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.
LaTanya Brooks
Have you ever heard of the saying, “Consistency is Key?” Well, that is especially true when starting a business. Forming positive habits and having a positive growth mindset are essential. Majority of business fail within their first 3 years. Hmm, maybe this is why the IRS takes it easy on those who suffer losses for at least 3 years. Read more>>
David Curtis
I have found that if I am passionate about something I can do very well at it. I had a year where I wasn’t doing so well at finding any work in video production and I took a job selling new cars. yep! big change for someone that had been working years creating brand videos and travel videos. Anyway, the one vehicle that I truly loved was the Chevrolet Tahoe and because I had such a passion for that vehicle I discovered that I sold a lot of them. Read more>>
Lauren Leighton
Realizing success resembles a roller coaster, not a straight line. Success can include plateaus, even a few steps back. Just when you think there is a reason for concern, success can ramp up. That’s exactly how Logan’s journey was. Once we got her cochlear implants, the journey was anything but linear! Read more>>
Gabriel Toma
We’ll start with a great Plan, Focus, Determination & Sacrifice and what we mean by that is, in order to be successful it takes everything you’ve got and a business plan along with the traits mentioned above are crucial. Knowing the industry your in and adapting to the market are also key ingredients. Read more>>
Tariq Johnson
Every industry is so different and requires varied attributes to achieve a version of success. However, I believe there are skills that are needed no matter the path, no matter the industry. First, I believe a strong sense of self is required to be successful. Self awareness will allow you to be decisive and trust your gut instincts and often times I feel this is how my best work is created. Secondly, an endless need to expand your knowledge. Read more>>
Shereka Heard
Hard work, patience, and dedication is what it takes to be successful. You have to be consistent with your business in order to get your name out there. It won’t happen over night. It may take awhile but keep going and don’t give up. Read more>>
Roderica Scott
I think being consistent and staying motivated are key to being successful. To get to where you want to be in life will not be easy but you have to stay consistent and keep pushing no matter what! Read more>>
Beatriz Velasquez
Being Successful to me means accomplishing your Purpose. Being determined no matter what comes your way. It doesn’t matter how many No’s you get, keep going! God created everyone to be unique, to be who you were called to be. God thank you for a dream 
written down that became a goal broken into steps became a plan backed up by actions became my Reality!!! God makes all our dreams come true! So as we think our ourselves is what we are. Tell yourself, You are extraordinary. Read more>>
Jules Centeno
I think really what it takes to be successful is just believing in one’s self. Flowing forward with faith, courage and never living in comparison. Comparison can be tough though, at least it was for me growing up. Feeling like I wasn’t doing enough and then never acting on ideas I had then I’d see it be done. None of that helps. Read more>>
Shaimiya Blue
Succeed is a verb and success is a noun. Without one there is no other way, so in order to be successful you have to succeed FIRST. Being successful comes with determination, strength, gaining, losing, feeling discouraged & frustrated. Yet, excited, inspired, motivated and encouraged at the same time. Putting in a tremendous amount of work ethic, being dominate and dedicated to your craft is the first step to being successful. Never giving up is the “HOLY GRAIL”! It’s normal to feel pessimistic but the key is to stay confident. 80% mindset and 20% action. We can all walk a path but the question is “Which path”? Stay focus and driven! Read more>>
Christopher Harris
One thing I learned from being in the Army is that you need to set realistic goals. Goals with benchmarks that can be measured. Success does not often have the same meaning to everyone or travel at the same speed. This term success can take on many forms. But in general way success would be to achieve things that are not readily achieved by your friends or peers. Read more>>
Kervins Martin
I believe that one of the most important things it takes to being successful is flexibility. You can’t predict the future so you have to remain flexible and adapt as the way of things continually change. I feel that a lot of businesses fail because of the lack of ability to change and adapt with current times and they eventually get left behind. The world is ever changing so you have to be able to roll with the punches and continually change and adapt to find solutions. Read more>>
Julie Diaz
There is a lot of advice out there about what it takes to be “successful.” And all of it is valid. But in order to truly achieve success, you must define what “success” means to you and what that looks like. I think that success requires an incredible amount of self-awareness, authenticity, grit, and most importantly, adaptability. Read more>>
Jennifer Mares
To be successful it takes failing multiple times. It takes learning not to please everyone and understand that not everyone is supposed to like you. Understand your fears and overcome them a step at a time. Read more>>
Lindsay Carter
First and foremost, to simply be here inhaling and exhaling is to be successful in my eyes. To then challenge yourself to expand beyond personal thresholds is an additional feature. To be a prosperous creative or dreamer, I think takes deep devotion and a nagging curiosity to explore possibility and potential. It takes constant self-inquiry and a core belief that you can achieve some form of what you want. Measuring success is a very personal journey. The word “success” in a business or career is often intertwined with material achievements within this society. Read more>>
Jessica McLean
When it comes to entrepreneurship, we measure success primarily in terms of money. So we spend the bulk of our time and energy focused on ways to continually make more of it. And in my experience with women who desire to run wildly successful businesses making multiple 6 figures, 7 figures or even beyond is that the most important determinant of your financial experience is not your funnel, how good your marketing emails are, or even how good you are at sales. Read more>>
Chantelly Liebling
Success takes hard work. It takes grit and it takes showing up to put in the work when you least feel like it. Those are the moments that push you forward. It is extremely hard to find the motivation to do the work every day. We all get tired, lazy, distracted, etc. Read more>>
Gregory Clark
It take a host of different things to be successful. Starting a business is often a life-altering decision. It can affect you in so many ways beyond just financially. You question yourself. People you know question you. But, in the end, it’s all about taking a risk, and believing in yourself and those standing by your side that believe you can do it. It’s a leap of faith. Most people prefer to do business with someone they know, or know of, which can make being a new business owner difficult. Read more>>
Marivel Juarez
I am a true believer in outsourcing yourself. I believe in multiple streams of income. That is where the saying of “Woman of many hats” from my business came from. Growing up, I was not sure what I wanted to do with my future. I knew one thing was certain- working a 9-5 was not going to make me as successful as I needed to be. I am a single mother, I wanted more, I want a legacy for my daughter to grow and learn that you can be more than a single employee. Read more>>
Veena Rao
I have said this before. I am a brown, introverted, immigrant woman. I should not have succeeded in the newspaper business nor as a debut author in an overcrowded book publishing industry. The fact that I have, says a lot about this country which makes it possible for ideas to succeed as long as you are prepared to work hard and persevere through failures. I think the resilience to persist through failures and hard times is one of the key factors in every success story. Read more>>
Simon Vongpradith
What it takes to be successful comes down to being motivated, surrounding yourself with positive and hardworking people, dedication, hard work, and making the right decisions. Motivation is a key factor in being successful because I’m motivated to keep food on the table for my family and ensure my employees can also. Read more>>
Ashley aka Glam B
Successful “adjective” Definition of successful 1: resulting or terminating in success 2: gaining or having gained success Being successful has always been a goal of mine. I have always believed success is not an overnight achievement. I think in order to be successful YOU MUST MANIFEST WHAT YOU WANT. Once manifestation has been done you must now put in the physical work. I am still on my journey to reach my idea of success. I do believe that everyone can reach their own idea of success with hard work, determination and manifestation. Read more>>
Maurice Smith
It is very important to remember that success is measured by the person setting the goal and not everyone else. There are so many so called standards of success that have been established by others. Those measures of success usually come with a pathway that has been predetermined. The problem with these measures and pathways is that they don’t take into consideration the individual, the individuals resources or access to resources or the skill sets that already exist. Read more>>
Christine Majken
The way that I view success is the ability to have longevity and growth in your profession. The longevity that I have had in my profession as a hair stylist is the focus I am able to maintain in the moment of time I am in. By doing this it clears my mind and opens my flow to create in an authentic way. This in turn also keep me open to new ideas which help me to grow. Read more>>
Reagan Kaalekahi
I think success is a never ending journey of self growth and development. Everyone rates success differently, for some it’s money, some it’s the Accolades and for others it could be how many people their influencing while have a work life balance. The fact of the matter is, success boils down to just a few disciplines, too name a few, one of those is a having a clear vision of your mission. This one is number one for me and number two consistency. It doesn’t matter what it is find consistency. Read more>>
William Matthews
Success means different things to different people. To me it means being happy and proud of the work you’ve done professionally and personally. Growing up I thought success meant having a fancy office and a ton of people calling you boss. Priorities shift and change as you become older and you realize the dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately. Read more>>
Pablo Rene
Depends what you consider successful. To me success is having financial freedom of bill anxiety and still have enough free time to dedicate to my passions of music and my dogs. But to be super blunt, time. Lasting success wont happen over night. You have to be honest with yourself and what you love to do. Read more>>
Dr. Adrian D. Ray
The determination to never give up is the key to success! Life is full of adversity and hardships. The unique ability to think fast, pivot and have a back up plan to the original plan is the key to success. No Matter What You Are Facing, Don’t Quit! Read more>>
Diana Carter
I love this question so much — and here’s why: “Success” is such a broad term that culturally and generationally, we’ve hijacked to mean one thing and one thing only: Career success measured by position and wealth. On the one hand — we’ve glorified the corporate latter we’ve all rolled our eyes at — and we still hold fast to the “power” that comes with hefty titles and corner offices. On the other hand – we’ve built entrepreneurship or and “scaling to seven figures” to be the end-all, be-all when it comes to if we’ve made it or not. Read more>>
Paige Leland
I think, first, that it’s important to acknowledge that one person’s version of success may look different than someone else’s. I had to really sit down and figure out what success meant to me, especially when it came to this food blog. I knew from the beginning that this would really only be a hobby, as I enjoy my career in communications as well as my other hobbies of creative writing, reading, traveling, crafting and spending time with family and friends. Read more>>
TaTyana Price
The definition of success is to accomplish an aim or purpose. Throughout my career I have learned to expand that definition. Success is waking up and persevering when there seems like there is no hope. Success is resilience. Success is sometimes rearranging the overall concept of a goal to adapt to the new person you are developing into. Success is being able to weather a storm. It can be a small achievement we reach in an attempt to get towards our larger objective. Celebrating the smallest milestones to enhance the enjoyment of the larger moments. The best way I define success is never restraining myself to one form of measure. Success is anything I define it to be and how proud I am of everything I push myself to be. Read more>>
Emily Heaton
In my experience as a freelancer and a party-of-one in my business, I’ve come to realize my success stems from three things: 1) Networking 2) Perseverance 3) Positive attitude and goals Networking: I would not be where I am today, comfortably freelancing, if I didn’t have an amazing network of friends, former co-workers, and leaders whom I have the pleasure of working with as a contractor now. The saying “it’s all about who you know” has proven true in my work context as a freelancer! And I highly encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to steward work relationships well! It can provide amazing future opportunities in ways you might not anticipate! Read more>>
Kiki Michelle Singletary-Williams
To be successful, one must be totally committed to their goals. Commitment breeds a desire to avoid distractions, pitfalls and forces one to stay focused. One must be willing to pivot whenever warranted so they can bring the success to fruition. Successful individuals have to be willing to be honest with themselves and the scope of their plan. Read more>>
Lilianne Steckel
Passion, drive and courage are key for being successful. When you own your own company, every bump in the road and mistake reflects back on you and without the passion and drive to continue, it can be very stressful and discouraging at times. Fear presents itself quite often along the journey, so a solid dose of continual courage is needed! Not every day is a win, but if you are passionate enough about what you are doing-nothing will stop you. Read more>>
Rahkal Shelton Roberson
First and foremost, I believe success has to be defined individually by your level of fulfillment, not by the perceptions of others or external voices. What you may deem as success may be another person’s floor. Being successful takes a combination of resilience, creativity, faith, and hard work. Read more>>
Carlos Hernandez
First of all define what being Successful means to you. There are many definitions of being Successful, but the best type of Success is the one truly fulfills you! Whether this is Money, more Time with your Family, Traveling the world or Freedom! Having a Vision! Read more>>
Generra Ingram
I believe the old theme still rains true; it takes hard work, effort, and tenacity to succeed. Read more>>
Alan Cevallos
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for what it takes to be successful. Everyone has their own definition of success, and what works for one person might not work for another. For me, it was always about having the freedom to be on my own schedule, have the resources to travel and enjoy hobbies I love with my friends and family, and be able to work on something that I really enjoyed. These days, I’m happy to say that I’ve achieved that success. It feels great to be able to look back on all the hard work and know that it was worth it. Read more>>