We asked successful entrepreneurs and creatives to tell us about whether they have a budget and how they think about spending decisions and have shared some of their responses below.

Sarah Gibbons | Executive Leadership Coach

I LOVE this questions. Can we all pls just talk more openly about our finances rather than feel so hush hush about it! I do have a budget and it’s combined with my husbands. Once we had our 3rd son and my was business was bringing more money in than I used to make selling online advertising for tech giants like Amazon/ IMDb and MySpace, I realized my willy nilly budget planning was at the heart of my stress! Read more>> 

Kaya Chyla | Esthetician, Lash Artist, Beauty Business Mentor

I cannot stress enough how important budgeting is and how it can turn your whole life around! You can still live your life even while budgeting. It’s especially important to plan where your money is going if you are self-employed and have your own business. Read more>>

Extra Ketchup | Artist & Designer

I live by a budget system. I believe it’s important to create realistic budgets in order to properly maintain and sustain your business. You have to study the market and be aware of changes and things that can infiltrate the budget and possibly throw your whole project off course. Read more>>

Philip Guerette | Culinary, Event, & Fine Art Photographer

Yes! The first thing that comes to mind is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116. It’s not exactly a quote or affirmation, but I’ve had a love affair with this piece of text since I was 21. Read more>>

Jessica Hann | Public Relations Strategist

I have so many quotes that I use as my mantras, but the following Thomas Edison quote is at the top of the list. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”  Read more>>

Megan Walker | Custom Signage Designer & Engraver

Winston Churchill’s words, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts,” really strike a chord with me and the journey I’ve embarked on with Arch Theory Displays. In the realm of small business, especially in a field as dynamic and competitive as custom displays, these words serve as a powerful reminder of the true nature of entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Bri Stokes | Writer, Poet, Curator & Cultural Worker

“…to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future.” – Simone de Beauvoir, I often remind myself of this quote when I’m trying or stepping into something new, and I’m feeling a little bit uncertain. Read more>>

Marine Selenee | Family Constellations Therapist + Author

“Impose your chance, hold tight to your happiness and go toward your risk. Looking your way, they’ll follow.” Rene Char. I love the boldness and audacity of this quote. To me, it basically means it is up to ourselves to create our own happiness, and so, our own life. Read more>>

David Schoffman | Conceptual Artist, Writer, Polemicist, & Entrepreneur

In his seminal “anti-manifesto” manifesto, “Directives for Anarchists” (“Directives pour les anarchistes” Gallimard 2002), Currado Malaspina famously wrote: “Above and beyond all, the dirty little secret about art is that in the end, what is unavoidable is that one is obliged to look at it.” Read more>>