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

Meliá Grasska

I’ve yet to meet or hear of any artist who hasn’t, at some point, held a string of odd jobs. I am no exception. From teaching surf lessons to selling meat to working construction, my list isn’t exactly short and it hasn’t always been pretty. But each experience has given me invaluable insight and appreciations for different industries. For instance, you may never really appreciate the craftsmanship of an impeccably tiled mosaic wall, until you’ve had to tile a shower yourself. Read more>>

Tara Emerson

We own a 5th generation family farm here in North Dakota. My husband grew up on this farm but I did not. I grew up always visiting my grandparents family farm and lived all over the place. So I had a romantic view of farming. For many years I did not feel like I belonged here. Everyone knew so much more than I did so I immersed myself into my family and photography. As our farm grew so did my passion for photography. My responsibility on the farm also grew. So here comes my greatest lesson… Read more>>

Tamara Benavente

If I was starting over I’d worry less about not having top of the line equipment and would try to shoot more. When I first started, all I owned was an affordable Canon Rebel and kit lens. I felt like an impostor showing up to sessions with it. However, most of my clients didn’t care about my camera. All they saw was the final photos and they loved them. Yet, I still felt insecure about it. I think I held off taking risks and pursuing bigger clients out of fear of not being enough. Instead, I wish I had pushed through and tried to photograph as often as possible. Because that would have made me grow faster than owning any fancy equipment. Read more>>

Winston Harrell Jr.

For me the challenges that I faced were Partially racial , financial and educational. Living in the inner city ion Chicago west side was a struggle just to survive the extreme drugs and crime of that neighborhood but I somehow managed to graduate from all boys Catholic high school in 1976. In those days I was one of ten African American students in a student body of 500 students. It was extremely difficult while in school being called the “N “ word nearly everyday. My parents were determined that I graduate from a Catholic school. Money was very Scarce and art supplies we’re nearly impossible to afford. Read more>>

Shauna Epperson

The most important lesson that I learned in a previous job was that insurance companies had a great deal of control over patient visits, whether it be the number of visits they were allowed to attend, or the number of visits the therapists needed to see each day in order for the company to be compensated. I was working 30 hours per week and seeing close to 70+ patients a week on average. If you do the math, and add in documentation time, I was not spending much time with each patient. Read more>>

Rasheen Gadson, MSW

One thing ALL jobs taught me is how replaceable I was. No matter how great of a company I worked for…at the end of the day “it’s business” and the show must continue. The reason I wanted to highlight this lesson is because I used to be the employee that would never call out and dedicated my life to my position. Then I started to experience the lows of the work world….at the end, it really didn’t matter how good of an employee you were…if cuts needed to be made, if you had a snotty supervisor, or you got sick….you will be replaced if needed, This lesson humbled me and gave me the drive to put in the same energy I was giving my employer to myself. Read more>>

Laura Van Buskirk

I actually am in the process of starting over! I got married last July & right before that I got a new day job… I had a lot on my plate and things with my business had been stagnant before that. So I quit social media decided to focus on excelling at work & getting a new rhythm as a wife. Here’s how I’m operating now. 1). Giving my work away. My strategy is to design jewelry my friends want. And it’s leading to more opportunities that include sales. Read more>>

Attack Peter

I was a teacher for 13 years before becoming a full time artist. I taught everything from kindergarten to university grad students. All those years allowed me to see the formula for success repeated over and over in kids from all walks of life. Hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and specific goals beats “natural talent” every day. The kid who wanted it more always surpassed the kid who was “born with it”. Read more>>

May L

Love this question due to the fact i am starting over with my business idea. Jewelry was always for me without a doubt, but i always been into clothes, 1 thing i would do differently is not rush and take my time to make sure everything is on point before i bring anything out. Have a plan before you make decisions. Where i am today i feel like God has blessed me & put me in many positions where I could do for me & make everything happen for me regardless of any situation.. Read more>>

Norah Shazad

If I was starting over, I would definitely give myself more confidence and motivation from the beginning. I started this entire process of my clothing brand and poetry two years ago, but felt like I was not good enough at it so I had stopped. It wasn’t until I came to college and found one of my good friends that pushed me a bit further and along with my family, really helped me become who I am today. I wish that I really did not doubt myself and kept going because I am pretty sure I would be way more successful than I am now. Read more>>

Bryhana Chrystina

If I were to start over, the one thing I would change would have to be the lack of confidence I had in myself. Sometimes we unknowingly compare ourselves to others. Which was one thing that I let get in the way of myself. I would sit and overthink about a look I was doing, either on myself or someone else and get worked up about how I was going to execute it using the exact same techniques or thought process as my peers or idols. Read more>>

Diana Canfield

I have been in several positions where my boss created a toxic environment. Micromanagement, bullying, pitting employees against one another etc. My goal when I began hiring contractors was to first and foremost create a warm, supportive environment for them. I strive to listen, support and value my contractors. I believe in them and want to encourage them to reach their full potential and enjoy their work. Read more>>

Larry Zahn

I didn’t know it at the time, but some on-the-job training I received at a previous employer set me up for complete success in any job, venture or personally owned business. Specifically, it was extensive training relative to signature customer service, providing a quality product, making the customer experience easy and fluid and thinking outside of the box/paradigm shifting with the knowledge to innovate. Read more>>

Paul Zanardo

The most important lessons/experiences that have helped me be successful as a business owner are my ability to connect and communicate efficiently with people based on individual needs. I was in sales and marketing for over 20 years. Those experiences taught me to actively listen to the client in order to meet his/her specific requests. I learned to adapt to various situations, products, and services. This stretched me creatively and allowed me to be flexible in how I marketed a product or service. Read more>>

Nirjary Desai

The most important lesson I learned was that every day is different and brings new challenges. How you perform in adversity and how you take on those challenges is what’s going to make you successful. Don’t let what others say about you influence you. You have to take your emotions out of business. It has to be run on facts and logic.Read more>>

Betsy Fein

Before starting Clutterbusters!! in 2002 my background was in Recruiting and worked for many staffing companies. In 1995 I was then recruited to do in-house staffing for a large communications company which included staffing a 500 person call center. While at this communications company I must have interviewed thousands of candidates thru the years and then was also given the responsibility to help with payroll, HR issues and facilities management. Learning all these skills have come in handy while running my business. Read more>>