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.
Carson Ferri-Grant
Nurturing our artistic creatives, while life trauma exposes our frailties. Hope is fantastic yet fragile, promoting us to undiscovered heights of magic or imploding to spiral us to depths of self-destruction. As many of us have experience beyond our everyday tasks and skill sets, unexpected crises can halt our life energy then stall us in a corner-crossroad. Read more>>
Chani Friedman
One of the most unexpected problems I’ve faced yet was something I believe many of us faced in so many ways- the onset of Covid 19. I had just moved from LA to Vegas, with high hopes of building up my business in my new hometown. Moving was a huge gamble as it was, since I had left behind a huge client base back in LA. I felt like all my opportunities just dropped in the blink of an eye. I had such grand plans that all had to be paid to rest. But in all honesty, the silver lining was that empty time & space that allowed me to restructure how I wanted things to be in my business. Read more>>
Megan Greenspan
The most unexpected problem I have faced in this business surrounds my time in college. I went to a Conservatory program for a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Actor Training. It was a traditional 4 year college and I thought those 4 years would teach me everything I had to know. Read more>>
Whitney Rosenson Sincoff
The most unexpected problem I’ve faced in my business was when COVID hit in March, 2020. In January of that year I had opened a beautiful gallery in Studio City. I had signed a two-year lease and was stuck with paying rent and various other expenses one has when running a gallery, but due to COVID, I wasn’t able to host openings, exhibitions, artist talks, etc. Read more>>
Nyla Handy
They say always be prepared for the worst, but what happens when the worst makes you want to quit? What do you do when your thrive for life is gone? I have the answer for you. You keep strutting; but in order to strut you must continue to take one step at a time. Sometimes life situations breaks us down so low that we feel like we are crawling…and guess what that is ok. Why? because you must learn how to crawl before you can stand. Read more>>
Golden Hymns Sing ‘Hurrah’
In the world of both live and recorded sound, the unexpected should not just always be expected, but always be embraced – In live environments, the minor fluctuations in rhythm, dynamic, timbre and in the intangible musical “thing” people might call soul/vibe all calculate together to make each performance, each moment a unique momentary thing – it exists in that moment, for that moment and then is gone forever. Read more>>
Allegra Warren
Being an entrepreneur definitely has not been easy. There’s so many different challenges and obstacles you will experience along the way, It takes a lot of hard work and dedication nothing happens overnight. I would find myself staying up late night researching until about 4 am for weeks at a time running off of 2 hours of sleep alarm clock going off at 6 am to get ready for work. Read more>>
Dalton Warden
Overselling! There was a time when I was so used to taking any and every opportunity I could find that I had rarely said no. Then the time came where I had multiple paintings and a mural promised at the same time just 1 month out. The stress of not giving the art the proper time it deserves is the worst feeling because you have to put your name on it at the end of the day. Read more>>
Christopher Hall
When I first started Miss Nature, LLC I wanted to still give back to the community in which I am a part of (LGBTQ+). In 2022, we were able to raise over $30,000 because of the Arizona Pride Tour (A registered event of Miss Nature, LLC). After paying fees for the venues, promoting the event online, Read more>>
Kyle Geller
There are always going to be unexpected problems and issues, thats life, but dealing with them is the fun part? Especially as technology advances at such a rapid rate, example, computers… you find one, its the shit, the solution to all your problems, you buy it, its working great, until… The next camera comes out, which is now 8k instead of the 6k you were working on, and now the computer doesn’t seem to be able to handle the footage as well. *End rant. Read more>>
James Wieker
It is very surprising how broken the tier 3 system is in the beverage industry. The team at Blackhat has been working to resolve those issues in some very creative ways by co-oping resources to spread costs amongst different members. Most people have no idea how hard it is to 1. Break into the industry due to unnecessary, heavy, and burdensome regulations are from the prohibition era really make things. Read more>>
Joseph Andrew
Bad business intentions on people you deal with, getting rid of long friendships due to jealous on their end, people who try to make you doubt your project and goals Read more>>
Denise Moreno
More Sweets was originally started in 2016, legally at least. I always dreamt of this idea of a bakery and having this business. But I finally took the big step in becoming a business in 2016. I filed all the necessary paperwork and started working on all the important things a business needed to have set up. I slowly transitioned from working for other bakeries to doing my own work starting around 2018. Read more>>
Deb Soromenho
Oh, probably the problem that caught me most by surprise is the battle with social media. As a business owner, you kinda expect normal business issues and you brace for them. The social media issue is so complicated though, and a good presence is so important, that I found myself getting completely caught up in trying to “game the system”, lol. Read more>>