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?

Samantha Rowe | Jewelry Artist

It is all about discipline. Learning when to slow down and take a step back is really important. Do not lose sight of why you started a small business in the first place. For me, discipline means making a schedule and to-do list to help me stay on track. It also means taking breaks and spending time with my family and doing other things I enjoy. Read more>>

Jennifer Wagner | Clothing Designer

Deciding to believe in myself, and believe in what i created. It sounds simple, but it takes much confidence to put yourself and your creation out there. Growing up I was extremely shy, and used my artistic talents to express and connect with others. Moving from interior design to fashion design, was very fluid for me. I find it easy to move across disciplines, enjoy visualizing, and in turn creating the product and image, and building the brand. However, from there, putting it out into the world gave me much anxiety, and sometimes still does. Read more>>

Domonique Echeverria | Artist, Healer, Muse

Decolonizing my wellness and my mindset on everything and creating strong boundaries: Meaning, being mindful of my intentions on who I am connected to and working with, setting mindful intentions on why I am taking up space in my field, being cautious to not promote capitalism or over consumption. Decolonizing my work ethic, and not working to the point of exhaustion and resentment, but following my spirit and intuition when it’s time to be in the flow and time to rest.  Read more>>

Jenniffer Maldonado-Cintron | Extended Stay Real Estate Investor & Developer

The most important decision for me was to commit to my success and go through the path less taken. Many times, this meant going against other people’s dogmas and dealing with a lot of uncertainty. I understood quickly that people, including my parents, wouldn’t agree with me about leaving my six-figure income as an engineer in a Top Fortune 500 company at a time when my career was picking up to starting from zero in the real estate investing industry.  Read more>>

Tai Ryan White | Creative Director, Artistic Director and Choreographer

The single most important decision that has contributed to my success… Inner healing… In starting my journey anew, I realized that if I was going to start this business I had to remove the “I am not good enough” and “I can’t” from deep within my mind and heart. I just came to know that I would self sabotage my business if I didn’t allow myself to truly heal. I had to challenge what I thought healing looked like and embrace what it actually is. I had to rid myself of the victim inside. Even tho there was so much to “prove” to everyone, I realized that some people believed in me way more than I did! I could tell by their limitless support or even from their desire to keep me away from their clients. Read more>>

Marta Motz | Outdoor enthusiast & entrepreneur

The single most important decision I made that contributed to my success was figuring out what makes me feel alive, and making that the driver for my future. For me, it was a lot of small moments where I felt this sense of excitement like I was a kid again, a lot of my happiest memories were playing sports, or playing games with friends. When I met my now business partner, we’d spend hours in coffee shops talking about things we loved to do, what hobbies we had, what was missing for us girls in sports and the lack of swimsuits that wouldn’t fly off your tush at first contact with water. Read more>>

Jordan Wentz | Choreographer, Professional Dancer, Movement Therapy Coach, & Hype-Woman

Making a commitment to show up fully and authentically as myself was the most important decision I made. I’m a weirdo. I’m a leader. I’m a clown. I’m a hype-woman. I’m a performer. I’m an extrovert and an introvert. I’m an emotional person. And so much more…But all of these aspects make me who I am, and that is beautiful. Read more>>

Crystal White | Athleisure Designer

The single most important decision I made was to fully commit to this entrepreneurship journey. I keep my spirits and hopes high, but I’m aware that obstacles will present themselves throughout this journey. I take them all in stride and find a way to benefit from them. I don’t want people to think that this life is all roses! I learn as much as possible when navigating issues so I will be able to fully equip my team to handle obstacles in the future. Read more>>

Ancient Artery | Holistic Healing Enthusiast & Holistic Lifestyle Specialist

Well, for starters I think its only right to acknowledge the fact that I didn’t decide to work for myself. By dropping out of college, I did make the monumental decision to support myself without college being my crutch. My current work was assigned to me by God and aligned by the universe! When I decided to leave UCLA, I intended to find an accommodating job that would help me fund my holistic journey. In other words, I was looking for a job that would give me a chance to afford all the herbal supplements and products I was investing in for my health; however, finding a job wasn’t as easy as I thought. Read more>>

Tiana Gee | Chef & Creative

The single most important decision I made was just living for me and doing what makes me happy as far as creating what makes me happy as well. Read more>>

Darren Demma | Tattoo artist

I think the most important decision I have made that’s contributed to my success if you can call it that is my willingness to give it my all . I did everything I could to make it in tattooing I went full time all out right from the start and literally starved and was broke for years before I even made a break in my career. even now I still refuse to get stagnant and think I have made it to the top of the hill Read more>>