Deciding to work for yourself is often cited as the best decision folks in our community have made. Hearing the same response over and over led us to ask them about the next best decision folks have made and we’ve shared their responses with you below.

Lisa Dolny | Photographer

Choosing to study photography at Ringling College of Art & Design. By deciding to go to a well known art school, I not only learned about Art in general, but I was able to be taught by some of the best in the industry. The knowledge I gained there was invaluable and would have taken me years to learn on my own. We learned everything from the basics of Art in general and built upon that knowledge as we advanced through our classes. Another thing I found to be extremely helpful at Ringling were the critiques of our work by peers, professors, and professional artists. Learning how to take criticism and give feedback on other people’s work is something that many don’t get a chance to experience until they are on the job. Family and friends don’t always have the heart to tell you that your work isn’t the best thing on the earth but a strong Artist should know how to take criticism and improve from it. Read more>>

Jamole Callahan | Motivator & Child Welfare Consultant

The single most important decision I made, was to leap into business and find a mentor. Read more>>

Twilla Twaun | Recording Artist

I would have to say the best decision I made apart from being a self made independent artist was taking on the role of being a real businessman first. The music itself is only 20% of what needs to be done to be taken seriously as a music artist, the other 80% is all business such as marketing, promo, advertising, monetizing and of course having a solid team and fan base. Read more>>