long the articles are. Customer Success Story: Can you share a customer success story – a time when you helped your client or customer achieve a really great result or solved a difficult problem for them? Read more>>

Bailey Plake

I think you first have to define what success means for you. Is it being booked every weekend or sold out of your product? Or is it hearing back from your customers about what your work means to them? Or something totally different? For me, I think having that definition for yourself is the only way YOU can know if you are hitting the mark. Otherwise, you are letting others define it for you and you will be exhausted trying reach goals that are imagined. Have your own definition and know what it will take to get you there. Read more>>

Sebastian Wijata

I think those days every business owners in any industry have to be honest and making sure to provide the best service and using the best quality product people are not “blind” and will notice the difference. Read more>>

Nardin Hermiz

Success comes from believing in yourself. If you have the confidence to go after your dreams, then there is no such thing as failure. Failure comes from not trying. Read more>>

Marie Flores

What I think it takes to be successful is to not judge your self against what others in your industry are doing. Keep going on your own path and even when you don’t think you are doing that great, you never know who is watching you. I have found that friends look up to me and love to see what I am doing, even when I am in a slump and don’t think I am doing that great in my business, these comments and complements always steer me back on track. Keep doing what you love and that alone is a success! Read more>>

Shannon Ginn Owner/Instructor/Personal Trainer

There are so many opinions, models, books and so forth on “success”. For me my success is measured in the success of my clients, and my staff. It takes being open to change, not giving up on my dream, reminding myself daily how much I love what I do and just how important it is to keep offering it. Many business owners get caught up in the profit end. Read more>>

Sarah Hillmer

Success is not a one-size fits all model. Success can take on many forms – but work ethic, openness, curiosity and good old-fashioned determination are skills that are essential to carving out a successful, fulfilling path. Read more>>

Mattie Lewis

Success comes in many different forms to people. To me, success is fulfillment. It takes hard work, focus, dedication and the WANT to do it. I remind myself daily that I can do anything I put my mind to! Read more>>

Grant Rosen

What do I think it takes to be successful ? First off there is a subject of interpretation as to what people view as “ successful “ however I would say : 1- stay driven 2- be open to changes. Mostly because what you think will make you successful isn’t always what does. You may have to find a slightly different answer. 3- change. Be open to growing and creating a new way or new product or new avenue for success Read more>>

Amy Tavalozzi

I believe you have to work hard for what you want. I have had such a strong entrepreneurial spirit since I can remember and have a strong drive to achieve my goals. Once I set my mind to something I will work diligently and consistently toward my goals. My best advice for someone trying to reach their goals is to first, KEEP A JOURNAL. Track it! Look at it everyday and make adjustments as needed. This is how we get better. Sometimes its hard to see where your going if you can’t see the mini- accomplishments as you go. Read more>>

Adrienne Scott-Trask

Success is funny. I am now at a point in my business journey that when I first started I would have consider myself “successful”. My business is out of debt, bringing in great sales numbers that are consistent, my business fully supports my life financially and we are about to grow and expand into our first brick+mortar space and hire numerous employees and grow to another new level. I am the most exhausted I have ever been in my entire life. Read more>>