Thinking through whether to start a business – whether to take the risk, whether to go out on your own – isn’t easy. So we asked some entrepreneurs we admire to tell us about how they thought through the process of starting a business.

Charlotte Xuwanqi Wang

“Business and art are best kept separate”.

When I first arrived in Los Angeles—even before I moved here, during my house-hunting—the first thing I noticed was how my university’s campus was structured. The business school is located on one corner, while the arts schools, including the cinematic arts, music, theatre, and dance programs, are all on the opposite diagonal corner. As someone pursuing studies in both business and cinematic arts, I often find myself crossing these two extremes of campus. This physical separation mirrors a common misconception: that business and art are fundamentally opposed disciplines. Read more>>

Sara Crossman | Dancer & Choreographer

“Setting goals leads us to success.”

One piece of conventional advice I disagree with is the emphasis on setting goals without considering how they fit into our long-term habits. I’ve been reflecting on this while reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, which offers a refreshing perspective. Clear argues that focusing solely on goals often leads to abandoning positive habits once the goal is achieved. Instead, he advocates for building systems that integrate these habits into our everyday lives, making them more sustainable. Read more>>

Faith Woerner | Content creator and specialist

I have always said this but you do not need to niche down, you just need to market yourself right. I have so many hobbies and different styles like boho, edgy, pirate, cottage core, and none of those fit together well BUT if you play around with them and learn to make them work together then thats the best case scenario. If I were to niche down to fit one of those molds, I feel like I’d be super boring! Niching down is convenient but it isn’t as fun, instead of niching down to one idea or style, branch out, explore more and learn to market yourself in every category you can and you’ll build a bigger and broader audience. Also open many more doors. It’s way more fun that way. Read more>>

Zheng Ma | Lens-based artist

“Follow the path walked by others,” or, in simpler terms, “Stay Safe.” When I was still growing up, I often heard such words of caution: “One wrong step, and every step will falter,” or “Life is not a game.” These words mostly came from elders and teachers, who frequently compared my generation, the Z generation, to those who had already witnessed the flourishing of past eras and societal transformations. They presented their lives as a template, one that seemed to hold profound value and guidance. These pieces of advice were not without merit; however, they were so guiding, so narrowly focused, that they began to stifle my open-mindedness and courage, eventually becoming nothing more than excuses for “not daring to try” or “fearing failure.” Read more>>