Risk is a topic that comes up a lot in our conversations with entrepreneurs and creatives, but a related topic is investments. Investments come in many forms – investing your time, money, heart and soul, etc. So, with that broad definition of investment in mind, we asked rising stars in the community to tell us the stories of the best or worst investments they’ve made.

Carla Morales

The best thing that a photographer have to do is STUDY, learn, the photography is not the camera that you have or the brand that you use, the photographer is te person who know how to take the esence of the moment, know the right pose, the right light, knows the camera but, without knowlegde you can’t do anything. Read more>>

Mallory Kessel

The best investment I made as a business owner was hiring a business coach. I was referred to Justine of Just a Wild Thought by my friend Kaylee who runs her own graphic design and production business, Kindling Design Co. Kaylee worked with Justine and couldn’t recommend her enough. Read more>>

Urmi Hossain

I think the best investment is the one you do to yourself, whether it is through a cooking class, reading a book, or just learning a language. I am a big proponent of self-investing and long-life learning and I can tell you every time I invest in myself, it pays off in the long – run. Read more>>

Dora Endre

I do not believe that one is able to make truly”bad investments”, whether it comes to time, energy or money. Professionally or personally. Obviously, I have experienced losing all three along the way, sometimes with no obvious constructive outcome. For instance, dedicating much to a project that eventually fell apart, spending time on education that turned out to be less useful than not, hiring and paying people who did not really contribute to our team’s work. Read more>>

Amyra Woodson

The best invest I have made as a business owner was the one I made in my myself . I invested money into all supplies and tools that are used to operate my business this building my dreams into a reality. As an entrepreneur taking financial risks and making investments are something that you have to do . I am glad I made this investment into my brand . Read more>>

Joela Tate

My dream was to become a nurse and eventually open my own home health agency. I acquired several hours of education through college courses even gaining accreditation in a few certifications in the medical field. However my biggest adversities were a lack of flexibility and trying to manage being a full time student all while possessing the title of a dedicated wife and mother. Read more>>

Jalen Johnson

The best investment I’ve ever made for myself was buying my studio equipment. The day I went into Guitar Center & grabbed everything I needed at once made me feel like I was already in the game when coach just put me in, you know. I literally spent over $1,300 on my equipment & I can honestly say that was the smartest thing I have ever done in this life. Read more>>

John-Mic’Kal

I always like to tell the future artist to invest in two things. Invest in practicing patience and believing in yourself. When I first started my journey I did what most beginner artists do watch Youtube. I watched so many videos and at the time one brand kept popping up and everyone was raving about it. It was MAC Cosmetics, and I was determined to get a job there. Read more>>

Katie & Morgan Hallas

Our best investment yet has been a hiring a business coach, we hired ours in the spring of 2021 and have been with him ever since! Our business went through a total transformation not long after we started coaching and I recommend it to absolutely everyone. We started raising our prices, booking more than ever before, and feeling a new confidence in the services we offer which really changed our trajectory from that point on. Read more>>

Meredith Perrotto

The best investment you can make is in yourself and your employees. I am a firm believer that most of my success is because I believed in myself and continued to invest in myself and my business over and over and over again; until things finally took off and started to really become a “business”. Being an artist is a hard job because we have to constantly conquer feelings of self doubt and instability – while continuing to hold hope that people will buy my art and I am worthy. Read more>>