There are so many factors that can play a role in determining our results, performance and ultimately our success, but some factors matter more than others. We asked folks what they felt was the most important factor driving their success.

Brynn, Lisa Gelbard & Donohoe | Artists & Owners

The most important factor behind Londubh Studio (pronounced Lon-dove and meaning black bird in Irish Gaelic) is that we follow our hearts and take the advice that resonates with us while letting go of what doesn’t feel right. We also make sure to prioritize projects and collaborations that give us a chance to showcase our purest voice to ensure we manifest more projects like this and not just ones that make bank. We’re around people who make bank all the time and this is no guarantee of happiness. Read more>>

Dex Geralds | Fitness Expert, Model & Actor

The most important factor behind my success is that I live, share and go through the same experiences that my clients and followers go through on a daily bases. Living with and managing Type 2 Diabetes as a fitness trainer has allowed me to connect on a personal level with my clients and its helped me correct many of the struggles they are going through making their path to their goals a lot easier. Read more>>

Dontae Winslow | Film Composer, Music Producer & Trumpeter

The most important factor behind the success of my brand is authenticity. I believe that knowing yourself is key in being able to actualize a plan for happiness and integrating that plan into manifestation. If you are not aware of who you are, what you want, and would you would like to say to the world then you will feel lost. A ship without an anchor is restless, wavering, and lost at sea. Being grounded in fundamental principles like faith, religion, a moral compass, family, children, whatever keeps you focused on source and a firm center will allow you to be propelled into your dreams fearlessly and effortlessly.When we are authentic and sincere the product, any product sells itself, humans can feel, hear, and perceive realness and it is intoxicating. Read more>>

Lizzie and Joaquín Brown | Co-founders

Success… it’s so subjective right? And its meaning evolves over time, often alongside maturity. What is once “I want to be rich” is often later I want to be “happy”. We define success with a specific KPI and that is integrity. It’s also kindness, honesty and void of greed. We live in a capitalistic society in which the most “successful” businesses are not profitable nor sustainable. Despite many founders beginning with mission-driven ideals they are unsuccessful in their ability to stay that course once money and fame come knocking at their door. For example, how many “successful” companies can you name that have cut corners to increase profit margins or made choices that directly conflict with their original values? We write this not to be self-righteous or even “right” but to be held accountable. Here we stand today, as a small business with a big vision, and we want to scale our business and reach millions of customers, however, we are determined to do so while maintaining our core values. Read more>>

Adam Roa | Artist, Coach & Host

Authenticity. I believe that we live in a world in which it’s becoming harder and harder to trust. People are no longer believing what they hear from the government, academia, even doctors. We want something real. And the truth is that real is often messy. I’m human. I’m not perfect. I have struggled with depression, PTSD from sexual abuse, and many other issues that are incredibly common. In the past, or maybe even now, most PR companies would be telling me not to talk about that stuff. I’d be warned that it would “ruin my image” and I would be advised to keep it to myself. But how is that helping anyone? It is my belief that what people need to see is that you can HAVE those issues and still find a way to love life. You can still figure out how to be happy, no matter what has happened in your past or what sort of obstacles you face. Read more>>

L.Dre | Music Artist

I’d say the most important factor of my success was changing my mindset. I used to be really lazy when it came to my work. I’d come home from school or work and i’d simple chill and watch Netflix or play games instead of working on music. Then, the next day I would complain about how I didn’t get anything done that night. At some point I realized that I was the problem and I needed to do something about it. Right after I graduated college I decided to give it my all and stop making excuses. I would work on my music every single night no matter what. If i ever doubted myself I would always tell my self “Keep grinding and eventually something will take off” So that’s what I did & it’s been working for me ever since. Read more>>

Kasia Szarek | Actress, Personality & Casting Director

If there’s one thing I can say with a great amount of confidence about myself, it’s that I have my “brand” so, so dialed-in! My personal experiences and growth throughout my life allowed me to really understand who I am in every way, from my personality to my visual aesthetics. I curate every single aspect of my life, from my apartment, to my car, to my color scheme on Instagram, even down to the pens I show up with when I hold casting sessions (they are rainbow and furry, of course). Internally, I am extremely aware of who I am and what I believe in and stand for, and externally, I definitely have a very unique, colorful approach to life and it is incredibly obvious to anyone who meets me and probably, hopefully, somewhat memorable. I live in color, completely. I couldn’t live in a place without color. I would probably just shrivel up and die without it. Read more>>

Cheryl Leahy | Executive Vice President

As a creatively driven nonprofit animal advocacy organization, we look for innovative solutions and strategies to raise cultural literacy and inspire action in the mainstream. We are also entrepreneurially minded: We sell something, though it’s not a product or a service. We sell a mindset. We think of ourselves as norm entrepreneurs, defining and shifting our culture’s attitudes and behavior toward our relationship with and treatment of animals into alignment with the values opposing animal cruelty that most people already hold. We face a problem: Most of us consider it to be fundamental to our humanity to oppose active and widespread violence toward animals, deprivation of even the most basic of natural behaviors, and killing of animals, especially while they are still babies. Read more>>

Beatriz Eugenia Vasquez | Choreographer, Dancer & Instructor

The most important factor behind my success is actually a few things not just one, Tenacity is the first, not giving up when things got challenging, to keep going event at times when I felt lost, or doubtful. Consistency and just showing up every day, working a little bit every day and understanding that the kind of success I want is long term, not a quick and short but a long steady and stable type of success, and that takes time. It doesn’t happen over night, but as the years go by, and they go by so quick you start seeing the fruits of your labor. Read more>>

Kozue Kasahara | Dancer

The most important factor behind my success is not giving up. Fortunately, I could get a visa that allows me to work with my dance company, but the process of getting the visa was not easy at all. When I came to Los Angeles, I knew nothing about the LA dance industry and I was unknown to its dance scene since I spent most of my life in Japan. I also have never attended any dance competitions, so I did not have anything to prove that I am a great dancer, which made everything harder when applying for the artist visa. I graduated from college, then was allowed to work legally in the US for a year and there was an interesting story about how I could obtain the artist visa. As I mentioned in the previous article, I was afforded the chance to train with the Lula Washington Dance Theater after performing the International Association of Blacks in Dance in 2018. Read more>>

Heather Hart | Photographer & Story Teller

I love my clients. Generally, I book no more than one client a day, and the day is about them. Photography is all about people’s stories. You need to care about your client to be able to tell their stories. Clients are like snowflakes; no two are the same. Every picture I take is like a snowflake story; it is unique. Read more>>

Nicholas Pratley | Founder, Creator & Wellness Lifestyle Expert

Trust your note. I believe that every single person has a note to play in the symphony we call life. Your note, or your message, can be played through you and only you. Yes your note may be similar to others but yours is still absolutely unique and therefore worth giving your all too. When I accepted that I can play my note and therefore contribute to the bigger symphony in a very powerful, impactful way, I gave everything over to the note, the message and haven’t looked back. Read more>>

Tory Jeen Valach | Jewelry Designer, Tarot Reader & Teacher

The most important factor behind the success if my business is superior client relations. To me this is the soul of a successful business. I strive to have a caring, fun & respectful relationship, with each of my clients, whether they are investing in my jewelry or having a Tarot reading with me. I always want my clients to know how sincerely grateful I am for each of them! Read more>>

Gary Trudell | Owner

We’ve remained a local, family owned, American/California made company staying true to our roots in providing quality products as well as quality service. It is easy for companies to start sacrificing quality for cost, which is not part of our brand structure. Most of our business is repeat and referral business because of the values we provide in both our product and customer service. Read more>>

Nina Jackel | Nonprofit Founder

I am grateful every day that Lady Freethinker has grown into a successful nonprofit that’s helping create a more compassionate world for animals. In my line of work, success is defined by your impact, and when I see LFT opening raising global awareness and saving animals’ lives, it makes every ounce of blood, sweat and tears put in absolutely worth it. The most important factor to our success is dedication. Not just my own dedication, but the dedication of our team and of every single supporter to help end animal cruelty. In any business, you have to really want success to achieve it. For a nonprofit, you have to really want to affect change, more than anything. Read more>>

Ihar Heneralau | CEO & Co-founder

What helped us grow and make our business successful is always staying true to our final goal. When my partner and I founded ICVR, we set our self a target on pushing the boundaries of gaming and immersive narrative content. Throughout the past 4 years, we’ve been growing our business and expanding our team 2x every year. In the first year, we made a decision not to raise external funding and decided to pivot towards becoming an agency specializing in interactive content and game engines. This allowed us to fund the expansion of our team, and achieve the same milestones that we were setting to ourselves if we would raise funds. Currently, the world is ever-changing, new technologies, and trends constantly appear, and as entrepreneurs, we are attracted to try following them. However, we have to constantly weight it against our primary goal and how this would help us to achieve what we want. Read more>>

Linda Nelson | Film Producer & Distributor

The most important factor behind our success is having a great reputation for honesty and innovation. Read more>>

Joanna Muñoz | Designer & Lettering Artist

The key to the my own personal success and the success of my brand is being true to who I am. “Authenticity” is a buzzword that gets tossed around easily but people really can see through the bs. We don’t have it all together and we’re not supposed to. I believe revealing the parts you’re comfortable sharing – the ups and downs of life / business, the lessons and tips you’ve learned along the way – are so much valuable than curating a life that only looks good on paper (or on social media). It’s about sharing your story and your progress, not perfection. Read more>>

Tami Stevens | Ballroom and Swing Dance Instructor & Co-Owner

We’ve always tried to live by the motto: Be Kind, and in our business that translated into treating each of our dance students with kindness and respect, and instilling in them the same love for social dance that we have. After 38 years with my successful dance school, I’m always inspired when a beginning student “gets” a move. Seeing the joy a class gets in learning new dances, patterns, and variations truly gives me joy and that joy has kept students coming, I believe, throughout the years. We’ve seen many dance schools come and go over the years, but we’re in in for the right reasons. We’ve always provided a non-threatening happy environment for our customers, and our kindness towards them has been an important key to our success. I would say the most important factor. Read more>>

Alexandra Dillon | Artist

I think there are two aspects to my success as an artist. The first, is that I let myself make the art I truly wanted to make, not something that I thought would sell in the marketplace, My work is different than what I see at art fairs and galleries. I used to think that might be a hindrance to my success, but in fact, its been just the opposite. People appreciate the originality and authenticity of my paintings. The second road to my success was getting my work out there on social media, sending out press releases, and having a strong website and functioning online shop. When my brush portraits went viral on the web, I was ready! While I still work with galleries sometimes, I believe that artists have the ability to form their own careers. Read more>>

Alex Duckworth | Photographer & Video Editor

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the commitment to continue acquiring new skills. Being able to adapt to challenges in the media industry, such as the evolution of how content is not only produced but consumed, has afforded me the opportunity to remain flexible in my career. Read more>>