We asked some folks we admire to share one piece of conventional advice they disagree with.

Dane Robinson | TV Fitness Coach, Presenter, & Coach

“You will find success with hard work” Meh… Don’t get me wrong I am a 100% believer there is NO substitute for hard work. And more commonly hard working individuals beat out those that possess more talent 9.5 times out of 10, but hard work doesn’t create success. If anything it helps you fail quick and sooner so you know what works and what doesn’t work. I’ve chuckled at past self plenty of times as I’ve thought “Man that was a flop!”. Doesn’t mean I didn’t put my all into whatever that project, person, or career move was. But that hard work hardly created success. Read more>>

Caitlin Epstein | Painter & Arts Researcher

“Stick to what you know”. I could not disagree more. I would never have become a painter if I had listened to this advice. I created my first true painting my senior year of high school, and was immediately sucked in. Since then, I have loved creating paintings for clients while also diving into as many new art mediums as possible. I have dabbled in makeup artistry, interning for a makeup artist despite only wearing makeup myself for occasions as special as a wedding. Read more>>

Cierra Boyd | Sustainable fashion designer

One piece of conventional advice that I disagree with is that “it’s all about who you know”. I don’t necessarily agree with this because I personally haven’t found success through who I know, most people who enjoy my designs tend to reach out to me. I think it’s about having a talent and putting it on your platform and letting it flourish from there. I think it’s important to meet people through that but, I don’t think that success or failure depends on who you know. At the end of the day it’s going to be all about who knows you. Read more>>