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.

Derek Mohr

Oh yeah, I failed incredibly hard during the middle of the pandemic. My partner very unexpectedly left, taking my place of living and dog away in the process — and “defeated” is the softest word I would put my mental state in after that, for a long time. That stable source of happiness was what helped me design for a long time. The only thing to pull me out of that death spiral was to keep designing anything that I could keep my focus on. Eventually, decent artwork started coming back again, once I forced myself to create things in that sadness. Read more>>

Sulema Sanchez Munoz

I do have a story of when I failed, and every time I think about what happened it’s impossible to not laugh about it. I always like to say to myself “we learn from our mistakes”. In 2022 I traveled to Mexico to celebrate my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and I was the one who would make their wedding cake, I was so excited because I wanted my friends and family from Mexico get a taste of what I can create. Read more>>

Jasmine Garmon

I’ve never experienced a direct failure but I’ve experienced minor and major setbacks. After I graduated from high school, I was undecided on a career path for a while and that led me to changing universities and majors frequently. I felt really discouraged during that time and felt that I didn’t really have a purpose in life. I didn’t fully understand what a life’s purpose was so I had no idea of what my purpose was. Read more>>

Mariah Wade

Throughout the 29 years of my life I’ve experienced many setbacks, trials, and obstacles. Since I was 18 I worked for 9-5 jobs but I always had the mindset of an entrepreneur and never felt at ease. Life circumstances played a huge part in my journey. Before I got married I was a single mother trying to keep a roof over me and my daughter’s head working and going to medical school. Read more>>

Jamal Hansen

Three years ago when I began OTAON Music Group I had no idea what I was doing, but really I had no idea how much it would cost. I spent all my money over $100,000 and I was completely out of money. I am panicking, anxious, my credit cards are maxed out and I am feeling like the biggest failure on the planet Earth, with $10 dollars to my name. Read more>>