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

Nigel Clouse

I discovered, too late in life, most jobs don’t require college degrees, while the student loan system is controlled by predatory lenders and organizations who are interested in creating and maintaining indentured servitude in the name of capitalism. This is why student loans cannot be discharged in the majority of bankruptcy cases. Most of the things required to function in the world require little more than a library card, internet access, and intrinsically motivated self-directed learning. Read more>>

Erin Jankus

One of the first jobs I ever had as a speech language pathologist was doing early intervention in people’s homes with babies and toddlers. It was then that I realized children make the most progress when their parents understand WHY we, as therapists, are doing what we are doing. Every parent is their child’s best teacher. I learned that I had to be comfortable with having parents watch therapy sessions; I had to be able to answer the hard questions; and I had to learn to think on my feet. Read more>>

Carmela Tunzi

The most valuable lesson that I learned from the previous career that Failed was what to do For the next one! Read more>>

Kristen Lundberg

I was an ice sculptor at Crystal Ice in South Central LA. After 3 years of working there, an ice sculpture fell on my fingers and broke them, As a violin playing stand up comedian, this froze my career for a while, This happened at a time that I was feeling very overworked and I learned to slow down. I learned to also appreciate my craft (and my limbs) more. Read more>>

Marilyn Barrow

One of the most important lessons I have learned that has helped me as a nonprofit director is to be okay with communicating when a load is too much. My previous employers used to say this to all of their employees, not in a way to say they couldn’t do their job but gauge the workload they are placing on anyone in the position, and to see where someone else can step in and assist. Read more>>

Cheryl Meyer

No matter how passionate you are about the job you are doing, always make time for self-love, and self-care. Read more>>

Nicole Bowman

I had the fortunate experience of getting to try many different career options before starting my own business. When I graduated from Northern Arizona University, I had a degree in Psychology. Aside from becoming a Psychologist, it is not a particularly useful degree in the major job market. Read more>>

Mary Julie (Mimi) Mikhael

The Most important lesson I have learned at my previous job was NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. My previous job I was working for the state of California , I was filing unemployment insurance claims for the one’s that lost their job during covid-19. I kid you not every call I had to take, I would say I am BLESSED, 1 Million times. I TALKED TO PEOPLE, THAT WERE LOSING THERE HOMES DUE TO NOT PAYING RENT, their water or electricity was being cut off. And people became homeless because they lost there job and everything they owned. Read more>>

Thai Williams

The most important experience I’ve learned from my previous job was providing great customer service catered to the clients needs.. Providing great service is not just being kind, it about really creating trust and understanding. For instance, when customers would come in to replenish certain items; I would ask how is the product working for you? Read more>>

Sean Armendariz

I have worked with musical instruments in one capacity or another for over 20 years. I used to work for two of the largest musical instrument retailers in the country. If I had to narrow down the entire experience into one hard lesson it would be this: corporations don’t care about you. One of my former supervisors said it best one day when he told me “at the heart of this company is an animal that will do whatever it has to to survive. Read more>>

Jessica Matos

Prior to my adventures as a public librarian, I taught elementary and middle school music in public schools. I think one of the most important lessons that I have really tried to make a part of my everyday living came from when I was at a teacher training at the beginning of a school year. This particular year, I was working at a school that was implementing some social emotional learning practices to help children learn to think about their own behaviors and emotions and thus be able to deal with and express them more effectively.  Read more>>

Nokami

While I was building my studio business, I was working full-time as a server at Sakura Japanese Restaurant. My bosses were both Japanese, and had a very different outlook and value system than I was used to, but everyday I get reminded of them as I run my business. Read more>>

Alan Simonton

Backstory: As a real estate agent and artist, I often encounter challenging opportunities. Read more>>

Scott Fowler

I think one of the most important things to learn as an actor is that people can and will take advantage of you if you allow them. Just look at the ongoing WGA/SAG strike for a great example and what they/we are fighting for against the “big” production companies. It’s really no different on a smaller scale. For example, when I first started I had this grand idea that my “WWE background” was going to make finding/getting acting work easy. Read more>>

April Avras

The most important lesson I learned while working in the industry is direct communication and honesty. If you’re not honest with yourself or with others about what you did or how you did something, you will never learn and you will never grow. Also, your chef immediately knows the answer before asking and are judging your character. Read more>>

Hulya Kurt

Being curious and open for growth. I don’t have any bachelor nor I have PHD or MBA. I just wanted to work and in the times of the 80’s we did not even had a PC, forget about internet, I learned type writing and started to work in some companies before I joined the multinational organization of Reuters in Istanbul. I am origin Turkish and grew up in Germany. Never mind, I started a sales secretary. Read more>>

Lena Landis

The most important lessons I have learned to help me in my professional career are the culmination of the different job experiences I have had. Being a military spouse, it can feel very difficult to establish yourself in your profession within a community when you need to move every few years. Rather than focusing on the negative, I have tried to use every duty station and job as a new experience and lesson. Read more>>

Darrin Williams

Music has always been a huge part of my life and I spent most of my 20s writing and performing. After I graduated college for video production, I got a job at a church. It was my first real job that wasn’t Blue Collar work. It was awesome to be able to take my video skills and creative ideas and get paid for them. However, the longer I was there, I felt like I couldn’t be myself and do the music that was once the backbone of my life. Read more>>

April Fort

Time is the one thing that you can’t ever get back, you can’t purchase more, it is a truly finite thing. So why waste it doing something that doesn’t bring you fulfilment. I was in the medical industry for a long time, and wasn’t happy. It wasn’t the job per se- you can have moments of joy in any job whether you like it or not- but a knowledge that I wasn’t creating the life that I wanted to live. Read more>>

AP Nuri

The most important lesson I’ve learned has been multiple lessons that are housed under the same central theme. From job to job, I’ve seen you can’t compromise on who you are; never accept a job without a written out and signed job description and pay; don’t do things outside of your job description without equal compensation; and always know what you can and can’t write off in your taxes. All that to say, stay true to what you want and be clear about your own expectations and your job’s. Read more>>

Cheryl Dagostaro

Before becoming self-employed, I had a variety of part/full time jobs. The one I learned the most from was working with an incredible team of Holistic Practitioners that were way ahead of their time-1980. I worked with an MD/Acupuncturist who was one of 25 in the World who had his Masters in Acupuncture; the practice offered food and chemical allergy testing, biofeedback, deep tissue massage, dietary changes, psychology, colon therapy, past life work and as well standard medical practices. Read more>>

Susie Zol

I was a business owner so there were many lessons I had to learn in order to succeed. One of the most important lessons was simply to show up. Show up for what you have to do, show up for what you said you would do, show up for what you want to do. Read more>>

Prior to launching my own studio, I worked in homeless and domestic violence shelters utilizing therapeutic arts with displaced and traumatized women and children. Here, I learned the innate power of beauty and creativity in our healing process. The mere act of creating can help us tap into our own power to change, to grow, to heal, and to write a new story with our lives. Read more>>