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.

John Macatangay

There is not one story of failure that comes to mind but multiple stories of failure. Failure early in life (or any part of life, depending on the person) was difficult to handle because I held too much value in what others thought of me. But learning to value your own thoughts and realizing that no one is really thinking about you (they are too wrapped up in their own lives) became a powerful tool for failing. I was able to take risks, learn lessons, and grow with each and every failure. Overtime, if used as a tool, failure can turn micro losses into macro wins. Read more>>

Hassanatou Barry

The Babysitter Guru was founded in April 2019. It was such a proud accomplishment of mine. I officially registered the company in March of 2020. Prior to Covid-19 ravaging 2020, I was slowly but proactively growing The Babysitter Guru through content creation while maintaining a full time job at a non-profit. I was intentional on leaving the job after my contract was over and pursuing the business full time. Read more>>

Dr. Kylie Victoria McBride

My leadership journey has not lacked mistakes. Anytime one ventures to do something as meaningful as impacting lives through leadership, they will make numerous errors. The most recent mistake made and lesson learned centers on my negligence regarding appropriate boundaries. While leaders should be personable, they must be intentional about setting boundaries. Read more>>

Kenia Thompson

Circa 2006, the year of my college graduation, I was two years into the career I thought I’d spend the remainder of my career in…television news. I was doing pretty well for myself at such a young age in the industry. I had taken every opportunity to learn everything I could in the newsroom. I was fortunate to have an internship turn into a job at a local station. We were a small family station, but none-the-less I was able to remain in a top 20 market and was slowly working my way to becoming a reporter. Read more>>