Most people say they want success, but when you ask them what success means you get wildly different responses. We recently asked some of the best and brightest in our community to tell us about how they define success and have shared their responses below.

Winter Conover | Artist, Model, and Barista

I think many people see, and define, success in a multitude of different ways– Some see it as how much money they’ve amassed, some view it as how far up the social ladder they’ve gone, or how many things they’ve created. For myself, measure success by experience. As someone who creates art through many different mediums, I’ve come to learn that not every project can come out “”successful””, eg. looking good or functioning the way I want it. Read more>>

John Grund | Illustrator and Cartoonist

For me, success is a tricky term, especially for artists, where not only is the work itself subjective, but the achievements are as well. I think we all have to define success for ourselves, and for me it’s always about personal challenges and overcoming those obstacles, rather than external achievements. Obviously external achievements can be incredibly beneficial for an artists career, and they often line up the steps artists want to take moving forward, but I think too much focus on these kinds of accolades can blur our vision, and make us distracted from creating the best work we can. Sometimes success can be a prestigious award, and sometimes it can just be putting pen to paper one day. We all have to be careful with how we define it, and how we let it define us. More than any other achievement, creating work that I’m proud of and that expresses my ideas is the best success I could ask for. Though a magazine article is pretty cool, too! Read more>>

Bad Guru | Rock Band

We’re just trying to have fun and enjoy the ride. The band is a hobby for us, albeit a fairly involved hobby, so we don’t have to worry about making a living playing music. That allows us to focus on making music we enjoy, sharing it with our friends, and putting on great shows while making new friends along the way without worrying too much about the outcome. Long term if we could grow our following and become a regular staple on the regional music festival circuit it would be a great success. On a small scale, we feel really successful when someone who isn’t a close friend or family member digs our music because then we know it’s about the music and not us! Read more>>