We asked the community what factors they felt were responsible for their success and we’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Sahvannah Rae | Writer / Director

The most important factor behind success in a creative career is vulnerability in your art. Storytelling is one of those rare things in life that has always allowed me to feel bigger than myself when I’m honest with the words that I write because I inherently know the human experience is universal. Read more>>

Aubri Steele | Founder and CEO

Success is defined subjectively. I think our ability to stay true to our values and stay in business doing what we set out and intended to do, is what defines our success as a company. The core pillars of Civile include our commitment to manufacturing our apparel 100% on-shore in the U.S. Read more>>

Sharon Waich B. | Filmmaker

Perseverance! Fight, fight, and then fight again. Let every failure make you stronger. I believe perseverance has been the key to the success of my dreams. Filmmaking is an extremely difficult path to choose, especially if you are a young woman from Venezuela. Read more>>

Tiffany Villalobos | AllThisTV Founder

I would have to say that the most important factor for me, would be determination. When you have a passion for something and you know in your heart “this is what I am meant to do” then you have to be determined to make it happen. Read more>>

Aaron Alexander | Aaron is a pioneering manual therapist and movement coach, founder and creator of the Align Method, author of the Align Method book, and host of the Align Podcast.

The most important factor behind my success is my relationships with colleagues, customers, and continually coming from a place of how can I be of support to others. I continually put myself in the mind of people that I connect with and focus on how I can be supportive in their lives. Read more>>

Neisha Wallace | Shop Owner & Vintage Hunter

Authenticity and connecting to people/brand/product stories. Read more>>

Ruben Jigga” Pinto-Castillo | Music Producer and Engineer / Castillo Farms “

Passion and not afraid to take risk Read more>>

Jaime Parker Stickle and Jason Beeber | Hosts and Creators of the Make That Paper Podcast

That’s a great question. Um, we think success can be measured multiple ways, obviously, but the one that resonates with us the most is how much our listeners and guests enjoy what we’re doing. Every email, DM, review, and comment left for us tells us we’re doing this right—that’s success to us. Read more>>

Nick Romi | Photographer / Magazine Founder

There are two things that drive me and are definitely the leading factors to my success: Embrace challenge and be open to learn/grow. I’ve always told myself these two things. It’s easy to create something and once it’s out there and you get feedback it’s even more rewarding. I think sometimes people can get comfortable when they find their niche. Read more>>

5EYE5 | Brand

While there are many factors that have contributed to the success of 5EYE5, the biggest one has been consistency. Like the saying goes, “there are no shortcuts”; you have to do the work. It’s easier said than done, being passionate about what we do and surrounding ourselves with like-minded individuals has allowed our productivity to remain consistent. Read more>>

Tigran Nersisian | Filmmaker | Founder of Byulor Films

Recently, I was thinking about the main factor behind Byulor Films’ success and popularity, and I realized that we stand out with the way we treat our clients and their projects. It might sound cliche, but I notice many companies treat their clients as money. Of course, video production is a business, and we are motivated to make a lot of profit. Read more>>

Casey Winbush | Internet Personality

The most important factor behind my success is definitely my support system. I don’t think I’d be able to do half the things if I didn’t have my family’s support. They are always there for me, cheering me on in all of my endeavors. Read more>>

Luis Edson | Artist/Photographer

The most important factor behind the success and continued support of my brand has been love and passion. Above all, I consider myself an artist and I can honestly say that my career path does not feel like work. As an immigrant child, having to learn a new language and communicate in a foreign country was pretty tough. Naturally, art was the easiest way of expressing myself, which I guess I never grew out of. Read more>>

Eddie Ruiz | Actor/Producer/Writer/Teaching Artist

The most important factor has been staying true to myself. I started working very quickly in Hollywood when I returned from grad school in London, UK. I started noticing the demand for my work but not recognizing the purpose of my intention with my work. Read more>>

Red Rodriguez | Cannabis Connoisseur & Director, Brand Partnerships

I would say passion is and has been the main factor behind my “success”. Read more>>

Miesha Quinones | Marriage & Family Therapist

The most important factor behind my success is the understanding that success is not a final destination, and it comes in many forms. Committing to continued personal and professional growth, along with being present, compassionate and intentional are factors I believe that continue to assist me in fostering success. Read more>>

Koach Jay | Boxing trainer

I think the most important factor that has kept me in good standing, is how i care. I care for them inside and outside of the gym. Every client i feel ive built a certain relationship with them, and the ones i knew prior to training i felt we got closer. Im there for my clients, i give them a space or at least try to give them the space to be themselves with no judgement. Read more>>

Jameson & Cristen DeSantis | Virtual Bingo Hosts @ QuaranBingo

Word of mouth. Easily. We never have formally advertised our services. Maybe it’s something we would have eventually explored, but we have had so many inquiries from participants of previous games wanting to set up their own that we never had to really market our services. Treat ya customer right! Read more>>

Bobby Prokenpek | Owner/Manager Kiss Kiss Tattoo

When I consider success and what it means to me, I have to remember that it means different things to so many. Happiness, money, reaching goals, smashing expectations and treating people well. For myself and my brand Kiss Kiss Tattoo, I would say that “drive” has been the most important factor behind the success. Read more>>

Jennifer Rosales | Speech Language Pathologist, Educator and Advocator

What is success? To me, success means something a little different to each person. We all get a blank slate to write our own story. I always believed success was impacting the lives of others and leaving a positive imprint in this world. That is how my story started. From a young age, I dreamt big, loved a lot, worked hard, and gave endlessly. Read more>>

Eduardo Ramos | Owner of Myriad Coffee

Staying true and doing what is right. I told myself that cutting corners was not an option. Whether it was our first day or now in our third year, every item on the menu would be represented with pride. Read more>>

Product 5staxx | Podcaster, Marketing specialist

When I started this I wanted to make sure that everyone I do promotion for gets the spotlight they deserve, because the small businesses are the one with the most heart and soul in their brands. Read more>>

Jillian Juman | Head of School

SEED LA is grounded in providing a 24-hour a day, 5 day per week college preparatory boarding school model that is of no charge to the community. We actively seek to dismantle systems that directly contributes to inequitable access to learning and provide an opportunity to provide accelerated and targeted learning fo each student. Read more>>

Indya “Icy” Wright | Founder of Artiste House

Following my heart and trusting my instincts over compromising my values for money. I only take on projects & clients that inspire me. I’m also not afraid to say no… even if there’s a big budget. When you live solely by the dollar you end up losing. Read more>>