We’ve been fortunate to connect with so many brilliant artists, business owners and leaders over the years and so we reached out to some of these talented folks to discuss what it takes to be successful.

Jordan Thomas

I think it takes a paradigm shift to find success – at least for me it did. For the majority of my life I had such a negative view on the term failure. I never wanted to not succeed at something, especially at something I was going to be doing in front of people. I was afraid of the ridicule. I was afraid of the negativity. I was afraid that I wouldn’t belong. Read more>>

Alli Robben

I believe “never giving up” is the answer to being successful. You have to be willing to try and try again when things don’t work out. Maybe you try the same thing but take a different approach when you fail or maybe you try something completely different. No matter what failure you experience, you have to get up and keep trying. Read more>>

Madi Balman

Perseverance and the willingness to keep going, despite the hard times, is the #1 thing you need as a business owner. Everyone has been through hard times, sometimes even unspeakable things, but learning to make these things motivation instead is a catalyst for success. We must remember that bad times are only temporary & that you will get through it with the right mindset. Read more>>

Jade Maclaren

I believe that hard work, determination and resilience creates success. Things won’t always go the way you want or expect but it’s the ability to persevere and have belief that will ultimately give you the best chance of success. Read more>>

Heather Hildebrandt.

I like this question because I think society tends to assume that success means the same thing for everyone; make a lot of money. In reality, success is incredibly different for every business owner. For me, success means I am creating balance in my life while pursuing something I enjoy. It means I am creating connections & relationships, taking care of my customers, and creating products dog lovers will swoon over. Read more>>

Marissa Anderson

Success takes consistency, hard work, and dedication every day. When I started my business, many people I would talk to about the company didn’t believe it was sustainable. The career coaching and resume writing industry is worth over $15 billion annually. Read more>>

Rain Agullana

I would say positive outlook in life, perseverance and and being grateful in life will get you to where you want to be. I wanted to share a story of one of the reasons why I work hard. When I was working at a restaurant, my former boss and I were chatting about her child. I asked her how old was her child, and she answered with the number same as my age. Read more>>

Sharifa Macias

I think success is something that can look different for everybody. For me, it’s being able to continue to create memorable products and experiences that have a lasting impact on my customers and supporters. Being able to create concepts and make them into a reality is always one of my major goals. To obtain that, it takes a lot of hard work, persistence, and a passion for the work that I do. I think having these three elements will continue to bring more success. Read more>>

Nicole Loiten

To be successful means to find God’s purpose for your life and then following it. There is no success without God. Once you find out your purpose the next step is to work out a roadmap to achieve that goal. To be successful, you need to be dedicated to the goal until it is achieved. It will also require flexibility because God’s plans and purposes for our lives can be different with each season. As such, you will have to be connected to God to hear what He is saying. Read more>>

Mackenzie Biehl

I think the key to my success has been always my passion for storytelling. I was on the morning news and competed in public speaking tournaments throughout high school. I always had something I wanted to share. After in college at the University of Florida, I studied abroad in Italy for a summer and started a blog documenting my stay and travels throughout Europe. Read more>>

Nikita Garland

Constantly learning. Always ready to to try things out of your comfort zone. Read more>>

Dashiree Foreman

My success story is including God in my business plan, staying in peoples face and being consistent. You want people to remember your name so you have to pray about it and have faith and get that in your mind you will make it, you will be successful. Constantly promote your brand. Stay consistent. People love consistency. Manifest everything. I always had in my head that I’m going to be a millionaire. Speak everything into existence. Read more>>

Donald Bruce Jackson Jr

Humbleness Patients Dedication Hard Work & Having A Goal Read more>>

Shreena Shah

You need to have a crystal clear dream, faith, need to be resilient, creative problem solver and associate with people who will guide you and cheer you. Read more>>

Nicole Booz

This is something I’ve given a lot of thought to lately as I have been restructuring one of my businesses. I think to be successful, you have to constantly ask yourself to rise to the next level and really dig deep into what success looks like for you. I started my first business 10 years ago now and while I still run that business daily, as a mom of two my priorities are different now and the time I have to commit is different now. What it takes to be success is defining what that looks like for you and making every decision you can to move towards that vision. Read more>>

Karen Juncal

To be successful, you have to know to how to pick yourself back up & try again. You have to be ok with failing. Remain confident and move with an optimistic mindset. Don’t ever stop believing in yourself. Read more>>

Shenilla Mentore.

Everyone has their own definition of “success”. Some may feel like it’s related to the amount of money made or the popularity. I link success with freedom. If I can make this project/business work multiple times in multiple ways consistently, where I’m not working as hard and I’m free to do other things while the business runs itself. That’s success! Read more>>

April Price

“To be successful” is a double-edged sword. For you to reach success, you have to make sacrifices. Whether it be missing out on important family moments to later be able to provide for your family or not accepting every business opportunity that doesn’t align with your morals. It takes a special kind of person to break through that glass ceiling. I would like to think that I’m approachable, honest and caring, as well as dedicated to seeing my vision through. There is no plan B! Read more>>

Melanie Day

Everyone’s definition of successfulness is unique. In my case, it took perseverance, courage, creativity, and an amazing support system of family, friends, mentors, and the community. Read more>>

Pierre Hamilton

You can ask a million people this question & you will get a million answers, which are not wrong or right. But in my opinion it’s different levels to success, & it’s based on the individual. Success to me may not be the success you seek or made. For example, some feel like success is reaching a point where your management on the job, renting a nice 4 bedroom house, a nice car, small family that’s success to them. Read more>>

Asia Morrow

I think it takes a lot of failing to become successful. I’m willing to jump in and try different things when it comes to business/career. Most of those endeavors has failed me, but I never let it stop me. Read more>>

Roberto Rivera

Consistency, Passion, Tenacity Read more>>

Dana Harrison

I think success looks different to everyone, but for me success is getting up every time I fall and trying again. Read more>>

Maryh Harris

In order to become successful, I believe you should start by focusing on the one thing. Become a master of your trade and expand on its intricacies. Read more>>

Cindy Laverty

Success is an ambiguous concept. Ask anyone and you’ll get a different definition. As we come to the end of our 7th year in business, we look back with great pride as to how exactly our success has evolved. In the beginning, a successful week was if we didn’t have to put business expenses on our personal credit cards. During our times of growth, success was how many new wholesale accounts we opened and honestly, it wasn’t very many. Today we have a wait list. As we reflect back, we see success as having a recognizable name, the ability to give back regularly, happy customers and consistently creating a ‘cool’ product. Read more>>

Rachel Maloney

I believe to be successful it takes persistence, dedication, grit, consistency and passion for your craft. You have to love what you do, day in-day out and bumps in the road are just small hurdles to your end goal. Read more>>

Shante Brooks

Allowing yourself to be great Read more>>

Wunnam Ahmed

Being successful takes a lot of hard work, resilience, and passion. I started my business five years ago out of something I love the most that has been a part of my success. It’s not enough to be successful only for the money because when things get ruff, you will not have something to call on. With all the obstacles, having a great support system around you is very important. They keep you motivated and help you to stay on the path you are trying to create. One of the most crucial things to do is to gain knowledge. Read more>>

Zariah Brandao

as one of your key characteristics that you value is what brings you success. I truly believe the way you treat others affects the way you succeed. Although in order to be successful we also need a strong sense of determination. You may also need the help of others along the way. Read more>>

Lisa Harris

To be successful is to be true to yourself and your vision. When you have drive to accomplishment something, it usually happens by unwavering belief in yourself. Being patient with yourself and understanding success is never an overnight thing. It’s your vision, your drive and focus that will lead you to success. Read more>>

Eleven

The meaning of success manifest definitely for everyone, so I truly believe that the first thing that you need to do before you do anything if you get some clarity on what success looks like for you. This may be the hardest part of becoming successful, because it requires you to quiet years of accumulated opinions on what success looks like. Build a team of people that are willing to fit for your dream and then show up as the person who is in alignment with your idea of success. Read more>>

Megan Birdsong

To be successful you need to work hard, persevere, support from family and friends, and confidence. Read more>>

Gilberto Aguayo

I personally believe in giving it all; giving your best. Passion, discipline, commitment, responsibility, and innovation I consider are a few important keys to being successful. Read more>>

JAMES VENUTI

To be successful takes a combination of things, most importantly hard work, persistence, staying creative and a little bit of luck. Read more>>

Gretel Young

I believe it takes courage, commitment, and consistency to be successful. I believe it takes courage, commitment, and consistency to be successful. Courage to get out of your comfort zone and face your fears. Commitment to see it through and not give up when things get tough. Consistency to continuously deliver a high level of effort in all you do. Read more>>

Desree Robinson

Doing the unfamiliar things to be different in your field Read more>>

Antonio Wesley

A very strong desire, a natural talent for the specific activity that can be honed over time. A huge amount of persistence, and patience, and a need to step out of your comfort zone. Goals, along with equal action. Read more>>

Manuk Torossian

It takes hard work and dedication to be successful, especially in the jewelry business. We work 6-7 days a week and when we have off, I am always trying to improve myself. I enjoy looking for new designs and creative ways to make our customers excited about buying jewelry. I am also always looking at the latest ways to improve my craft with new tools, lasers, etc. If there is a way to be better, more creative, or offer new services, I’ll do what it takes to get there. Read more>>