One of the most important lessons we learned is that our lives and our businesses will teach us along the way. We don’t need to know everything on day one because the challenges we face on day will likely be ones we are already equipped to handle. As we overcome challenges we get better and better and as the challenges increase in difficulty so too does our ability to tackle them.

We asked members of the community that we admire to share important lessons their business or career has taught them and have shared some of those responses below.

Brian Blake | Brand manager At B Fresh Gear

That I am my most important resource. Read more>>

Maddy Halpern | Photographer

Never stop learning. Seriously. Just enjoy the process of trying and failing, failing again, and then go and try again. It’s human, it’s life! I might be showing how much of an absolute nerd I am, but… It’s amazing how many resources we have at our disposal to be successful and in learning ANYTHING we want to. If you want to know how to work on cars, develop film, make a soufflé, program an app, speak Icelandic: it’s all out there for you to learn. I’m such a curious person so the idea that we can never stop learning is humbling and yet, incredibly exciting to me at the same time. Be flexible. When I started doing photography I was getting paid by trading. To start out, I helped start a collective which was all about passion for music and telling stories about the artists. We would interview bands and photograph their concerts in exchange for press passes and concert tickets. Read more>>

Zach Housand | Owner, H&H Social

To fight and fight and fight for something you believe in. Business is hard enough, but when you throw COVID in the mix, it completely changes everything you know. But as we are now a year into it I have learned that it is just another obstacle to overcome in pursuit of a goal. Every day in a business is a grind and I think that’s what entrepreneurs both hate and love about it, and it is what make’s it addicting. Read more>>

Umadevi Gopaldass | Executive Advisor | Board Director | Governance Council

There is no going back; there is only forging forward. Nothing prepares you enough to switch from working for others to starting your own business. Committing to creating, building, and growing your own company will make you summon a level of grit you never knew was possible. Keeping it going while facing personal and professional setbacks will test you to the core. The real value is the personal power you achieve while building yourself up as a brand name. Read more>>

Brianna Rashbaum | Ceramicist

That life is too short and corporate America doesn’t see you, the employees, as anything more than a pawn. Starting my own business was more about the quality of life I wanted to live. After years of exhaustion in a 9-5 with little appreciation I decided it was time to invest in myself and the lifestyle I wanted to live, instead of the rat race everyone seamed to be caught up in. In March of 2017, I took that leap of faith in myself and I’m so happy I did. My life is mine now and I’m living it to the fullest, muddy hands and all. Read more>>