There is so much to learn from investments that went really well as well as those that went really poorly and so we asked some of the wisest creatives and entrepreneurs in the community to tell us the stories of their best and worst investments.

Luis Almeida

One of the best investments that I made for Dr. A Photo LLC was to to buy a 24-70mm f2.8 Nikon F mount lens, despite of the rise of mirror less Sony technologies. When I work with clients, which are almost exclusively small businesses or non-profit organizations, quality matters and quality is often defined as clarity and beautiful colors. This lens has been helping me with completing important photojournalistic assignments that continue to pay off. Read more>>

Jenn Bailey

In a time of Tiktok & Youtube financial advice to financial planner commercials on old school TV, I have lived through it, and this is my advice. If you start where I did, then ramen and ham sandwiches are no stranger. I quickly realized that older generations started talking about “levels” once I began to find some success. Levels of financial success, levels of buying power, level of perceived influence. Read more>>

Toni and Patt

The best investment we have made has been within ourselves. It sounds cheesy, but as we grow our business we have found out that investing in certain knowledge, skills, and gaining understanding pays off in the long run. When we first started our business we hired out for multiple skills that ultimately led us to take a loss financially. Read more>>

Ashley Elwill

The best investment I’ve made with my business is giving people my time. At first, I thought I could pay for advertising on different websites, or buy cute pens with my website on them and get more traction for my business. When I was first starting out, I quickly learned that saying yes to things that didn’t pay were often worth the time. I don’t recommend working for free, but there are meaningful ways to work for free, do some good, and gain some traction for your business. Read more>>

Cait Bieker

The best investment I’ve ever made in regards to being an independent stylist was deciding to make continuing education a priority. I’ve always believed in the importance of staying updated and educated, but I truly committed to it during the pandemic when styling clients wasn’t an option. During that time, I had more time to really reflect on the clientele I was serving. I looked into industry publications and fellow stylists social media pages. Read more>>

Jane Beiles

GEAR! As a photographer, I can’t stress the importance enough of having the best equipment possible. Perhaps the best example of this comes from looking back at history. My mother and her older brother were both amazing photographers. I suppose the elusive “eye” essential to my craft was handed down by nature or nurture from this branch of my family tree. Read more>>

Jess Bishop

As a photographer who is running their own business, I think the best thing I’ve invested in is education. I probably spend the most on education than anything even to this day. It’s important to me to keep up with what’s happening in the industry and continuously learning new things. I will say that not all education materials or courses have been worth it. I think the best thing is to invest in the people that inspire you, and who you want to learn from. Read more>>

Shanta Denise Louise Horlander

The best investment I have made in terms of time and money is to grow myself spiritually. I knew from a very young age that I was not just this body and that I was a being far beyond that. In knowing my true self, I am able to do and produce more. I am able to have and give more. I am able to confront Truth more. I am more certain and see things for what they are. All of these things make one better at everything in life. Read more>>

Dulayne Cumberlander

I would have to say that the best investment I ever made as a business owner was building a full studio and creative team to manage the creative process of my independent music label Kirkwell Partners. This might be something that you hear artist, producers, or music labels do often; but this move was bigger than recording music. Read more>>

Paula Rosero

I think when it comes to makeup artistry you need to have talent but education is also important. I’m happy I invested in my career, it could be shocking putting larges amount of money into one thing. But when you see it later in the future it all makes sense Read more>>

Alton James

The best investment I’ve made in myself is the dedication of time and money to learn. Initially, I was quite dead set on only being a tv and film composer when I began my career. However, as I scored several independent films, that turned into the filmmakers needing help on the audio, sound effects, and sound mixing side of things. As a result, I learned how to do those, and then I catered my studio to enable it to offer those services as well. Read more>>

Dlo Tha Don

Best investment is probably taking the $$ I had at the time back in 2015 and buying recording equipment . Not only do I love rapping but learning how to engineer as years went by definitely helped as an artist, being able to help other’s create their own sound and styles and last but not least creating friendships with some of the most talented people in my city. Read more>>