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.

Emma Evans

It’s all about perspective. Growing up I had extremely talented parents who worked hard for everything they made. My families goal was to support and love to the fullest. I wasn’t always thankful when I was younger because you would look around at your friends and everything that their families had (money, materialistic possessions, expensive travel) and think wow they are successful. Read more>>

Kaitlin Scott

Resilience! In my many years of running my own businesses, I’ve learned that it’s not a consistent growth pattern with success. There has been plenty of times where I’ve had to reinvest 100% of my profits for the sake of keeping my businesses running and growing. Read more>>

Krys Merryman

I think it takes grit, hard work day in and day out, dedication and passion. You have to have thick skin to make it as a business owner, specifically. Stick to your convictions and drown out the noise that won’t help you be successful. You have to believe in yourself and instead of getting discouraged when you hit a rough patch you keep moving forward and pinpoint what you have to do to keep going. Read more>>

Nichole Tippin

One of the things I found the hardest with starting my own business (and still struggle with) were all of the doubts that ran through my head – “What if I’m not good enough?”, “What if I fail?”, “What if others laugh at me?”, “What if I can’t do this?” But success can’t happen if you don’t try. I so often swallow my anxieties and doubts and just go for it. The biggest key to my success has been to just go out and try. Read more>>

Kassi Moore

For me I believe in order to be successful you have to experience failure. Failure is not the end but only the beginning. Every experience comes with trying something new and a learning experience to evolve and become better. I was hesitant to leave my medical career of 20 years to chase my dreams of starting a bakery because I was afraid of failing. Read more>>

Jackie Dalius

To me the meaning to being successful means to be doing something that you love. When you’re doing something that you love you put in so much extra work, which ultimately opens up more doors for yourself. This love for your work, creates happiness that is shown through your projects and your team’s success. Read more>>

Molly Kujawski

For me, being successful requires giving a consistent, high-quality product or experience. I strive to make everything I offer feel like it’s time and money well spent (whether it’s my wellness retreats, personal training, group exercise, my 1-on-1 consultations, et..) I would never want someone to leave from their time with me and think “well, that was a waste.” I want to always offer the best in health & fitness and try to stay on top of the most cutting edge information for all of my clients. Read more>>

Cory Fourniquet

Drive and passion with an end goal in mind. I have found in my corporate career, and now my time as a small business owner, that you cannot move forward and progress without drive and passion. They go hand in hand. Read more>>

Nathaniel Bray

A lot of motivation and commitment to what you do. Those morals will help push you through when you make mistakes and you are going to make a lot of mistakes! I have gotten distracted by many things that were not helping my business in the past and came close to costing me a lot. Read more>>

Jake Mulder

To be successful, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you will succeed and try your best not to think negatively when things don’t go your way. You can’t expect everything to be a win, there’s always failure on the way to reaching success. I feel like in order to be successful in this business in particular, you need to be a people person and be willing to take risks. Read more>>

Jocelyn Crane-Tizabgar

Training, passion, ambition, advertising, and knowing when to ask for help. These five things seem simple and necessary to success, however, not everyone uses these concepts in their business. I was once told a story of a failed restaurant, the owner thought it would be a guaranteed success for a sandwich shop in an office building. Read more>>

Chancey Doster

I don’t believe there is just one trait you must possess to be successful. I think there are multiple traits that work together to lead to success. I think that time management is huge in succeeding. This takes a lot of drive and you have to be a good self starter, but it becomes easier over time! Read more>>

Diane Palma

Success is such a personal thing. It takes a clear and honest idea of what you find successful and holding on to that as you walk along your journey. You have to be true to who you are, what makes you happy, and what fulfills you. For us we want to have fun, bring value and make a difference in other’s lives. Read more>>

Danica Eakman

Success means many different things to different people. To me it means having a healthy work life balance, being utterly passionate about what you do for a living, having people in your life who have your back but can be honest with you and being able to travel the world, meet new people, try new foods and immerse yourself in new cultures. Read more>>

Tracee Lee

Over the years, as I have grown my business from what some call a side hustle from, to moving into a retail space pre-covid and then acquiring our food truck last year. In all of these phases, I sought out what I like to call the sweet spot of running my business. Read more>>

Kelly Hooper

I think it takes a few things to be successful. When I started my business, I had no idea what I was doing. Everything was so new and I never in my life thought that this would be a full time job, I went into this fully believing this would be a “side hustle” and a way to make money playing music. Read more>>

Nan Chaison

From my story it takes “strength” to be successful. All business owners have faced the most difficult time during the pandemic. I am one of the survival through this rough path. I use so much strength in me to be able to face the struggle and get through. Read more>>

Thai Nguyen

What do I think it takes to be successful? Success for me has been not being afraid of failing. I learn from my failures. I take those failures and apply them to what I am trying to do. Success can come from the first time or the hundredth time. It’s a process. You must be able to be patient and not stop trying. Read more>>

Meghan Swindlehurst

Someone once told me, “if you’re good at something, and you enjoy it, then you should go for it.” That has always resonated with me. I feel very lucky to be in a creative career – something that I always envisioned for myself even as a child. I don’t feel that success is solely determined by the outcome of what other people think, though. Read more>>

Peter Switzer

Every business model has its own unique set of principles they strive for in order to achieve their goals. For Cushing Field House, we decided we were going to focus on quality, not quantity when it came to hosting events. We cater to those who want a higher level of customer service, who appreciate nicer amenities, greater customer service, and greater access to us and our venue. Read more>>

Devinne & Justin Bravoco & Balunsat

-Sacrifice – there are many parties, events, vacations, social gatherings that we missed along the way as we were building but we would to it again if need be. -Surrounding yourself with like minded people is so important. Being around other like minded individuals who ‘get’ you and can challenge you and force you to step out of your comfort zone, learn another way when you only saw one way. Read more>>

Nya Lorraine

Not to sound cliché but honestly I believe it takes a ton of self belief to become successful. I am no where near where I want to be in life, but things didn’t turn around for me until I believed in myself 100%. People always throw in hard work and while that is also very important, working hard doesn’t always guarantee the results you are looking for. Read more>>

Patrice Petersen

There’s no straight answer to this question. Success is subjective. What I would say is you must put in the work! Hard work, continued work. In order to be successful, you have to be clear on what the mission/goal is and see it through. You have to be willing to grow from your failures. Success is what you define, but know you will be successful. Fall and get back up! Read more>>

AhmadMusic

It takes a true understanding of time. Time is the most important and nonrenewable resource on the planet. We can’t get time spent back, and we don’t know how much we have left. When you focus your time on doing the work it takes to be the best version of yourself and craft, you will see success as a bi-product of doing what you love. Read more>>

Monica A Kastle

Hard work with an equal amount of a good attitude. Of course having an incredible support system, a network of people willing to help you is invaluable. However, if you’re not willing to learn and keep learning all the hard work, attitude, and networking will be for nothing. I love it when I learn something new, and then using the knowledge to achieve success is always rewarding. Read more>>

Nikki Dunkle

As a 25-year-old small business owner and Real Estate Broker, I can tell you that determination drives any successful venture. Building and growing a business is a challenging and often unpredictable journey. There will be obstacles, setbacks, and failures, but your determination will keep you pushing forward and ultimately lead to success. Read more>>

Kimberly Swedelius

Of course hard work is key. But something that may go under the radar is just being personable, open and real with people. When you develop genuine relationships with folks you really stand out from the crowd. Be one hundred percent yourself. Don’t be afraid of being “too this”, or “too that”, or “not enough of something else”. You will never be able to please every person out there. Read more>>

Pat Wahler

I’ve given this a lot of thought over the years. One could list a number of qualities. It helps to have financial backing. It helps to have the support of your family and friends. It helps to have at least a thimbleful of talent in whatever direction you choose; and certainly a great deal of interest in it. Read more>>

Andy Kowalski

What I’ve learned to grow and scale my business was to spend time learning every day.. reading inspirational books, researching, and developing in what’s the “latest and greatest” for my industry. Working smarter, not harder. I once believed that working in the trenches and being with my employees side by side every day would make me successful. Read more>>

Corine Short

Some highlights along my journey: 1. Pray about what your steps should be 2. When coming up with a business, find a need that can resonate with you. 3. Never discount ideas, even if it doesn’t appear that you have a need for it. Write it down as you may never know when you will need it. 4. Believe in what you are creating. Keep the mindset, that even if no one buys your product you will because you created something that you love and works. Read more>>

Tezz

For one I’d say to have a clear goal and a strong vision. You have to know exactly what it is you’re trying to achieve and have a clear sense of your goals. Hard work and persistence is what’s going to help you achieve those set goals and help you fulfill your vision. Continuous learning and Self- improvement is what drives me to be great at what I do every day. Read more>>

Lynnmarie Wolverton

I think that success is very personal and has different meaning for every business owner. What I think works best on becoming successful in the Travel Industry, which has always helped me reach my goals, is showing my passion for what I do and showing my clients that I go above and beyond for them. You have to really be genuine and show that you care. Clients gravitate towards a friendly and passionate personality. Read more>>

Shaquasha Llopiz

To be successful you must invest in yourself , be professional at all times, stay determined , and work hard ! There are many other individuals who do the same thing and has the same vision as well so I suggest to focus on your goal , stay motivated and just work hard. With those things you can’t go wrong with success. It comes from within. Read more>>

Nirjary Desai

The number one thing I tell people is don’t compare yourself to someone else and their path because you don’t know their journey and it may not be the right one for you. No one is you and that is your power; to be uniquely you and create your own journey. Every human being has a dream and a vision of how they want to script their life and it can only come true if you write your own story and stay true to yourself! Read more>>

Carl Baker

I think topics like “Spending Money In Lean Times” and “Challenges To Profitability” are important and obvious to entrepreneurial startups, but, for me, the number one key success for any business, big or small is the people. During my 35 years in pharmaceutical industry; big and small pharma, it became obvious that people are what makes success. Read more>>

Ashton O’Neal

Being that I started my company from ground up during a very difficult time in my life, I believe being successful takes patience, perseverance, determination, and most importantly strength. Read more>>

Ana Yulissa Ocasio

Success doesn’t grow over night. I am a photographer who is constantly working to better myself and offer the best memories to my clients. I am always looking for new opportunities and growth. Read more>>

Sarah Eichstedt

Success is such a tricky word because it can mean so many different things to different people. I think the most important thing when it comes to success is to define what it means to you, or else you can easily end up chasing society’s or other peoples’ definition of success, and in that way you’ll never truly feel successful or happy when you get there. Read more>>