Webster doesn’t know everything. Some words can’t be defined by a dictionary. Rather they are defined by our values, ethos, and principles. We asked hidden gems from the community about how they define success and have shared their responses below.

Ain Drew | Educator & Children’s Author

For me, success is aligned with joy. You can have all of the material things you could ever desire and still not have the joy you deserve, because that’s internal. I’ve gotten so much joy from reading the reviews, seeing how children receive the story of Ari J., and how parents speak about how much Ari’s story has helped their little ones deal with their complicated feelings about their appearance. My creative success is grounded in the impact my book has made, not necessarily by how many books I’ve sold. Of course we all want monetary success, but at the end of the day, we should all do what fulfills our spirits. Read more>>

Kenny Brown | Mindset Coach, Instructor, and Radio Show Host

I define success as the fulfillment of your level of desired growth, development, accomplishment, or internal and spiritual alignment. Success isn’t just about the things that you do in life but also in the way that you do them. Success by means of scamming, stealing, or cheating isn’t truly success. True success, from an internal perspective, can never be achieved by ill-gotten gain. It can only be experienced in its true form by an investment of hard-work, sacrifice, persistence, and time by yourself or as part of a larger group. Read more>>

Jasmine Kilgore | Health & Wellness Coach | Barbershop Consultant | QuadSkater

I initially chose this question thinking that I had the answer already figured out but the more that I tried to get the words to say it I realized it’s not as simple as it seems. In simplest terms success is defined as the correct or desired result of an attempt but I’d disagree. So many times we plan things out and have an idea of what our “desired result” is but as events unfold, what if we don’t get the results that we were hoping for? Does that automatically equate to failure? What if the unexpected results instead take you a couple of steps back but open your mind and eyes to a new perspective, is that failure? This is something that I’ve struggled with for years, I would have it all figured out, or so I thought, and when I didn’t get the result I had hoped for I felt like I wasn’t successful. Read more>>

Nicole Davis | Former Shy Girl, Poet, Author

I define success by the number of people I impact. My goal as an spoken word artist and a former shy girl It is my goal is help others find their voice. This can be by helping them publish a book, creating a flyer for their upcoming event or writing stanzas that evoke a thought that leads to deeper self analysis. I long to be the person I needed when I was younger. The person who tells other shy brown skin girls that your voice matters, that your dark skin is beautiful, that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Making sales is great, likes on social media are nice, but helping to build someone’s self esteem and helping them find their place in the world is priceless. Read more>>