We’ve been fortunate to connect with so many brilliant, thoughtful entrepreneurs and creatives and we regularly ask them about the most important lessons they’ve learned over the course of their careers. We’ve shared some highlights below.

DeKaylon Greer | Creative Director

There is a Lesson in every “L” I’ve taken thus far within the company. The most important pillar we must understand is patience. Those thoughts and ideas have to continue to develop until it becomes clear and concise. However, you can’t be afraid to stick through your rough progressions. Once you are able to embrace the different stages of being an artist, your level of creativity changes. Personal growth promotes creative growth. Read more>>

Will Massanet | Graphic Artist

Creating value. And I don’t mean just cranking out content & calling it “valuable” to the client’s demographic. It’s a chaotic soup of balancing trends, niche markets, authenticity, budgets, & metrics. Being inherently “art brained”, most of those things didn’t come naturally; just a lot of hard work, time & dedication on my part. Read more>>

Destani Mize | Owner of Barking Mad Doggy Daycare & Boarding, LLC

That if you have the determination and dedication, you can really do anything you put your mind to, as cliche as it sounds. If you are willing to put in the hours and ride the rollercoaster, you will succeed. Read more>>

Megan + Marissa | Co-Owners of The Goodest Pup Bandanas

COMMUNICATION IS KEY! Going into business together, we have grown exponentially personally as well as professionally. While for the most part our business is fun… we do have to have the tough conversations for the sake of our company and friendship. We keep an open communication line and also have an abundance of respect for each other to ensure effective conversations are being had. Read more>>

Mirna/ Ricky Ayoub/ Gonzalez | Graphic Designer / Printing

Never give up! That is by far the biggest thing we would tell any entrepreneur that wants to start their own business. It is hard, building your own business takes time and a whole lot of patience and comes with a lot of hardships but the end results are way worth it. Read more>>

Rebecca Vinton | DFW Realtor

It is so hard for me to pick just one lesson. I would say an important lesson I learned and follow daily is to be kind. I know that sounds cheesy but it can be a lot harder than you think. When I started in real estate I was given advice to brand myself and I was told my another person to always remember that “I am my brand and my brand is me”. Yes, I was kind before but not like I knew that I could be. What did I want my brand to be? Who was I as a person, as an agent? What was my goal in real estate? These are all questions and more that I had to ask myself. I wanted to be known as a kind, helpful, reliable person, someone that was great to work with and someone that you want on your team. Read more>>

Faran Tariq | Restaurateur

The biggest lesson I have learned is you should never stay stagnant. If you are not innovating and improving your business then you are losing. Your customers notice. Even small improvements and changes make an impact over time. Even your employees take notice and get excited that they are part of change and growth. Read more>>

Shaggy | Tattoo Artist

For me personally it has been dedication and the drive to always progress and constantly learn and adapt. In the tattoo industry, its very saturated but at the same time very closed off. Part of my progression has been being around other artist that have the same drive and passion for the art. Part of the beauty of ink is giving people what they want and seeing their reaction and also giving people closure especially with memorial tattoos. It’s something special that someone wears forever, The connection and relationships that have developed with people that wear my ink is a feeling that you can’t explain. Read more>>

CC the Great | Bestselling Author, Speaker, Coach

The most important lesson that my business has taught me is to fail forward. Failure is part of success. I don’t even like the word failure because you do not fail, You only fail if you give up. Allow those “failures” to catapult you forward. Learn from those mistakes. Never give up and get back in the lab and try again. For example with my number 1 international bestselling book Girl, Hold Your Own Damn Purse! A guide to becoming responsible for yourself. This book went number 1 in less than 8 hours on release day. Most people do not know it but that book was my second book. My first book was Hair University a text book that I wrote when I made history as the first professor of cosmetology for Tarrant County College. Read more>>

Kathy Hamlin | Jewelry maker & artist

The most important lesson we have learned is that you can’t please everyone. When we first started our business, we relied a lot on feedback from family and friends. The more we grew, the more opinionated some of them became and it got to a point where we were trying to design to their expectations and not ours. We also would receive comments about the prices of our art and jewelry which was a hardship to explain the time it takes to actually takes make something from start to finish and that we don’t work for free. We took a step back, re-evaluated and asked ourselves “Who is our customer? Who are our people?” Now we are more confident and proud of what we produce and don’t take as much criticism to heart. We have a better understanding of what is truly constructive criticism and leave the others comments with a nod and a smile. Read more>>