To pivot or to persevere? Or more bluntly – to give up or to not to give up? This is a haunting question, a question that has ramifications far after an answer has been chosen and it’s also a question that almost everyone in our community has had to face at one time or another. How do you know when to give up and when to keep trying?

Michael Cross | Upcoming Musician

I live by this philosophy that if you give up you are admitting to yourself that you never really wanted it as bad. Whether it be starting your business and it not going how you want or becoming a musicican and only getting a 100 views for your tracks. If you give up you truly never wanted it bad enough. The misconception about sucess is that success is the end goal making $10,000 in profit from your business in a month or finally getting recognized for muscial talent, Sucess is the path way while achieving those things from going to $5000 to $10,000 to receiving 100 views to a 1000 that is the defintion of sucess the journey it takes to get to where you wanna be. Read more>>

Erica Lee | Your Dessert Stylist

I’d always known I wanted to be a entrepreneur and decided to try my hand at handmade soy candles and other bath products. However, this venture ended fairly quickly, as this was not my passion. I would dread making orders and would lack motivation. After feeling this way for quite some time I gave up only because it wasn’t something enjoyable, it wasn’t my passion and It didn’t bring happiness Read more>>

Jessica Perry | Fashion Designer & Owner of House of Zell

I have had to ask myself multiple times on my journey. Being a young person..honestly a young Black woman with a dream so big, it seems unattainable and can be SCARY sometimes. There are times where I just want to throw the towel in and quit, especially recently. What I think truly keeps me going in the fact that I feel I was chosen specifically to fulfill this huge purpose. I’ve wanted to be a successful Fashion Designer and business owner since I was 9 years old. If I give up now I will never know what life will be like once my purpose is fulfilled. Moments where I feel like I’m ready to throw the towel in, the voice in the back of my head tells me not to give up because I am closer than I think. I can’t give up on my inner child. Read more>>

Mark Bankamwabo | Owner & Creative Director

For me it’s keep going always. Giving up is never in the thought process, it can never cross my mind. The mind is powerful and those frequencies can not find its way back so I tend to dead it to my subconscious before giving it the slightest chance. I’ve learned from the late Nipsey Hussle you will always be closer to your goal or dream now versus when you started, so why stop? And for most folks on their journey everything won’t happen over night. But why give up and dismiss the experience, the knowledge and the connections yet to encounter? These are the things we tend to over look and ironically end up holding the most value when everything is said and done. Read more>>

Kristen Baskin | Compost and Solar Enthusiast

My favorite professors taught me that when you do community change the right way, you actually have to let go of the project for it to really work. The goal of helping a community is that it’s theirs – they take over. When I started my composting business, Let Us Compost, Athens, Georgia didn’t have a food scrap composting facility, permit to haul food scraps, a place to drop off food scraps or anywhere to buy compost. Working with the local government and neighbors to create all of those pieces was goal #1. Then we got to dig into that infrastructure we helped create and use it to grow! 8 years in, when all those pieces finally existed, I gave my commercial composting route to the local government and 2 people that worked for me created their own composting businesses. The local government also created a spot where residents could drop off their food scraps. Read more>>

Nyemade Boiwu | Writer, Speaker and Digital Content Strategist

When you’re trying to build a brand or career there are so many moments that feel like you’re spinning your wheels and it’s time to stop. I have those moments all the time, especially as someone who works in the creative area. Sometimes I feel like there are so many people doing the same thing what’s the point of one more person adding their voice to the noise? When I have those moments I remember the purpose behind everything I do – to be the voice I needed to hear when I was younger so I felt less odd or alone. There have been so many times in my life where I heard one person say something and it had a huge impact on me. That doesn’t mean that individual was the only person saying it. It doesn’t mean that individual said it the best. It just means that person said it in a way that resonated with me. That’s what I strive to be for others. Whether I’m talking about mental health, body positivity, racism, or gender equality my goal is to always help others feel less alone. Knowing that I might help at least one person by speaking up keeps me going. Read more>>

Kisha Lesane | Food Blogger & Chef in Training

The way I know whether to keep going or to give up is, by asking myself does this still bring me joy. Now I know joy does not pay the bills but on those long nights, early mornings, and extra hard days do you still get joy when you can work on your passion. There will be days everything around me is falling apart but when I get the chance to build, work or talk about A Pinch of Butter I get a feeling I can’t explain. See I have been at rock bottom before, I have been homeless, I lost those that were important to me and no matter how tired I get when I am allowed to be creative I do a little happy dance and when I am around food that little happy dance become a big happy dance (silly I know) and I remember that I can overcome anything. Again let’s be honest here there has been days when I was ready to throw in the towel because rent was due and the many hours I have spent marketing, writing, and doing research could be spent getting a second job. I remember that my goal is to help others create magic over food and my blog is bigger than me and it would be selfish to give up now. Read more>>

Dylan Fellows | Musician & Luthier

What does it mean to give up? For me, one of the many things that brings my life joy and meaning is making music, but it does not generate enough income to sustain my lifestyle. When I was younger and struggling to find my footing, I often considered “giving up”, but that would have been giving in to laziness, self-doubt, and rigid expectations. It’s easy to get stuck in binary thoughts – perseverance vs hopelessness, late nights vs low output, friends and family vs your passion – but life isn’t meant to be lived like that. Giving up should never be an option if you find joy and meaning in your pursuit, but you also shouldn’t kill yourself trying to make something work. The solution is two things that work in unison: the willingness to pivot, and the ability to find joy in the act – not the outcome. If you’re frustrated with the reactions (or lack of) from the public, adapt and be willing to change. Find new ways to generate revenue besides general stream-count, incorporate new elements into your sound, and find your faults and improve. Read more>>

DeAngela “Dee” Scott | REALTOR®

When I decided to start my business is when I began asking myself this question. Because of decisions I made in college, I had to wait for over a year after finishing Real Estate School before the Georgia Real Estate Commission would grant my license. This “year in waiting” gave me plenty of time to think about if I really wanted to pursue my passion. Unfortunately, my story of whether to give up or keep going was just getting started. After getting my license, it was nearly a year before I sold my first home. Of course, my thoughts went to why did I bother waiting if I wasn’t going to be “successful” in this industry–that was the second time giving up popped into my mind. I decided to keep going. The months after selling my first home were much better than the uphill battle leading up to that victory. I felt confident and that gave me the boost I needed to keep going! Soon after, I began feeling like I wasn’t getting the one on one support I desired from my then broker. I expressed my concerns and asked for their guidance; the advice was to keep trying and I should get there. Read more>>

Druex Kaine | Entrepreneur, Artist, Producer, & Engineer

Whatever one is doing will be validated over time. Good or Bad. I feel as though time and various conditions are a good indicator of ones continuance or exit. Just as in the highway there are road signs and caution lights, I feel as though there are signs in our life to direct us in the path we should go. Although no one should be forced to give up anything, I do believe one should follow their dreams to the death. Read more>>

Kay Reed | Content Creator

Since day one of me starting my YouTube channel I decided I’d give it my all. It has been plenty of days these past two years where my videos don’t get as many views and I still decide to keep going. I keep going because you never know what’s next & what video may take me to the next level so there is no “giving up” I only see a brighter future for myself & my family therefore I keep it pushing & being myself in the process. Read more>>

Zero The Composer | Producer/Songwriter

I personally don’t think it’s something that you know, just something that you do. You work so hard to get to certain levels, that failure isn’t much of an option. Why put in so much work to only give up?. Read more>>

She Murphy | Event Curator + Consultant, Founder of SheCreates

Never give up. Align and focus, that’s law. Read more>>

Shanna Amoah | Arts & Entertainment Studio Owner

I choose this question because I started my storefront arts and entertainment business at the beginning of COVID-19. There has been so many contributing factors that all yells, Run! Close! You’re Nuts! Get Out Now! While at the same time, other voices saying, You’re doing great! Keep it up! Way to go! They love you! Just keep going! We’re almost out of this pandemic and you will ROCK OUT! It’s after every party, whether adult or child, and seeing the smiles and hearing, “thank you, I loved my party”! I remind myself why I got in business and should stay. My struggle is very real. I have so many friends, family and strangers who are all still social distancing and have not come to my shop because of COVID. I have been at my location for over a year and have many faces, not yet seen. The reason I stay is because, every day there’s another birthday, girlfriend celebration, baby or bridal shower, book signing of date night waiting to be scheduled. I stay so I can service their canvas themed party needs. Read more>>

Zebo G | Videographer & Creative Director

Good question. I was taught to never give up on something you truly want. I want to be able to live the lifestyle that i’ve always dreamed of and being able to take care of my family and I. This business gets hard. You can get uninspired, discouraged, and sometimes just want to hang it up for good, but I’ve worked way too hard to get where I am. I get told by peers and my supporters that I inspire them in different ways and just that alone inspires me to keep going and doing what I do. My dad would tell me as a kid “you’re closer than you were yesterday” and it always stuck to me for some reason. Turns out to be true. Read more>>

Jay Leak | Beauty & Fashion Photographer

How I feel about giving up is simple. You can’t! I constantly tell myself that I have gotten this far, so why give up now? The road I’ve traveled hasn’t been easy, but neither will the road leading to where I want to go be either. There has been so many sacrifices made to get me to the point that I am at now and giving up would just make all those sacrifices pointless. We all strive to be the best and to continuously get better. We all hit bumps in the road at some point in our journeys. The most successful people in the world always kept pushing, kept grinding, and kept their foot on the gas and never let up. So why should I? You have to continuously tell yourself that this is your story, this is your legacy you are building for your name, for your family. How do you want it to be told? How do you want to be remembered?. Read more>>

Caleb Joyce | Hip-hop/pop artist & Producer

Music is what I am great at. I’ve tried to give up before and it’s seemingly impossible because I’ll always go back to creating because everything around me inspires me to create. You only live once, so doing EXACTLY what you want to do while you are alive is so vital to happiness. If I gave up, I would never truly be happy. Read more>>

Queen Miller | Dance Creative Visual Artist and Fashion

The day you wake up and think about your career path and goal and it doesn’t feel the same and you don’t yearn for it like you used to after meditating stepping back evaluating the situation you just can’t find that one spark to motivate you to continue to go that’s when you know your heart may not be into it anymore but through the dark times if you can find that one spark that makes you remember why you started then you know to keep going no matter how little the spark is or how long it took you to find the spark again if you were able to feel it just a little keep going!. Read more>>