We asked some of the brightest folks in the community to open up to us about the most important lesson their business or career has taught them. We’ve highlighted some of those responses below.

Elly Molina | International Intuitive & Consultant

“Everything is created twice. First in the mind and then in reality.”- Robin Sharma This quote is the cornerstone of my business. I have learned that energy flows immediately to where my focus goes and it is most evident in my business. My business and the path I follow have taught me my thoughts, focused energy, self talk are everything and actually the “only” thing that brings success. For as a person thinks, that’s how it will be. Read more>>

Ruby Campos | CEO & Founder

Everything has been a learning process, and at times it has not been easy. There have been times that I have been discouraged and tired, but somehow, I still pull through, and I remember why I started this. I am still learning so much, and part of being an entrepreneur is being humble and realizing that there are always new things for you to learn, and that is the only way you will grow. Learning and growth go hand in hand in business and in life. There are so many lessons that I have learned in this journey, and one of the main ones is sticking to your vision no matter what other people advise you to do. People with a lot more business experience than you will try to tell you to change certain things about your brand because they think they know better. Stick with your vision, and if you think it works and you are not sure about changing it, don’t do it. Sticking to my vision and my brand has been the number one lesson I am most thankful for. Read more>>

Danielle Zelaya | Owner

Patience. Not everything is in your control. There were times that I would have a perfect vision of what I wanted for the business whether that was operation based, design & aesthetic, or experience driven, but certain variables would dictate those visions that I desired. This allowed me to gain patience and learn to get creative within restrictions. Different variables and scenarios come into your life and you have to learn to navigate that without getting discouraged. For me, it was little ones like “we don’t have the budget to have custom bags for our retail experience yet (which is a bummer since I love package design being a graphic designer) but we CAN offer really fun tissue paper” to more chaotic examples like “we had an awesome courtyard event planned but its down pouring so now we must move everything inside and make it work this way” or extreme examples like “The building your business runs in has been sold & bought and you have new owners. Read more>>

Luis Canción | Music Producer & Audio Engineer

Business is a hard thing; from start-up to marketing, contractors, and services, it can be a jungle to get right. My business venture has taught me that the three most essential elements to business are; Niche, Ethics, and Patience. You can’t have one without the other, and learning this was essential to the amount of maturity I’ve received in the past seven years in the recording industry. You can have the Niche, the thing everyone hires you for, but without Ethics or honesty, your clients will run over somewhere else: or, on the contrary, have the Ethics, but without a Niche, have nothing special to offer. These 3 points are what business has taught me over the last seven years so far. Read more>>

Zoë de boehmler | Yoga Instructor & Branding Consultant

I’d have to say that you can only put out your best work when you are being true to who you are, when you are moving/ making decisions from a place of “Does this resonate with my most inner feelings, am I being guided by love and passion or fear?” Read more>>