We asked some of the brightest folks in the community to open up to us about the most important lesson their business or career has taught them. We’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Speakeasy | Founder of Inertia Presents

Relationships are everything in music. People want to work with quality people. Building strong and meaningful connections with people without having any expectations will get you further than anything else would. Read more>>

Lina Hagstrom | Filmmaker & Founder of Sunday Child Entertainment

1. That sometimes, done is better than perfect. Honing something until perfection usually starts to have a negative ROI. It’s easier said than done and as a filmmaker, I of course want to release films that are as good as they possibly could be. Sometimes I look back at my early productions and see all the things that I would do differently now, but I think it’s important to also allow your early work live and let people find those. Read more>>

Malayka | Musical Artist

I would say there’s 2 major lessons that I learned throughout pursuing my career. 1. The opposite of success is not failure, it’s isolation. My biggest successes have come from being a part of a community, and as such I believe creating in a vacuum is the biggest detriment to one’s career. It goes beyond networking (although that’s really important and should be a consistent habit) but building relationships and friendships have gone way beyond what any connection made at a conference or networking event has ever done for me.  Read more>>

Latisha Bender | Candle Artisan

The most important lesson my business Pleascent has taught me is that patience is key!! Sometimes it can feel like things are happening for other businesses or people at lightening speed but for ourselves we feel like everything is moving in slow motion. So it’s important to remember that it’s okay and better that we all move at our own pace. Read more>>

Nilay Altun

I learned that people are the essence of any business. Throughout my journey—spanning over three startups, my own entrepreneurial venture, and experience in mid-to-large scale companies—I’ve realized that a company’s true strength lies in its people. Without them, even the most well-structured organization is merely an empty shell. Each individual, no matter how seemingly replaceable, brings unique talents, perspectives, creativity, and motivation that collectively drive the success of the business. Read more>>