There are so many factors that can play a role in determining our results, performance and ultimately our success, but some factors matter more than others. We asked folks what they felt was the most important factor driving their success.

Mary Tidy-Coyle, MFA | Visual Artist & Professor

Through my own artistic practice and experience as an educator I have found devotion, supersedes talent. I believe in putting in the hard work, and the resilience built by falling down and getting back up. I believe in the love of the game. It may seem odd to think about art as a game – winning/losing, never giving up. But that’s what it feels like – except the only opponent is usually ourselves. As artists we are constantly creatively problem solving, often asking ourselves – to what end? When is it finished? Why am I doing this? These questions will sometimes go unanswered, but our passion isn’t in seeking answers – but in the creative experience. The creative process, and the ah-ha moments are what drive us. You’ve seemingly figured it all out, calling it done – just to stand in front of another larger-than-life blank canvas. Rolling the dice, here we go again. That is passion, that is drive, that is devotion and that is rare. Read more>>

Leanne Aranador | Entrepreneur & Artist

Community! With the support and encouragement of my community around me I was able to see Ladoru become all it is today. Absolutely, couldn’t have done it without them. I tried back in 2015 to launch Ladoru on my own and it didn’t go well, but three years later with all the right people around me Ladoru was birthed. Read more>>

Ana Imai | Onigiri Maker

In this extraordinary year, we are much closer to the people we live with. We are spending more time together, we are working from home. We are all trying to balance work and home chores. Omusubee help us have time to do all that. Our grab and go snack from the Soul of Japan brings comfort and deliciousness in every bite. It is fast and at the same time nutritious, as we only use wholesome ingredients. Read more>>

Emilie Sobel | Creative Brand Manager and Beauty & Lifestyle Influencer

The most important factor behind my success and the success of my brand would have to be that I’ve stayed authentic and true to myself as a person as well as continuing to stay true to my ultimate goals. From the very start of my career, I wrote down and outlined my goals, the reason why I wanted to pursue a career in Digital Marketing and Blogging. I knew that I wanted to share things I genuinely use and love and that I needed to stay true to myself and my brand, regardless of what people may think. I told myself that even if no one read my blog, if no one cared about what I was sharing, that it doesn’t matter, that’s not the point. I needed and wanted to have a creative outlet, and that’s what I built for myself. The success just happened to come along with it. At the end of the day, if the followers and the opportunities disappeared, I would be fine because that’s not why I’m doing what I’m doing. The followers and the opportunities are an amazing perk of what I do on a daily basis, but the feeling of sticking to my goals, accomplishing things on my own and having something that is my own is why I do what I do. Read more>>

Kevin Hirshorn | Podcast Producer & Audio Editor

Persistence. When I started my podcast production company, I didn’t have a great deal of work history to show for it. Therefore, getting clients was a challenge. My job was waking up every morning, and submitting 10-20 job submissions, waiting for that one client to give me a chance. Read more>>