Creative Failure Can Be Your Guide For Future Success

Creative Failure Can Be Your Guide For Future Success

Your Creative Failure Can Be The Ancestor Of Your Success

dear creative,

I want to talk to you about failure, and encourage you to reframe how you see your past. I’m going to say something that might not make any sense but bear with me.  

Your failures can be part of your creative lineage.

Let me tell you a story.

3 years ago, I closed the doors and turned off the lights at wedOcracy. I walked away from the startup world.

I did this because it was clear that the growth we were hoping for was not arriving anytime soon. My co-founder and I had been invited to major tech events and even pitched at SXSW.  We had raised an initial round of funding. We attended a well-known tech accelerator where mentors guided us.

I immersed myself in the world of weddings. I studied wedding statistics. I know things that I probably have no business knowing about weddings.  A few years after we launched, we closed wedOcracy’s doors because we were not growing as fast as we needed to. We had worked so hard, and I felt like a failure.

Our goal was to make weddings more social, more engaged and more fun. We didn’t find the technology, so we built it.   In many ways, we succeeded. We helped couples from several counties make their weddings more fun and social. But I also had to make the difficult choice of closing the doors when it was time to move on.

As the startup founder, I had to write a final blog post to send out to our subscribers.

It was a horrible feeling.

Fast forward to today, and I realized that the things I learned about weddings can now help my wedding photography client. This month, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to use the things I learned in the wedding industry. While running this company, I researched weddings. I know more than I should know. I became a nerd in the wedding industry.

This month, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to use the things I learned in the wedding industry. While running this company, I researched weddings. I know more than I should know.

I became a nerd in the wedding industry.

I’ve started working with wedding and event photographer Chris Wodjak. Supporting her web design and marketing needs allowed me to reframe how I think about failure.

Your Creative Failures Can Lead To Your Future Creative Success

  1. Your past creative mistakes can be the ancestors for your future success. It is an honor to work with this talented photographer and bring all the skills and research I gained from my wedding startup days to support her in growing her business.
  2. The knowledge never leads you. While I moved on from the startup world, I still learned how to design and develop applications for startups. I still learned how to create effective marketing strategies for millennial brides. The knowledge stays with you.
  3. Sometimes, your true purpose is different from what you can imagine. When I closed the doors, I felt like a failure. I could not see (or understand) how I could use all of my efforts towards anything else.

Questions To Ask Yourself When You Feel Like A Creative Failure

  • What if your failures are part of your future success?
  • What if you were not meant to succeed in one area, but instead learn something to take you to the next stage?
  • Can you learn to see your failures as the legacy for your success? What if your past failure is a creative ancestor for your future success?

I hope you find that day when your past mistakes feel like ancestors in your creative lineage. They are teaching you things. They are supporting your journey in ways that might sometimes feel difficult.

Keep going dear creative. I want to see your brilliance.

Love,

Your Future Self

 

#Yeswecode chat #9: Does Impostor Syndrome affect your success in tech?

#Yeswecode chat #9: Does Impostor Syndrome affect your success in tech?

Hope you can join the next #yeswecode chat this Sunday (11/16/14) at 8pmCT. We’ll be discussing fear, it’s impact on our work and how we can move forward anyway.

The fear of being wrong can affect your success

This week, I was in the Bay Area for the WedTech conference, and while there I visited a long time friend of mine. We sat in a great Oakland coffee shop, sipped lattes and spoke about our hopes, our work, the lives of two very creative women.

Towards the end of our conversation, she mentioned that she’s often afraid of being wrong, and how that gets in the way of her success. I immediately thought about how at some point in all our lives, we all deal with insecurity. But, what happens when it stops us from becoming successful.

Imposter Syndrome is a real issue

At some point in our lives, the fear of being “found out” aka Impostor Syndrome, is a real issue. I want to bring this conversation to the tech space because I believe all of us are capable of being more than just good. We’re actually capable of being great, and doing so has nothing to do As we talk about tech diversity, it’s important to remember that we all show up with some insecurity. Are you worried that you’re not good enough, smart enough, savvy enough, capable enough? How does this worry affect your work?

#Yeswecode chat #9 questions to think about:

  • How does the fear of being “wrong” get in the way of your success?
  • If you could let it go, what would that look like?
  • What are some unique ways you deal with/work through feelings of Imposter Syndrome?
  • Once you get that dream job in tech, what’s your plan on how to make the most of it in the face of your fears?

Why is this conversation important? 

I hope you can join the conversation. Before joining the chat please review the guidelines, which will answer some questions and help you know how to best participate. It’s important to the tech inclusion dialogue, especially because I really do believe that while access to tech skills is an important piece of tech diversity, there’s also a need to address the internal challenges that get in the way of our success.