Every overnight success we’ve seen has been years in the making. And those overnight successes are rarely because of an amazing idea or a stroke of luck. We asked some of our favorite folks from the community about what characteristics are at the heart of their success story?

Stephanie Wiggins | Founder

A key factor behind the success of DJANGO (djangobrand.com) is originality. Everything about DJANGO — our unique dog apparel and accessories collection, our brand image, even our popular dog blog— is a reflection of my and my husband’s life, adventures, and travels with our dog Django. We’ve been fortunate to live in some amazing locations throughout the United States: New York City, Oregon, Southern California. Our experiences in these incredible locations have weaved their ways into our designs. There is a story behind every DJANGO product. I think DJANGO fans appreciate this genuineness and consistency. Read more>>

Ashley Jock | Portrait Photographer

My photography business is built around personal relationships, customer service, and an experience. My goal in every photo shoot isn’t just to take pretty pictures, but for my clients to have the time of their lives! I want them to leave their photo session feeling confident. No matter what the photos end up looking like, if their experience on the day of the shoot is not good, then they won’t like to the end result as much. Read more>>

Chazmin Fullwood | Lash Technician

God is the most important factor behind my success. Without Him I truly wouldn’t be where I’m at today. He has continued to bless me even when i feel i’m not worthy of the blessings. He has allowed me to be who I am and gain the clients I have today. I thank God for all of my clients. They aren’t regular clients at all! They come they pay, they support, they post, they tell friends and family. I pray my clients continue to be blessed as they are a blessing to me. Read more>>

Markeisha Samuel | Wig Cleaners & Realistic Unit Provider

The most crucial factor behind my success is due diligence in all factors of life. I am an aquarian and our natural ability is to analyze everything. Lol I do my homework in everything I commit to and I blame that on my past as well; it is what made me who I am today. I had to grow up fast, growing up fast meant I had to make the best decisions for me that did not have any negative consequences. I did not have the most money growing up and had to make business minded decisions at an early age to ensure I did not want for anything. Read more>>

Nathan Bounphisai | Creator & Graphic Designer

Consistency is everything! We don’t have any crazy secret recipe or extreme method we use to do things. What I love about our concept is that it’s simple yet complex at the same time. We let the quality and hard work speak for itself. Read more>>

Briana Zalamar | Entrepreneur, Self Published Author, Brand Ambassador & Content Creator.

Most important factor behind myself & the success of my brand is… Keeping God first. “Keep God first, he will provide the rest”. Trust God throughout the good and bad. Faith is all you need to proceed!!!! Read more>>

Cedric McCoy | Co-Owner Of Mr. Po’Boys

This is Cedric McCoy co-owner answers God! So many things have happened in my life, good, bad, easy, and hard. My faith in God is probably my main reason for success. God has blessed me in so many ways. One thing people don’t know about is that Ryan and I never applied to be on a Food Network show. We started out at the Dallas Farmers Market and we were doing pretty well for ourselves, Until we later found out the third person we had with us was taking money. It hurt and left us broke and we didn’t know how to continue, BUT like I always tell people its funny how God works. Read more>>

Gina Johnson | Small business owner

Consistency is key in the success of any business, as well as exceptional customer service. At POParella’s, we believe that the knowledge of employees, the information presented to customers, and the quality of our product must be consistent. Unpredicatble qualitites of any of the aformetnioned result in unsatisfied customers and confusion amongst employees. Consistency is achieved through excellent communication and high expectaions. Building relationships with customers and providing excellent service is of the utmost importance, as this is the quality of our brand that keeps customers loyal and wanting to come back. Read more>>

Joey Hull | Tattoo Apprentice

I think the most important factor behind my current “success” is my mindset. I believe long term goals are achieved by a lot of small daily accomplishments so I see the importance of every single tattoo I work on. Wether it’s realism or not, I genuinely believe there is something to be learned or better developed in every tattoo. When you keep this in mind, or at least for me, I kind of forget about what my long term goals even are and then one day I look up and they’re already here and I didn’t even realize because I was just so focused on doing my best day in and day out. Read more>>

Ryan Ridley | Founder and bassist of Until I Wake. Owner of DayDreamer Apparel.

I would say that the most important factor behind the success of my band “Until I Wake” is the mutual understanding that as a unit we are “all in”. There is no alternative route, other option or a different career path outside of playing music for the rest of our lives. So the fact that we all have the same mindset where music is everything to us, we know that we have to grind every day and grow this band as much as we possibly can. Read more>>