Every overnight success we’ve seen has been years in the making. And those overnight successes are rarely because of an amazing idea or a stroke of luck. We asked some of our favorite folks from the community about what characteristics are at the heart of their success story?

Jetty Nieuwenhuis | Model, Rebel Influencer and Speaker

The most important factor behind my brand is being true. True + Jetty = Trujetty. And there is my success, in an often fake social media world. When starting my brand (as a wellness coach/personal trainer 3 years ago, it was certainly a lot of “happiness” in Instaworld. And although I am mostly happy now, I am not every day, and certainly, in the past, I had my days of depression together with invisible illnesses like Bulimia and Lyme disease. Read more>>

Tanya MFK | Business Developer for Coaches, Consultants & Course Creators

Honesty & Reverence of Time When I started Success By Design, I wanted to be the person I needed when I began my business back in 2005: Someone that was truly invested in my long-term success rather than my bank account. Someone that gave me realistic expectations, guided me, and empowered me to trust myself and my path. Read more>>

Alaire Hill (Chambers) | Social Media Content Creator & Marketing Specialist

One of the biggest factors behind my success and growth not only professionally but personally, is the people I surround myself with. I believe you are essentially small pieces of those around you. I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those people in my corner. Read more>>

Saimaa Venky | Professional Photographer

Authenticity I would attribute my recognition to a few key ingredients A) be realistic – I am a firm believer in making sure my clients understand what they are signing up for when they work with me. Be it a work product or the way I conduct my shoot and when people can expect deliverables from me; I am honest and realistic in setting expectations B) be creative – I bring an element of surprise and creativity, and hence each of shoots – even of similar events like maternity, weddings – have little of cliches and more of what my clients can spontaneously participate and pose Read more>>

Ashley Redick | Owner | Principal Planner

Authenticity and transparency are key! People can tell when you’re being genuine, and they appreciate it. Being transparent about who you are, what you stand for, and what you’re trying to achieve goes a long way in building trust with your clients. My team and I are constantly striving to be authentic and transparent in everything we do. We want people to know that we’re real people working hard to produce quality events. Read more>>

Edwin Es | Digital Creator

The most important factor behind the success of my brand is being my authentic self. I am a strong believer of representation mattering. When I became a digital creator back in 2018, I started off streaming video games on Twitch, a live-streaming platform, and I could never find anyone who looked like me or shared my experiences; a queer first generation Mexican-American. A few months after I decided to take content creation a bit more serious, Twitch announced their list of highlighted creators for Hispanic Heritage Month and I vividly remember seeing no dark-skin Latine creators. Read more>>

Justin Collom | Chief Operating Officer | CharterJets Inc. | Business & Aviation Geek

I say with no hyperbole, other people. Whether it be my success or the company’s, none of it would have ever been possible without other people. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way is people tend to become like those they hang around with the most. “Show me your top 5 friends incomes and I can likely guess yours” is what the old school business authors say. I have been fortunate over the years to be around an incredibly diverse peer group and to have had incredibly talented and intelligent mentors, continuing to today. Read more>>

Bernard Mansuetti | Co-Founder of Ampersand Creative Co.

For us, our success stems from a great, understanding, and mutually beneficial relationship with our community and all of the small businesses that choose to participate in our events. We always refer to this internally as “sharing ownership”. Not only do we want our events to be approachable both socially and financially, but we want everyone in the room to feel as though they are truly part of the event itself. Rather than simply allowing vendors to sell their items and attendees to shop from them, we aim to provide experiences at our events that invite everyone in the room to both participate and converse with each other. Read more>>

Andrew & Esdrey Garcia | Salsa makers

The most important factor for the success of 520salsa would have to be the passion and love we put into our product. Our salsa is made fresh everyday with no perservatives and only fresh ingredients. Making our salsa has never felt like a job but instead felt like a passion. Read more>>

Katie Petersen | Wedding Photographer

I think one of the biggest factors that lead to my success was spending time learning from other professionals already in the industry before jumping into photographing weddings myself. I’ve found that a lot of wedding photographers typically got in the industry after a family member or friends asked them to photograph their wedding and that many of them did not know what they were doing their first couple weddings. I decided that I wanted to know more about the flow of a wedding day and how to best take photos throughout the day by working with a local wedding photographer in the area. Read more>>

Dr. Mark Leonard | Happiness and High Performance Expert

The most important factor behind my success is E=MC^2 This tried and true formula has helped me be successful without feeling overwhelmed or underperforming. What I have found is that when I am off in one of the areas of the formula than I am off balance. It lays out simply like this. Excellence = Mindset * Care * Connection Excellence is defined by each of us daily. In fact, I have never woken up and told myself “Ya know, I think today I will be mediocre.” Instead, each day I wake up and ask myself “How can I live excellent today?” Once I define my excellence for the day (or week, month, year, etc) then the real work begins. Read more>>

Alireza Kazemirad | Kaz studio founder

One of the most important factor that I can mention is that we love our job. We believe that , its too hard to be the best in an industry and our value is that we are trying to be one of the best , and love can make this success. Read more>>

Monique Rondeau | Founder & Head Coach at Bikini Bliss Fitness

Bikini Bliss Fitness Challenge’s success comes largely from the group of women that participate. Our community is built on the key principle of helping each other instead of competing with each other. Which yes, you might find weird in a challenge setting where only one can win… but the journey over the 12 weeks is shared and we believe that the world has enough discouragers. Empower, inspire, transform. 💪 Read more>>

Claire Stein | Content Creator

For me, personally the most important factor about success and my brand is staying true to myself and who I am. I started this TikTok journey and grew to over 59,000 followers! Which is honestly crazy to me. But, no matter how many followers I have I always want to stay true to myself and never do anything that isn’t truly me. Read more>>

Ashley LeBaron | Soap and Skincare Maker

I didnt give up. The key to success as an entrepreneur is to stay consistent even when times get tough and sales are slow. Read more>>

Christina Culinski | Hairstylist & Makeup artist

I believe my success is created by being consistent in my work, also continuing my education to be the best at my craft creates success for my brand. Read more>>

Amy Parker | Real Estate Broker, MUA, Photoshoot Location Owner

Being driven and motivated to put in the work and time needed to be successful! Read more>>

Juan Coronado | Co-Founder, Mijenta Tequila

We belief in doing well by doing the right thing. For Tequila production one must take care of the land and it’s people in order to create harmony and to follow tradition to achieve consistency. Read more>>