https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-carlee-henderson-editor-in-chief-and-publisher/We asked the community what factors they felt were responsible for their success and we’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Dominique Rock | Wardrobe Consultant/Personal Stylist

Relationship building! From the moment I meet a client to the very end of our session, I am aware they are vulnerable and treat them as I would a very best friend. By allowing them to feel supported through this process we create a bond that in some cases has lasted forever. This is not a sales tactic but just the way it organically happens. Through process my clients trust me and in turn recommend me to their friends which has been the most important factor in the success of my brand. Read more>>

A.L. Lummus | Artist

I know that when someone buys a piece of art, whether that be a magnet, a button, or a wall sized piece, they are buying a small piece of me. My vision, my heart, and my strength goes into everything that I create. Therefore, with every creation, I need to instill a sense of cohesion and professionality. Nothing can be sloppy, nothing can be half hearted. It needs to be as close to perfect as possible. Image theft is extremely simple in our current culture, so treating every purchasing client with the utmost respect and gratitude is paramount to my business. Creating an atmosphere of professionality, consistency, and attention is what maintains my clients and keeps them coming to every show, reading every article and listening to every interview. Read more>>

Patrick Tcheunou | CEO and Co-Founder of Bibamba

At Bibamba, we are chocolate that works for everybody. We are bringing traditional western farming practices and techniques to Cameroon, along with ethical practices that are often overlooked in the chocolate industry. As we continue to grow we want to reinvest into creating a higher quality of life for our employees in Cameroon and Colorado. Success for us starts with our employees – to ensure that our employees own their own home and are able to feed and send their children to school. We want to create a work environment where they feel ownership and value. Read more>>

Jerome Tiunayan | Illustrator

I think the most important factor behind my success is the connections and relationships I’ve been able to forge through sharing my work. The individuals and communities that support and uplift me, share opportunities with me, offer constructive criticism, and (sometimes) trust me with their hard-earned money are what really keep me afloat creatively. It’s very easy to approach art from a very transactional, consumerist standpoint, especially with how ubiquitous and fast-paced the Internet has made it. But being able to transcend that and actually build rapport with the faces behind the screens is what strengthens my foundation and gives me more solid footing as I try to learn and create more. Read more>>

Josi Carlson | Bespoke Senior Program Manager

I believe that the most important factor behind any successes that I have had is surrounding myself with the right people. Even an individual success could not happen without the people who you engage throughout the process. I believe that people rise to the occasion and when you choose to work with people who bring a different skillset to the table, have a diverse background and even have differing opinions, you are able to have a more satisfying outcome. Read more>>

Nick Cavuoto | Founder/CEO of Tenurebrands.com (Business Expert & Serial Entrepreneur)

There are a lot of things I care deeply about. Gratitude, positivity, integrity, kindness… But, if I had to pick one, it’s empathy. Empathy is everything. And it’s my superpower. It’s the trait I’m obsessed with. Human behavior psychology is the actual secret I owe all of my success to in businesses. Most people care about themselves more than their customers, vendors, employees… and I get it. Your needs and your family are so important. But if I had one wish, it would be more people elevating empathy as not only a powerful and noble human trait––but as the #1 business advantage someone can hold in business. The legacy awards are massive. Deeper connection, more leverage and instant trust with your audience/customers. Read more>>

Lindsay Hess | Founder of Wanderlotus Yoga and Wellness|

There are two factors that I believe have positively impacted to success of my business. Persistence and adaptability. This last year more than ever has taught all of humanity, the need to be adaptable. Being able to adapt to the ebb and flow of things you can not always control is essential. Being persistent is also a huge factor of success. Keeping the mission in the forefront of the mind reminds us why we get up and keep working hard day after day. Stay persistent in why you keep doing what you love, and be adaptable the road that you take to keep getting there. Read more>>

Phyllis Gutin | Executive Director, CO1000.org

People. Community. CO1000.org has been fortunate to have great support since the launch of our organization. We (my husband & I) approached Tom Gysin & Evan Harris, Owner’s of Homestead Title & Escrow, a Colorado based Title Insurance company, and discussed our plans and vision for local (Colorado based) business professionals to have an organization that focuses on giving back to our community in need. Without Tom & Evan’s immediate support and offer to fund us and agreed to be our Founding Partners, and support our goals of a 100% passthrough non-profit organization, giving back to local charities, our vision would not have come to fruition. They are true givers, and we are blessed to have them support our organization. Of course, we also have incredible local business professionals (entrepreneurs’, business owners and companies) that immediately saw the value of networking with likeminded professionals and quickly became Members, Sponsors and Community Gives Partners with us… hence our quick and steady growth. That’s how we all succeed!. Read more>>

Mike Sherrill | TH!S Art-Print-Design

I think a big factor is just doing what we love and what we are interested in! Its fun always having different projects to tackle and keeping things fresh with new ideas and approaches! We have a lot of pride in what we do and how we help our customers at TH!S. Being able to help small companies grow and succeed and being passionate about that is really what keeps our clients coming back. Those people helping spread the word of what we do at TH!S to their friends, family and peers from a realistic and honest standpoint, has continued to be what makes our company grow and succeed. A real grassroots style, word of mouth tactic has helped us throughout the years immensely! People support us cause they like who we are and what we do to in turn help them, really couldn’t ask for a better buisness to client relationship!. Read more>>

Julie Dikken | Publisher & Editor of Evergreen.Macaronikid.com and Arvada.macaronikid.com

I absolutely love what I do. Helping families in the community find ways to interact together in the community where we live is rewarding not only because I am helping families, I am also helping businesses in the community get seen and noticed. Building my websites with information families want to know about keeps families coming back, which ensures my sponsors and advertisers are getting seen and their message is getting out to the people they want to see it. I love working for the community, both my readers and my advertisers. Read more>>

Kathleen Colwell | Fashion Designer

I think probably one of the high factors of the success of my brand so far is my ability to have independence as a designer. The first few brands I designed for, my pieces were okay, but I just wasn’t happy with my work. Lots of designers have their creativity stifled because they choose to work for brands who’s vision differs from theirs. That’s why I decided to create KathLunar. I wanted to be able to design what I wanted without having to fit a certain aesthetic. I’m really not a fan of rules, and I think people like my brand because I break them. I design so many different “styles” and themes, and it’s kind of crazy how wildly different each idea is, but I think that’s what makes me fit in, because I’m flexible enough to fill the gaps. I really enjoy a broad spectrum of style, so while everything does have a different vibe to it, I think each of my pieces reflects my personal style a little bit, I sort of have my own aesthetic. Read more>>

Janna Moreau | Abstract Line Artist

Getting over my fear of asking for what I want. I learned that being a talented artist doesn’t mean opportunities will come knocking at my door. If I want something to happen, I have to go out and get it. Read more>>

Lahni Carney | Professional Organizer

Customers Service and Attention to Detail. As an organizer, I am naturally inclined to seek perfection and functionality for my client’s space. I have added a lot of extra services to my business as time has gone on, and we always go above and beyond the call of duty of any regular organizing service to complete the job to perfection!. Read more>>

Miah Bofill | Wedding + Lifestyle Photographer

The most important factor behind my success is the practice of offering a gentle kindness and grace to myself and my inner creative. Understanding that my best creativity and work come from the most vulnerable and core parts of me, when those parts are nurtured and cared for, success and growth in business will naturally overflow from there. I choose not to put growing or booking or doing more as the forefront and motivation of my business, but instead and again, putting the nourishment and health of the deep parts of me as the motivation. I have found great success in this area because no matter if I’m booking a record number of sessions, or if it is the opposite, I am proud of my work and my growth as an artist so far. It is much easier to leave behind the “have-to-do” mentality. As creatives, it is so vital that we protect that gentle creator in us, because when pressured and forced to do or be something just for the sake of a “job”, we will lose the very essence of why we do what we do. Read more>>

David Bernstein | Life Force Project | Director and Founder

Success is a simple formula for me: finding purpose in what we do, how we do it, and why. This is the purest form of creative expression and value creation. Coming from an analytical oriented background in RE finance and investment, my standard operating procedure would be to forecast, underwrite and evaluate the efficacy of any business decision or idea. However, when I first began visioning and constructing the offering that eventually became Life Force, I focused almost entirely on the “why”. Why was my business model an important service to my community? Why was I inspired to create this particular business? This became my ethos and north star throughout the life span of my business. During all the years of re-evaluating the “success” of Life Force, relative to its financial gain, its growth, and the ascertainment of various metrics that the business world holds to be important, I always found clarity and guidance in returning to my “why”. Read more>>

Miles Mercer | Vocals & Guitar, King Crawdad

The most important factor for our success as a band is our passionate dedication to music. For us, this means being dedicated to our craft, to each other, and to our peers and the venues within the local music community. We love creating music so much and have grown to understand the need for true dedication to music to utilize that love to the fullest extent. That begins with being dedicated to practicing, writing, performing, and progressing as a group. We always put in the utmost effort and energy into these facets of music. Practicing and writing frequently has been essential to improve our chemistry as a band and hopefully become better musicians and performers. While it is not always easy to balance our schedules or availability, that effort certainly has paid off for us. In my opinion, it is that effort to push ourselves combined with love and passion for music that leads to what we define as success as a band. Read more>>

Cat Tatman | Co-Founder Intelligent Elixirs Skincare

First an foremost, our products deliver results…if our products didn’t work we would not be successful. But also….Mary (my fellow co-founder) and I really love and believe in what we do. We are incredibly hands on and love interacting with our customers and staying in touch with their needs. Skincare is also a very dynamic industry, so we are constantly learning which is always fun. Read more>>

Susie Jimenez | Chef

I believe that I’m constantly checking on things. I’m the type of person that grabs my coffee, makes calls, emails and checks on all details before they become a question or problem. There’s something about understanding that my company is my baby and it needs constant nourishing. If you neglect it for a moment, something will happen. But you are constantly on call and you are the only one that’s going to give 100% and no one else will care about the way you do. Read more>>

Shayla Bradford & Melissa Braden | Wedding Photographers & Videographers

The most important factor behind our success and the success of our brand is pretty simple! It is the sole fact that we really love what we do. We genuinely enjoy the art of photography. We love interacting with our couples and getting to know new and different people in the photo taking process. Taking photos for each of us is one of our biggest passions – photography is something we would still be doing, whether we made an income off of it or not. Capturing real life moments and experiencing adventure in beautiful places is something that we live our everyday lives by, and bringing that idea into our business has definitely proved to be successful. Read more>>

Ryan Chrys | Musician & Songwriter

I think in the most basic form, the key to success is to simply keep going. ….never stop, never give up, keep moving forward. Doing that has lead me/us to accomplishing goals we’ve set and will hopefully do the same for new goals. Read more>>

Rita Vali | Ceramic Artist

I’ve found success with my pottery and public art projects. Always being open to new challenges has brought personal and business growth. Both artistic growth and skill growth require discipline and perseverance. When opportunities present themselves, I’ve always reached out and embraced the discipline and perseverance that is required to make it succeed. I also set high standards of quality and artistry for everything I make. Read more>>

 

Sam Reti | Founder of Muzie.Live and Music Teacher

The most important factor behind the success of our brand has been our customer service. Our team provides a live chat with real people to assist you at any hour, email, Facebook messenger or connect directly with our live phone support. We also have a variety of support tools and videos to help you integrate Muzie.Live into your school. We are a family owned and operated business driven by music teachers. We want to empower our teachers and their students with the tools they need for high quality music lessons. All of our features are designed from real suggestions from our community of teachers, we can’t wait to hear what they need next!. Read more>>

Carlee Henderson | Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

The zine’s authenticity survives since we began five years ago. We strive on the continuation to challenge ourselves with strong editorials, artistically driven photography, layout design, subject matter, diversity, sick merch, supporting local, and honestly.. not giving a shit. Read more>>

Jacien Bass | Founder | Executive Consultant | Social Media Team Trainer | Lifelong Learner

Courage, resilience, persistence and an emphasis on valuing people over profit. Before I started this business, one thing that kept me from really putting my best foot forward was fear of the unknown. I was afraid that if what I created wasn’t perfect, I couldn’t share it. Once I made the decision to “just do”, it was like a whole new world opened up for me. I had this newfound ability to share my work and my vision without fear of being judged. It was absolutely liberating, and I applied this concept to everything I did professionally. I think fear has a lot to do with why many people have an idea for a business but won’t put their thoughts into action. It’s easy to ruminate over what could go wrong; and as part a very natural human response, err on the side of caution. While I haven’t thrown caution to the wind, I have replaced caution with courage. Read more>>