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.

Jamila Graham

I used to always say that “failure is not an option” for me and would beat myself up if I felt I was failing at anything. But I failed in my last business and I failed pretty badly. Read more>>

Cheryl Karpen

As the creator of the Eat Your Peas Collection I had sold more than 740,000 books through my independent publishing company, Gently Spoken, when I signed an eleven-book publishing contract with a Top-Ten Publisher. Read more>>

Brandi Huff

Failing three times on my real estate exam and going through three different brokerages was a challenging journey, but it ultimately led me to where I am now. It forced me to start over from scratch and reevaluate my approach. Read more>>