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.

Josh Williams

My story is littered with perceived failures. I started my professional life doing ministry, and after 10 years I left there feeling like a failure. But that failure led me to discovering my passion in hospitality. When we launched our business, we couldn’t get funding- and it seemed that time after time we kept hitting roadblocks. But we pivoted- and launched a mobile coffee truck. Read more>>

Matt Wagner.

When I started college, I discovered Twenty One Pilots for the first time and my life changed forever. When I heard their song, “Goner,” I immediately saw a stage show in my head and decided that I would write a jukebox musical based on their 4th album called Blurryface: The Musical, despite my limited theatre experience at the time. Thankfully, youthful ambition kept me going and I eventually finished the project in 2017. Read more>>

Janese Green

In August 2021, I was commissioned to crochet a low back halter dress. The customer provided the incorrect size, so the dress was very big on her. Although I was not to blame for the mistake, I felt extremely guilty for this situation. I took this learning opportunity and used it to my advantage. I now provide more assistance with sizing to prevent this from happening in the future. Read more>>

Jess Patz

It’s hard to pick just one failure. What most don’t realize is the road to anyone’s success story is paved with all different kinds of failures. One of mine has recently come full circle though. Years ago I tried to host my first fundraising/motivational event here in the town I live in. I felt like this was my time to really make a difference and show the world what I was capable of. I rented a space. I marketed it like crazy. I worked so hard for months. I had all of these awesome ideas that I couldn’t wait to execute. Read more>>