In the words of entrepreneurs who are either getting started or have been at it for a while, we are sharing a wide array of serious, funny, whimsical, and hard-hitting quotes and affirmations for the everyday.
Curated by Brian Policard
Illustrations by Anthony Blue Jr
“My dad once said to me, ‘Small ideas will keep you small.’ ... you have to fight for the best possible version of your idea.”
Ryan Wilson, The Gathering Spot
“Think about who you’re pitching to. What is it that makes them tick? What is it that makes them excited?”
Jewel Burks Solomon, Collab Capital
"Like everything else, we’re all going through this journey of life alone, but we’re all going through it together. You need to really be comfortable having a conversation with yourself to self-audit who you are, in order to try and get to the best version of you."
Roberto A. Felipe
“Done is better than perfect. It’s important to get your small and big ideas out into the world quickly to test, learn and iterate to great. We’re all a work in progress so embrace good enough because the push for perfection can sometimes be crippling.”
Kwame Taylor-Hayford, Kin
“You’ve got to live a life where you say, ‘I’m going to start peeling back layers and getting back to who I know I want to be, And getting back to the roots of my own dreams.’”
Joshua Livingston, Friend of a Barber
“I don’t think achieving work/life balance is really possible. I think that knowing that there will be ebbs and flows and that sometimes your business will require more time and energy than the other pieces of your life is important.”
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, Therapy for Black Girls
“Use what you have... What are the things, what are the strengths, what is your magic? Use that. Then, for the things that are not innately natural to you or the things that are not your gifts, really try to build partnerships and relationships with people to help you get there.”
Jess Jackson, Copper House
“‘Bloom where you're planted’ is advice that I think about literally almost every day, because it's so easy in the world that we live in to look around at other people, especially online...people with bigger followings, or bigger companies, or more brand deals or whatever, it's easy to look at that stuff and get discouraged. But you got to run your own race, you got to focus on where you are right now.”
Shontavia Johnson, LVRG