We asked some of the city’s hidden gems to tell us about what they feel is the most important factor behind their success.

Susannah Cotrone | Pilates Studio Owner & Instructor

The truth about the habits of successful people is that they learned how to succeed over time. Through the trial and error process, much is revealed about how not to do things. It’s up to the individual to learn, change and grow into a more successful place after these disappointing moments. In my experience, the most important habit or trait to becoming successful is discipline. The seemingly simple actions of to waking up early enough to take the time to present yourself and your brand thoughtfully and then showing up on time, every time, can be one of the biggest differences between success or failure. Have you ever gone to your local bakery but they just never seem to be open on time, or they haven’t made the coffee yet? Frustrating! It is the same for our business. Reliability builds your brand and you. Read more>>

Cesar Rios Rico | Software Engineer & Mariachi Ausente Owner

I think one of the best habits that has helped me succeed is to think outside the box, go for it, and look at the numbers. What I mean about think outside the box is to put yourself in the customers shoes. Answer their questions, make their life easier. Find your competition and ditto all their movements but bring more value. Copy and paste something better. Second habit, is go for it!!! Sometimes you dont need the perfect plan or business plan. All you need is to go for it. Specially if you have been thinking about it for some time. Its never the perfect time. Like they say the best time to plant a tree is not today or tomorrow. The best time to plant a tree was yesterday. Lastly, ANALYTICS! With todays technology you can analyze how many people visit your profile, time of the day you get more calls, etc… If you have an idea go for it. Look at the numbers, did the change bring more leads or more views? Read more>>

Lon Cohen | Band Guitarist, Comedian & Founder

I always joke around that I was “toilet trained too early”.. What I mean by this, is that I have a habit of needing everything to be neat, clean and organized. Along with this, my father engrained in me the need to “do the right thing”, meaning “do a good job”, “treat people well” and “stand behind your work”. That said, there are certainly plenty of people around who don’t care about that kind of integrity, but I appreciated that I have attracted many people who do. These are the customers and clients that I want. People who appreciate our quality, care, concern and integrity. Read more>>

Mimi Banks | Founder

1. Maintain relationships: I prioritize and value my relationships. In fact, I naturally keep in touch with former colleagues/clients/mentors, etc via LinkedIn, text messages, phone calls and now Zoom. Our relationship is genuine and reciprocal. We learn from each other, give advice, get feedback and the know I won’t try to sell them. 2. Stay organized: There are so many moving pieces to a business that it is imperative to stay organize, define roles and responsibilities and keep track of everything you do. 3. Keep a schedule – always; I live by my calendar. No matter where I am, I make sure to keep NY hours wherever I am and follow a very structured calendar. It helps keeps me and my team organized and ensures my clients can always reach me. Read more>>

Maya Sharpe | Creative Director, Musician, Storyteller & Filmmaker

I would say feeding my curiosity is a habit that has manifested in different ways. The curiosity to explore the world kinetically has helped develop work ethic in my career. By exploration kinetically, I refer to keeping my body in motion. Played sports since I was little young one, ran marathons later as a young one. Every city I have lived in, a bicycle has always been the main way that I commute and cheaper access to off the public transit path. If you are stronger than what you have to do, then what you have to do doesn’t feel so heavy. I feed my curiosity to see what all I can be. I attempt to silence the “jack of all trades, master of none” talk and find peace with my particular light(s). That curiosity has fed my multi-passionate ideas and visions. Read more>>

Sharon Holleran | Talent Manager

Positive mindset. I’m a big believer in Law of Attraction. Read more>>

Carl Baratta | Artist, Curator & Co-Director

Probably the most important habit I’ve had to really internalize is being able to trust others and delegate responsibilities. Luckily I’ve been really fortunate to have so many awesome dependable people around me. I used to view me asking for help on projects as being a bother or a pain, but really I think it was about me being a control freak. Or actually it was a bit of both. Although I’m much better at delegation these days I still have a long way to go. Read more>>

Lisa Cook | Founder & CEO

One of the most important tools I utilize is the 24 hour rule. in business, particularly for women, we tend to take our business so personally and any conflict can illicit a knee-jerk response that might not necessarily serve us well. Often making decisions based on fear, anxiety, pressure or emotion tend to lead us towards the wrong outcome. I find that if I wait a full 24 hours, and sometimes for conflicts or challenges that are quite serious, even 48; I come to a much calmer more rational resolution. The other habit or I would call it more of a mindset is that the goal is to build the strongest team possible and as the leader, my role to support my team! Not the other way around. I read a great quote which said ‘build a team so strong it’s impossible to determine who the leader is’. Value your team, don’t micromanage and thank them often, with words, small tokens of appreciation and pay them well. Read more>>