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

Nicolas and Andres Gomez | Entrepreneurs, Impact Window & Door Specialists, Hurricane Shutters Specialists

We strongly believe the most important factor behind our success is providing each one of our clients with the highest level of customer service, we treat each one of our clients as family and touch on every detail or questions they may have. In addition, to customer service, we hold the highest standard of quality in the product we use and our installation process. We know that when we do quality work for people, word will spread, and more business will come. By following this method, we have just protected and completed home number: 1,821!!. Read more>>

Tracy Goliver | Hair Designer

I have to give credit to God! God is ultimately my source I go to for all the details in life! Second of all- I have a great team of artists. They are all uniquely talented and have great personalities! I am so thankful for their hard work to make every event relaxing and fun! I don’t know what I’d do without them. Third of all, each bride and her family is so special to us! It is a true honor to be able to design the special look for each bride! It’s a lot of fun to see the entire process unfold. Read more>>

Valeria Alvarez | Founder of Peel Soft Serve

Our product and the story behind our product. I’m a firm believer that having a solid, well executed product is key to a successful business. The simplicity of what Peel is and our sustainable story behind our business has been a differentiator in the last year we have been in business. Read more>>

Fatima M. Smith | Founder & Social Mom-Trepreneur

Collective 365 is a network of individuals who want to celebrate and invest in Black and Brown communities through grant making and capacity building. Collective 365 was launched in July 2020 and as a new organization, there was concern that folks who would be hesitant to invest in a new organization. The senseless killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many Black and Brown individuals; a global pandemic; and the climate crisis created a heightened desire to advocate for change. The latter were important in Collective 365’s initial success. Collective 365 provided many individuals, who were tired of investing in institutions that upheld white supremacy and were anti-Black, an opportunity to invest in a Black & Brown led organization that was reiminaging philanthropy by allowing Black and Brown folks to be the decision makers and thought leaders of their community. Read more>>

Dre Baldwin | Pro Athlete, Author and Business Owner

Discipline! Showing up every day to do the work. Discipline builds confidence, and while few people seek discipline, everyone wants to be confident. Since people come to me for help with their Mental Game, discipline is the secret sauce for taking your mindset to a new level. Read more>>

Cartela | Cartela | Creator and Director of Muneli in Space

The most important factor behind my success is my support system. I have an amazing family and a super supportive group of friends. Im big on keeping the right influences around me. This is also a team thing, my team of artist vomit talent on the daily. Their patience with my sets us up for success, it takes a lot to bring alive a whole new cartoon and give it purpose. Read more>>

Lauren Malta | Glow Boss and Founder of TanLines Optional

From the beginning, TanLines Optional has been about relationships. Yes, we offer the best custom spraytans, but the spraytan is just a vessel for a relationship with that client. I call it the bonus glow. You can go most anywhere for a decent spraytan, but I more so care about how we made you feel during your 20 minutes with us. So I have focused more on the relationship with my client, giving them a 20 minute break from the craziness of life, to come in, be listened to, be cared about, and most importantly, feeling when you walk out our doors, not only do you have the perfect faux glow, but you have the biggest confidence boost to go back out tackle the world! Perfect spraytans are what they schedule and receive, but we also add making sure that they feel absolutely loved on and cared about in the best way possible! People may or may not remember the spraytan, but they will ALWAYS remember how you made them feel. So we want them to feel like our best and only customer every single time! Without them, there is no us, so our entire success is centered on how we make them feel when they are with us!. Read more>>

Morgehenna | Guitarist

The most important factor to my success was realizing that nothing is really ever about me. What I mean by that is, if you’re building a brand, you have to ask yourself at some point: “What can I do for others?”. If you want people to support you, you have to have something to offer them. Whether it’s inspiration, knowledge, joy, entertainment, whatever. If you build a brand on self serving values, you won’t get far. Collaborations and business ventures are entirely about what you have to offer others, not about what they have to offer you. Once you realize that, you’ll start to stop asking “how can I make a million dollars” and start asking “how can I help a million people”?. Read more>>

Danielle + Amare Cuestas + Davis | Marked Essence Owners

One of the most important factors behind the success of our brand would be having the support of both the art community as well as those who are interested in discovering new artists. Our brand’s goal is to create a platform for our artists to gain more exposure and discoverability. The success of our brand relies on the mutual relationship between having creators to promote, as well as expanding our brand name. Read more>>

Nekole St Juste | Orlando, FL baker

The most important factor behind our success is that we have created our own lane as a coconut cake company. I know that puts us in a small box but the cake market is so saturated, it’s important to have that one thing that separates you from the pack and at the same time draws excitement for the customer! What also sets us apart is the fact that we don’t use frosting, and as we continue to push through barriers we are excited to learn just how many people love cake without frosting! When you see the hash tag “All the Flavor Minus the Frosting” you should know that’s Nurse Neke’s Coconut Cakes!. Read more>>

King Soloman | King of The Miami Jewish Underground Music Scene

I believe the most important factor behind my success is the belief that I have in myself. Even before I released music, I had the attitude that no matter what I do, I will always believe in my creativity. No matter if it was a song, a logo, a performance, an Instagram post, or even one simple lyric, if I put my effort into the creation, I knew It would be something special. I believe in myself simply because you must be your number one supporter and encourager in order to truly succeed in your work. Obviously it helps when you have support from your fans and followers and its important that you have engagement from them but, it’s ideal to have so much belief in yourself that hypothetically if you had only one fan you would still have the level of confidence as if you had 100,000 fans. It might seem a little far-fetched but If you believe in something, it will work, even if no one else believes in it. Read more>>