To pivot or to persevere? Or more bluntly – to give up or to not to give up? This is a haunting question, a question that has ramifications far after an answer has been chosen and it’s also a question that almost everyone in our community has had to face at one time or another. How do you know when to give up and when to keep trying?

Georgia Snow Nicholas | Director/Writer/Actor/Creator

There is nothing easy about pursuing a creative career. Most of the time I feel like I am failing or worse plateauing. I credit this to the warped way in which we are all taught to think about success. What is success really? Is it fame? Winning an award? Making a lot of money? The definition of success according to the New Oxford American Dictionary is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”. So one way to measure success as an artist simply comes down to making the art you want to make. That said, there is no shame or harm in wanting to win an award or make a lot of money but that shouldn’t determine whether or not you are succeeding in life. Read more>>

Jillian Armenante | Award winning actress, director, producer.

I have eliminated the vernacular of giving up from even being a possibility in my world from a very young age. In a profession such as acting where the likelihood of succeeding is already so slight, the only option is to endure the financial, emotional and job-related hardships that come as part of the long term career. It has helped me to adopt a certain philosophy to keep going. The Stoic philosophy teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. Read more>>

Jaclyn Urban Luna | Relationship Coach & Erotic Embodiment Facilitator

What I’ve discovered is that the message I’m here to bring through my business as a vehicle, will not let me go. This means that to keep going or give up is really irrelevant, as long as I’m tuned in and trusting the voice of my purpose that wants to expressed through my and my work. Read more>>

Maria Nikolaeva | Photographer, Director, Editor & Set Designer

Like every person following their dream, you want to give up when things get to complicated! What keeps me going is the people around me, friends and other artists remind me of my goals and remind me of my journeys that took me to where I am today. In my time of climbing the success ladder, I realized if you make good connections and build a community, the community will support you and uplift you through your whole success. I do not believe in giving up, giving up means every set you took to get where you are, was a waste! If something isn’t working, take another path to get the same result that you intended. Every great artist works with what they have and make it into something wonderful. Read more>>

Megan Danielle | Natural Soapmaker

I think this is such a very important question that doesn’t get asked often. My entire reason for starting PGV Soaps was solely and only because God told me to. He spoke to me and made it so clear that I couldn’t have ignored it if I wanted to. So in those moments when I feel like quitting, because let me be honest being an entrepreneur isn’t for the weak hearted, I remember the promise and the beautiful vision God gave me for this company. Mark my words, PGV Soaps is going to be a major common soap brand that is internationally known. Read more>>

Brittany D’Amico | Podcaster / Unscripted TV Creative Development / Actor

Oh goodness, this is the age old question for any artist, isn’t it? As someone who was actively and singularly pursuing acting for a decade, after making a jump from the more reliable field of social work, this question haunted me. I felt like I couldn’t move forward in other areas of my life or explore other possibilities because somehow those things would imply I had GIVEN UP. And then the pandemic hit and sort of recalibrated everything for me. I came to the realization that maybe the problem wasn’t figuring out the answer to this question, but in fact the binary this question presents in and of itself. Read more>>