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.

John Kiss

So far I have faced many failures in my life, some more memorable than others. However, the most memorable moments of failure occurred when I used to work at a bike shop. Back in New York City, where I grew up, I got a job at a bicycle shop when I was 17. The owner and manager would constantly point out my laziness, yelling their heads off at every slight mistake I made. It was aggravating to deal with, but I can’t deny that it affected my work ethic. Because I experienced this, I am more critical of my laziness now and more attentive to the details. Read more>>

Shauna Kahiapo

Everyone wants to talk about success, but my most meaningful lessons were learned in failure. Everyone wants to talk about success, but my most meaningful lessons were learned in failure. Fifteen years ago I emptied my savings to open a small boutique shop in a mall. I did zero market research, knew nothing about my industry, and did not have a clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish with my business. Worst of all, I was not willing to sacrifice and work hard. I naively thought success would walk through my shop’s door just because I had opened it. Two years later I declared bankruptcy and I nearly lost my home.  Read more>>

Katie Andrews Potter

I think that honestly, at a quick glance, my author career may appear to be one big failure. Really, it looks like a series of failures, and maybe it is. My first book failed to land an agent or publisher, so I decided to self-publish it. This was in 2012, before independent publishing was more mainstream and accepted as it is today. It might be said that the book was a “flop.” For many years I counted it as one, too, especially since it didn’t help my family financially in the way I’d hoped it would. Its sequel, released in 2015, was read even less than the first book. Read more>>

Jelani Pinnock

2024 has been the most difficult year in business I have encountered thus far. I run three small businesses and they are similar to raising children. They have particular needs at different times, though they all may need something all of the time. This particular failure or loss happened in the Spring of this year. Our retail store was broken into multiple times over a 4 day period. Hundreds of dollars in clothing was lost exposing a discrepancy I failed to notice between our online inventory and our brick and mortar inventory tracking systems. Read more>>