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.

Ember Medeiros

One of the best investments I’ve made since starting this business might be surprising. Because it wasn’t a camera. It wasn’t a lens or subscription service. It wasn’t even anything having to do with money. The best investment I’ve made so far was an investment of my time. Specifically my time in Underhill, Vermont this past June for a wedding. I’d met the couple through my parents who do volunteer work in Hawaii. I was looking for a couple who wanted to do an engagement session while I was there visiting. It turns out they were looking for a wedding photographer too. I was running a deal at the time, I’d shoot their destination wedding for free as long as my travel was covered. We were all beyond excited that we’d found each other and that we could both be a blessing to each other. They loved my work, and I was obsessed with them.  Their big day was going to be my first out of state wedding. I was willing to invest five days of my time to fully experience their wedding week and capture precious memories for them throughout.  Read more>>

Saika Satomi

My biggest investment was when I was 20 years old and came to the U.S. from Japan with my own savings. At the time, I first came to LA as a short-term language student. The reason was that I wanted to find something I was passionate about. I also thought that if I could speak English, I could go to many opportunities and places, communicate with many people, and enjoy life. Yes , I had a adventure , something my heart was excited about. Now I have been in LA for 16 years and have two businesses in the US. Five years after I first came to the US in 2014, I opened the Eyelash salon SAIKA Beauty in Beverly Hills, and over the past three years, I have been creating Re:Bio probiotics supplement and starting another company and selling in Japan from 2021 and in the US from 2022. Read more>>

Cameron Patterson

When it came to growing on social media, the worst investment I made was buying a course. In the course, I realized everything they were teaching was information freely available online. That was when I truly realized there are no shortcuts. You can do all the research via courses but for me, the real way I learned was trial and error. Posting myself online doing my craft and navigating from there was and what I believe, is the best way to learn Read more>>