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.

Rachel Swire

I went through a time in my business where I made it all about the numbers and what my clients could do for me. As a hairstylist, I love being a creative and lost my motivation getting caught up in the numbers and business drained my creativity or so I thought. I had a financial goal and when I reached it, I wasn’t willing to keep up that level of work to maintain it. As a result, I went into a creative slump. Read more>>

Kerbi Howat

Earlier this year (2022), I closed one of my retail locations. It wasn’t earning enough revenue to be sustainable and I was ready to off-load it. When the time came, it was an easy decision; though I definitely had big hopes and dreams when I opened it 2.5 years prior. If I had a crystal ball in 2019, I wouldn’t have made the decision to open my second retail location. Of course, we had no idea what was in store in 2020 and I thought it felt like the right move. I found an old 1950’s gas station and spent a month remodeling it myself with the help of my family. It was gorgeous, with floor to ceiling glass garage doors. It was a perfect location for a plant shop. Read more>>

Danielle Walker

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a failure, but basically I kept taking hit after hit during the first wedding I’ve ever worked on my own. I’ve worked weddings with other photographers or short shooting times by myself, but this was my first 10 – 12 hour work day with no other photographer or videographer. So many things just kept going wrong. I thought I had prepared myself the night before, and did everything that I could to prevent any disasters that may occur during the wedding day. Read more>>

Brandon Hilton-Clarke

When I think of failure I think of university. Not because I failed, I actually did quite well and graduated with amazing grades. It’s because of some of the decisions I made after university. I was an international student attending school in the United States, which meant I needed a student visa to be in the country which only allowed me to stay for the duration I was in school. Luckily my school offers OPT to international students so we can stay and work for 1 year before needing a visa/green card. My goal was simple after school get a job as soon as possible and work towards sponsorship to stay in the country and work. Read more>>

E Simone Scott

I’ve Experienced So Much Heartbreak. Born To A Crack Addicted Mother…….Looking For Love In The Weong Place Only To Be Set Up To Be Shot By My Twins Father……Then Him Kicking It With The Ppl After They Shot Me ……..Him Hiding My Papers The District Attorney’s Office Sent Me So I Would Miss Court And More ……Being Evicted So Many Times……..And Now Getting To The Point In My Life Where I Wanna Take It Back !!!!! Read more>>

Blanca Perper

What I thought was a failure turned out to be the greatest thing that every happened to me. After being one of the highest paid lawyers in America, my license to practice law was suspended after the theft of $155,000 from my trust account. I had to literally find a new way to earn my living. I thought that was the only thing I had to figure out. I also had to learn how to find balance in my life. It was this chapter that prompted me to open my platform The Laws of Life and create a full service digital marketing agency called The Laws of Life. I also created a course called The Self-Powered Entrepreneur teaching DIY marketing. Read more>>