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.

Yemi Solomon | Yemi Solomon/Fashion Stylist

Hard work, resiliency, persistent, exceptional customer service and satisfaction are priorities regardless of the current situation to succeed. The year 2020 was an especially challenging year for businesses including GLAMORE. I was used to organizing events, pop-up shops, fashion shows, individual image consulting sessions etc. to showcase my products and services. I enjoyed the usual events, attendees’ interactions, and connections but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything came to a sudden halt and global shutdown. GLAMORE could not host events and customers were not shopping online. During the shutdown, it was extremely discouraging, lost motivation, drive and creativity. Eventually, I had to motivate myself, made the decision to organize a virtual event to stay relevant and keep the GLAMORE brand trending by launching GLAMORE Virtual Personal Style Q&A sessions. Read more>>

Lauren Withrow | Visual Artist

We can all relate to feelings of insecurity. Often we are manipulated into thinking self confidence is dangerous, that too much of it is bad. My pursuit into art has allowed me to grow into the confident, secure person I am. I can walk with my head high and navigate the world in my own way without fear. Read more>>

Sylvia Flanagan | Salon Owner/Fashion Stylist

The most important lessons I’ve learned as a business owner have been to always be professional, to be consistent, maintain my integrity, to be a giver, and show the love of Christ. Read more>>

Erin Mathis | Style Coach

Style yourself for the role you want to play in the movie of your life, then do the work to succeed in that role. When I was in my early 40’s, I found myself depressed and overweight. Like so many working women, I struggled to balance my demanding career with the challenges of being a mom to young kids. Even though I oversaw an international styling company and training institute, my style and life were stuck in a rut, and I felt insecure and unseen. I decided enough was enough and used everything I knew as a personal stylist to reinvent my look, updating everything from my hair to my shoes. Revamping my style helped me feel attractive, confident, and sexy again. But more than that, I felt more powerful. After redefining my image, I attracted different kinds of opportunities that shifted the narrative of my career and helped my business grow. Some people might dismiss my style transformation as “just a makeover,” but as a style coach. Read more>>

Robert Neely | Founder of InspireMore.com

That ultimately results are not in my control. COVID has taught us as much. Consequently, I can remove a lot of stress from my life by instead focusing on the process – by giving it my all, being faithful and excellent. This mentality then helps me remove fear of sub-optimal results from my work process and enables me to view the present and future with more hope, ultimately creating a better work process which often leads to better results. The mentality of work is fascinating and definitely requires a lot of discipline!. Read more>>

Mike Farish | DFW Top Producing Real Estate Agent

Nothing is Guaranteed. It really didn’t take long for me to figure out in Real Estate that deals I expected to close didn’t, or people I expected to work with me didn’t. People who I thought would be loyal to me used other people. Deals that I expected to be easy to close could all of a sudden turn on a dime. It was a great lesson that I learned upfront & I am still learning to perfect today. Friends who didn’t use me for their Real Estate needs I initially felt betrayed me, and it would really hurt especially how I was trying to grow a business. However, I decided to change my thinking to make me better. If my friends or people I know don’t use me, it’s not their fault, it’s mine. I talk to my friends and SOI a lot, it’s probably my greatest strength. However, If they use someone other than me it’s because I haven’t done a good enough job of showing my value to them in our conversations and it is something I am constantly learning and improving on. Read more>>