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.

Anatalie David

Like a shooting star in my way to mars, my two salons were doing great! We had plenty of cash flow, my personal savings was thriving and I had just purchased my first home. Read more>>

Kristin Wyza

After dedicating nearly 19 years to the Walt Disney Company, I encountered an unexpected twist in 2020 when my position was eliminated during the peak of Covid. Read more>>

Arthur Garcia

I don’t think that “failure” is actually a “failure” until you give up. I opened our first 3rd location in December of 2013. I hear the 3rd location is always the toughest and it proved to be true. Read more>>

Morgan Janssen

In this experience I don’t like use the term ‘failure’ so much as an unexpected turn in my career. I’ve been dedicated to teaching in higher education since the age of 26, relishing every moment and overcoming various challenges. Read more>>

Mara Edwards

In my book, failure is just part of the road to success. I heard this great quote the other day that loosely went “it isn’t a bump in the road, it’s just the road” and that hit me straight in the chest. Read more>>

Roger Keeler

I started working in radio at a student station in 1989 in Boulder county. I then worked as a news writer for the local community station KGNU-FM while I went to college. Read more>>