We asked some brilliant entrepreneurs, artists and creatives to reflect on lessons they’ve learned at prior jobs. We’ve shared highlights below.

Kara Singleton

Most creatives have their share of stories to share around the watering hole of chaotic, poorly communicated, and underpaid jobs taken in the pursuit of a creative career. I actually have a note in my phone with a list of such stories to shock my friends and humble myself- whenever I feel the imposter syndrome creeping in, I reflect on the conditions I endured with the echoed advice of “always say yes” ringing in my ears before I learned the power of selection. A particular story comes to mind: when I was 20, I picked up work with a photo/video company capturing dance competitions. Dance conventions and videography of said competitions are two of the most intense, perfection-driven, you-only-get-one-opportunity events and the combo of the two was something I don’t miss. After two 14+ hour days, we wrapped and tore down and started the 8 hour drive from St. Louis to OKC. I was sitting in the back of the 12 passenger van at 2am as some stranger drove and I don’t think I slept a wink out of fear. When we hit Joplin, half the crew departed and left me and another young woman to drive this van the two hours remaining home. I can guarantee you my sleep and sanity was not worth that paycheck. Let’s do away with the ideology of mindlessly hustling and instead cultivate tenacity within ourselves. You should never have to break yourself to make a career and build success. Read more>>

Bruce Kronenberg

I was a Voice Over Talent for many years before I started teaching Voice Over. I was previously hired to work for a Voice Over coach at their studio. After a while I began to see that they could not separate personal from business. Everything was dealt with personally and emotionally rather than using common business sense and thoughtfulness. When I started my own business my particular mantra was to always deal with things in a thoughtful and business like way. And to not bring my personal feelings into decisions that were strictly about how to conduct business. Read more>>

Jennifer Johnson

I had the opportunity to work for a luxury cruise line, in the ships, during my career. It was a small vessel with only 150 crew members. As the shore excursions manager, I had a lot of responsibility to ensure the guests had a great experience in port AND the company made money. Sometimes those two objectives were counterproductive. Once, during a tour that involved a commercial flight in India, the flight was repeatedly delayed. I held my breath, asked the cost of a full charter, and made the decision to charter that flight and explain the expense later. It was a Sunday in India and there was no one in the “office” to ask. It taught me to be fearless and trust my gut. That lesson has stayed with me. Read more>>

Phil Colvin

I learned important lessons from every shop that I was in, from how to treat my clients with respect and dignity to how to lead by example for my artists: always showing up early, working hard, and having a willingness to take on everything that comes through the door. The bosses that I’ve had in my career either showed me the right way or the wrong way to do it, but I learned the lesson regardless. Read more>>

Chelsey Nelson

I think the most important lesson that I have learned from a prior job is how to treat your employees/team. I worked for a marketing CEO who was very toxic in the office and towards her employees. I witnessed first-hand how her attitude reflected on the staff and resulted in an extreme high turnover rate. Someone quit every week because of how awful she was. That’s also why I decided to part ways with the company and really focus on my businesses. It taught me that when I grow my team, to treat each individual with the most respect because at the end of the day they are the one building my businesses up to be successful and I want everyone to win. Read more>>

George Wallace

One of the most important things I learned at a previous job is that things are not always greener on the other side. After 10 years of being an executive director of a large arts and cultural organization, I felt a bit of burnout. I was encouraged to apply for a position out of state for a similar organization that was smaller and sought a level of expertise that I possessed. I was offered and accepted the position and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in April 2017. After working for several months, it was obvious that the organization was not a good fit for me, nor was I a good fit for them. I left the position in November 2017 after only 7 months in my role. I felt terrible leaving, however, I knew for my own wellbeing, it was necessary. My partner and I uprooted our entire lives to move and settle into a new life in the Midwest. I of course still was connected to Orlando, living here since 1992. I served previously on the board of directors of The Center Orlando from 2014 until I left in 2017. I returned to Orlando in December and have never been happier! Read more>>

Mara Raden

When I first began to plan for Raden Wellness, my initial instinct was to handle everything myself. I was taking on too much responsibility, including aspects of the business that weren’t my speciality. I handled the build out of our first location, marketing, staffing, patient care – the list goes on and on. From this, I’ve learned that medical training does not incorporate the necessary tools to thrive in the business world or start your own practice. I’m strong in science, but I lack in operations and administration – hiring the right team of experts, gathering support from business advisors, and embracing change, allows the business to continue to flourish. Read more>>

Lyndsey Morgan

Before Neat Method, I worked in many different industries trying to figure out where I belonged. Overall, the one thing they had in common was managing people. People of all kinds and all walks of life. Much like parenting, I learned how to work with different personalities. What works to inspire one person, might be boring to someone else. One person might be a bookworm while the other needs hands-on training. Everyone is different. I believe if you step back, observe and listen, each individual will show you what they need to thrive in their roll. This one lesson will no doubt lead to successful management and team morale. Read more>>

Rodolpho Henrique

I’m fortunate to have met and worked with stellar human beings throughout my career. Over the past 10+ years, I had the opportunity to sit together and learn from different types of people with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives about design, so this helped me to create a statement that nothing matters more than people. Read more>>

Terrence Springfield

I was working a job, installing Directv for some years. Every couple of years a new contractor owner would buy out other companies. We would have to start over with pay and new rule. This time they cut the money so low we couldn’t survive and would have to work harder for less moneys. That was the push I needed to search out better opportunity. I left the company and became an Operator manager for another cable company that promoted me as a boss over 5 other people that was already set in their ways. He molded me into running my own company one day. Read more>>

Kamia McWilliams

I’ve worked many corporate jobs but working as a Bank Teller for almost two years I learned so much that helped me as a business owner. There was an incident that occurred where my supervisor told me that I could check my own balance on my account. I ended up going into training with someone who was above her and she had seen that I had been checking my account and she was livid! Come to find out, that was against the policy, and I was close to losing my job behind that. So, I went to my supervisor confronted her, she ended up denying ever telling me that until another employee confirmed that she had. When I went back to talk to my trainer (the woman above the supervisor) she gave me a helpful piece of advice and that was: Always cover yourself by doing your due diligence. Never, take anyone’s word for anything without doing your own research regardless of their title and if it’s not in writing it didn’t happen. I took that advice and learned my lesson, now I find myself using it in my own business. I always send emails after having conversations with my clients and I always do my own due diligence. Read more>>

Brianne Valentino

Prior to registering my business I had a full time automotive photography job. I photographed the exterior and interior of cars for several dealerships. I was the only photographer at that job. Before I would photograph the cars, detail would clean the interior and exterior of each car. There were a lot more people who worked in detail, 7-8 people. Some days they would clean cars super quickly and I had to keep up with their workflow so I did not get back logged. Every Friday we had to get every car photographed. One Friday detail decided to give me 5 cars to do with only a half hour left of work. That was insane! Read more>>