We asked rising stars from the community one of our favorite questions: other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?

Arcane Haze Boles | Filmmaker & Artist

I think leaving my hometown in 2021 and moving from Lincoln Nebraska to Los Angeles California to attend the New York Film Academy to pursue my dreams of being filmmaker was the most important decision I have had to make so far in my life. LA has definitely been an adjustment. The food, the people, the traffic, I don’t think visiting here to LA really does justice to how diverse this city is. I enjoy it here in LA – it has presented me with new friendships, connections, and opportunities that I likely wouldn’t ever have been able to get if I was not out here. The term “its about who you know” is true. Network, network, network. Read more>>

Bri Gates | Owner & Maker at Bumble and Birch Laser Art

Diving into selling my products wholesale has been the absolute most important decision I’ve made for my business thus far. At the beginning of my business, I was focused almost exclusively on selling direct to my customers (B2C), mostly through Etsy and my own website (www.bumbleandbirch.com). Selling direct like this allowed me to closely connect with my customers, but it continued to cost me so much time (and money) in marketing my products and manufacturing each item one at a time. Around that time, I started looking into how to diversify my revenue streams, mainly so I wouldn’t burn myself out completely by the constant hustle mode in which I was running. Read more>>

Jamarius Leaphart | The Internet’s Favorite Cousin & Author

Wow, I believe God give us these moments in life where you really have to dig deep and choose a hard decision to see if you’ve learned from the last test. Well, I remember when a reputable talent agency, I won’t be calling any names, but this agency has worked with MAJOR celebrities- basically they wanted me as talent. I was super excited and stoked about it and I felt like it was my time to shine! So I prayed and prayed, researched and researched and the timing was wrong. Yeah, timing is so important! I had to make the decision to walk away from it. I know God never leaves us at those moments! Read more>>