Over the years, after talking with tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, artists and creatives, almost every success story we’ve heard has been filled with stories of failure. Unfortunately, in our view the media rarely covers these parts of the story – instead we often read summaries that make it seem like success happened “overnight.” However, what we’ve learned in our conversations with so many successful folks is that failure is core ingredient in the recipe for future success. Below, we’ve shared some fascinating stories of failure from folks who have ultimately found great success.

Rito Ngobest

It’s not really a failure but I lost what I’ve worked for after a year and half of consistently posting content on my Instagram and growing my page, someone decided to hack me and succeeded. The following day after being hacked, I opened a new page and the people that used to follow me on the hacked account came to support the new one. That little loss made me work two times better than I used to. That even led me to getting a dream brand collaboration, the brand noticed me withing 2 weeks after the new account. That’s not all, I have more brands to work with than before. So the lesson I’ve learned in this industry is that, failing does not mean it’s the end of your world, IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING. Another lesson is that as content creators, we should watch out for the hackers or the scammers. Read more>>

Mj Jane

Last year I went through a rollercoaster of experiences. From losing friends to losing my car still trying to juggle my career and be a mother. Then I lost a close friend towards the ending of the year and that took a huge toll on everyone including myself as well.
The beginning of the year I fell out with a close friend and that changed my whole outlook on the world and on people. I’m very cautious about who I trust and who I let in And I love with purpose now. Read more>>

Tyler Anderson

Before I ever considered myself an artist, I first decided to be a business owner. With some inheritance money and a dream, myself and a group of friends decided to start a company together in 2020.

Given that the company was a clothing brand, it introduced me to the worlds of graphic design, advertising, photography, social media management, and much more. It also introduced me to the various difficulties of managing, understanding, and working with a group of people who all have their own hopes, aspirations, and demons. Read more>>

Gerda Goosen

I have a big passion for aesthetics and visual things – I believe I could have chosen any design-related path and I would have been fulfilled. But a long time (more than 20 years!) ago I picked jewellery as the area in which I wanted to express my passion with my own hands.

I’ve always been a bit ‘contrarian’ and I don’t like traditional fine jewellery. So I guess it is no surprise that, from the start, I tried to make ‘different’ jewellery. Over a period of about 15 years I experimented with countless materials and designs, and finally plucked up the courage to approach a few local jewellery stores in South Africa to stock my jewellery. Read more>>

Drake Mailhot

For Ten years i invested in my company and failed until i adjusted my thinking and gave a little extra effort(even though i was giving my all) started being more efficient and focused on the goal and target client that would appreciate the value i bring, in designing by bringing products to the table no other person is bringing. I’ve worked through ptsd as a child and studied what other people i look up have done. I work with 5 family members and its been challenging but it was me who needed to change things to create less work more money and a enjoyable work place. This is my year to take care of my family through creativity and probability. While also creating a experience like no other for my clients. Read more>>

Taiwo Akande

I am a hardworking and dedicated person who gives my all, no matter how tired I am. My manager always calls me in whenever there’s a call-out at work, and I never hesitate to help. However, when opportunities for growth arise, my director and manager continuously pass me over, giving promotions to others—even those I have trained. Despite being overlooked, they always remember me when they need extra hands because I struggle to say no when someone needs my help. Read more>>

Courtney Roselle

I grew up as an athlete, dedicating my life to sports, and always dreamed of breaking into the fitness modeling industry. At just 13 years old, I auditioned for a modeling opportunity, only to be told that because of my athletic build, I would only qualify as a plus-size model. Disheartened, I decided not to pursue modeling and instead focused on my high school and college sports career. Read more>>

Char Lessenger

I started my career in Higher Education but after the pandemic, I felt pretty burnt out. Once I graduated with my Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (as a backup plan) while working a full-time job as an academic advisor I decided it was time to take the leap and try to teach abroad somewhere and get the spark back that I felt was missing in my life. Read more>>

Jackie Carroll

One of my biggest professional failures was setting up a VR startup. I truly believed in the concept, poured everything into it, and even secured initial funding. But when it came time for the second round, we just couldn’t get the backing we needed. It was a devastating blow. I felt like I had let myself, my team, and my investors down, and for a while, I struggled with the weight of that failure. Read more>>