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.

Cortland Hunter

I used to look for validation in spaces that I did not fit into. There was an instance where I presented a photography print at an exhibition in my college town. The proceeds went to a local cause. I was one of two photographers. When the time came, I presented my piece to the crowd like I was asked to. There was no fanfare. Read more>>

Sarah DiAntonio

When I changed from a full-time retail career to an office environment, I experienced my first true failure. I’ve messed up before, of course, and I’ll mess up a hundred more times, but this felt like a failure of my own making. Like I made the bed and picked the sheets, set myself up to love it and fell right off the wrong side. Read more>>

Mamie Pack

I knew starting my business that failure would be a part of the journey. It’s a part of life. But what I didn’t plan for was the discomfort, time, and cost that comes along with the lesson you learn from failure. To be transparent, sometimes it’s even the silent ways shame can creep in when things just don’t work out the way you planned. Whether it is a product that just doesn’t resonate with your community or a missed opportunity because you didn’t have your system in place, no matter what the reason, failure in any space can be discouraging (in the moment). Read more>>

Ashley Miller

In many ways, I’ve failed the last four years entirely. I took a chance four years ago and relocated from Suburban Minneapolis to Las Vegas, Nevada, after receiving a job offer from a start-up company. I packed up my life, drove across the country, and moved in with a friend to start over. After two months of working over forty hours in a back corner cubical, where headphones were forcefully encouraged and talking to my coworkers was strongly discouraged. I went into a surprise HR meeting and was fired. The reasoning, I didn’t seem happy enough. Read more>>

Krista Barnes

You are the person for the job… From a little girl once called “booger teeth” (my teeth were really bad) 😥 to NOW! Truly takes my breath away 💫 What 💎💎💎life can hold! I’ve always thought of buying a business & have been interested in entrepreneurship, esp. as a way to express creativity and make people happy in some way. Read more>>

Sarah Parsons

As unbelievable as it may sound, Sarah Parsons Media is the result of going through life-altering failure that was both professional and personal. Not very long ago I was at a crossroads which boiled down to either continuing to sacrifice myself and dimming my own light or walk away from everything I worked towards for the past 8 years and start over with next to nothing. Read more>>