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.

Bryan Garcia

During my high school years when I first tried making my first short horror film. I had always dreamt of creating something extraordinary, something that would mark the beginning of my journey as a filmmaker. But as I came to realize, reality hit hard, I stumbled upon mostly every worst case scenario. Equipment malfunctioned at the worst possible times, some actors almost cancelling last minute, story changes, I found myself drowning in stress and every day I felt like giving up on the project. Read more>>

Carol Jameson

When I first began submitting work for publication, I had an ‘in’ to a publisher from a well-known writer. He suggested that I send my collection of short stories to John Martin at Black Sparrow Press, which would have been quite an accomplishment had it worked out. Unfortunately, the press went out of business before Martin could publish my collection. He wrote me a very nice ‘rejection’ letter, saying that the collection was certainly publishable and to not give up. Read more>>

Kassandra Nordhoff

My story of failure doesn’t necessarily come from work but rather from a moment in my personal life. While failure at times can be inevitable it’s not about how many times you fall, but rather how you choose to fall forward. Being human comes with plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities, but it doesn’t have to be what defines you and you are in control of the narrative you want people to remember you by. I’m no stranger to failures but I think in 2020 I experienced the hardest kind. In 2016 I was hired at my first corporate job and made it a mission to get myself out of debt and start the process of buying a house. It wasn’t until 2019 where everything was coming together and I was in the final steps of my home buying journey. Read more>>

Morgan Valdez

I actually love talking about failures because I feel like in society, especially when it comes to owning/running a business, failures are a negative thing. I love failures because it means I am learning and am one step closer to my goals. Yes, failures can suck and sting a little, but I believe mindset is everything! I am an illustrator and like most artists I have multiple streams of income. One of them is I have my own shop and sell my art on products. I first opened my own website and paid for the site and for the domain. It was not cheap and it took a big leap of faith, and I had to pull from savings to open my own shop. I didn’t make a single sale on my website, not one!  Read more>>