As almost any entrepreneur or creative will tell you, unexpected problems are to be expected. Below, you’ll hear some incredible stories that highlight and illustrate the kinds of issues and problems entrepreneurs and creatives are dealing with everyday. It’s not easy, but the silver lining is that dealing with unexpected problems is one of the best ways to develop antifragility.

Jason Brooks

As a special FX artist, I have built quite an amazing team under the name Real Fiction Studios FX. We have a well-rounded, motivated, and talented group of people who are eager to work in the film and TV industry. The challenges we run into in the Pacific Northwest are typically financial in nature. There are a lot of wonderful productions in the Northwest that are low-budget, independent films that do not have the means to pay for a full production crew including high-end special FX services. Read more>>

King Lab3l

One of my biggest set backs have been from a few of my past relationships, it’s like every time I found myself wanting to step back from them their reaction was really extreme. This caused issues like losing money, a vehicle, my spot, and even my freedom temporarily. I never really bounced all the way back yet but what I did to just get back on the right course was just realize I’m the only one that’s going to make it happen for me. Read more>>

I-Nu Yeh

Coming from a first generation of Asian immigrants, there have been so many challenges throughout my entire creative career. After graduating from SCAD/Savannah(2010) in my early 20s, I tried to make it out of NYC. Here are the Challenges: the 2008 financial crisis, lack of paying jobs, unpaid internships, first language non-English, finding work/artist visa sponsorship, burn-out, unfriendly co-workers, underpaid wage, working 12+ hours/day, terrible roommates, free/test work, race issues, etc. Read more>>

Ell Treese

I wanted to share a wild story that I’m still currently living in. At the beginning of March I got lots of signs and synchronizations pointing me in a certain direction, a path away from the gallery I had a studio in for 2.5 years, towards a bigger space that I felt aligned with my dreams of working in a larger scale and eventually gaining representation and collectors. Read more>>

Tashah Johnson

One of the most unexpected challenges I’ve faced with Candlessentials came about in spring/summer 2020. I had just reopened the business after a three-year hiatus and was getting things back on track. I was super optimistic about the brand’s future and had a growth plan in place. But then, two wild twists happened simultaneously due to major events in our nation. Read more>>

Andy Yochum

As a business owner, I have encountered numerous unexpected challenges. However, the most significant one I have faced is the need for more leverage. Since I am a startup, my sales volumes are lower, and I tend to order smaller quantities from my vendors. Although I have great partners, being a smaller customer can lead to higher costs and difficulty in negotiating prices. Additionally, smaller projects are usually delayed during production crunches, and there is a need for tact since vendors may opt to fire me if I’m too much trouble. Read more>>

Cai O’Reilly-Green.

While not entirely unexpected, one of our foremost barriers has been reconciling our commitment to maintaining our products as natural and nutritious products with the need to provide our customers with a reasonable shelf life. Unlike the majority of our competitors, our products do not, among other things, have chemical preservative additives and are not heat pasteurized, which means that our products have minimal ingredients (our Original Pecan Milk is made only with filtered water, pecans, and a dash of salt) and is a raw food. Read more>>