Webster doesn’t know everything. Some words can’t be defined by a dictionary. Rather they are defined by our values, ethos, and principles. We asked hidden gems from the community about how they define success and have shared their responses below.

Sophie Goodman | Brand & Content Strategy Consultant

2020 has been an incredibly difficult year. All of my planned benchmarks for assessing my growth and success basically disappeared with the onset of the pandemic, and so I’ve had to really re-think my definition. In terms of measurables, success in 2020 has meant celebrating a 42% increase in revenue, even though the numbers are a lot smaller than I thought they were going to be this year. Success has also meant celebrating my relationships with my clients: I have an incredible client list of resilient, innovative, and trailblazing companies and individuals that have risen to the challenges that this year has presented. This is RANGE launched The Horizon Report, a badass trend-forecasting subscription newsletter that is visionary in its consumer insights. Read more>>

Noel Dolan | In-House Designer and Instructor at Pikes Peak Community College and Owner of Noel Dolan Creative

When I was early in my career, I thought success was making a lot of money and winning a lot of awards. I’m not going to lie—I love to win awards. It helps me feel validated as a good designer. However, it is no longer my top priority for defining success. To me, success is creating something that I am proud of for a business I believe in. Right now my full time position is as an in-house designer for a community college. It’s not the high-paying, glamorous agency life, but higher education is something I really believe in. I love working in a community college, because so many of our students have serious grit from overcoming adversity, and it’s extremely fulfilling to see their success. I feel proud that I have a role in that by creating materials to promote the college and its programs. Read more>>

Maya Bary | Photographer

I think success is such a difficult thing to define, or even put into words. I think there’s a very tough line to draw with defining success, which is, personal and career success (tangible things or achieving goals) and happiness. So far in my career, I have been so lucky and thankful to have such amazing opportunities that I have worked hard for. One way I define success is how many photoshoots I do, that I have a result that both I am happy and proud of, and my client is. I define success as achieving personal goals and going out of my comfort zone. I love surprising myself with what I am capable of and growing both as a person and as a photographer. I have learned that I feel successful when my clients feel confident in themselves after, and during a photoshoot. I love being able to make other people happy and excited with their photos. Read more>>