56 Inspirational Quotes From Makers, Artists, And Entrepreneurs

‘Knowing that your success is completely dependent on you is beyond scary at times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world!’- Danielle Colding, Interior Designer

‘Success means making meaningful work that promotes inclusivity and community.’- Tanya Aguiniga, Furniture Designer/ Maker

‘Keep it simple and do the work.’- Michele Quan, Ceremicist, Designer

‘I am myself. I refuse to fit into what people want me to be or expect me to be. I stand up for what I believe in and will fight for it.‘- Preeti Mistry, Chef

‘We can be externally working on the dream, and if we love what we’re doing and who we are, we feel accomplished. I rely on six touch points to make myself feel whole: kids, love, business, health, travel, spirituality. If I touch them all each day, in varying intensities, I am successful.’- Jodie Patterson, Beauty Entrepreneur

‘Success means feeling passionate about what you do.’- Linda Rodin, Stylist, Beauty Entrepreneur

‘I define success as being able to match one’s passion with a deep sense of purpose.’- Thelma Golden, Museum Director and Chef Curator

‘Success for me is the legacy you leave behind when you’re gone from this earth.’- Cy Lauz, Lingerie Designer

‘Every day I feel successful because I wake up doing what I love.’- Malene Barnett, Textile Designer

‘Be authentic. Own your work style and don’t ever think you have to change who you are to be successful.’– Cheryl Day, Baker, author

‘We must always improvise in life. Flexibility allows for creativity.’– Carla Fernandez and Cristina Rangel, Fashion Designers

‘The world needs more questions and fewer answers.’- Kate Bornstein, Author, Performer, Activist

‘The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to prepare for the long haul, the rise and fall, and let neither define your sense of self.’- Karen Young, Product Designer, Entrepreneur

‘Looking inside myself rather than to others for innovation is the only way I can stay true to myself and stay jazzed about my work.’- Christine Schmidt, Artist, Designer

‘The world looks so different when we remember we are an energy, not an image.’- Sarah Neuburger, Artist, Designer

‘The world needs more true connection and time spent with each other.’- Gauri Nanda, Product Designer

‘Making a positive impact on the world (however difficult that is to measure), inspiring others, being authentic, and, most important, having meaningful and lasting relationships with people who are authentic too.’- Gauri Nanda

‘Success in business is seeing how badly you can fail and still love yourself.’– Mary Going, Fashion Designer

Success is ‘The ability to support yourself through your work without compromising on vision or values.’- Desiree Akhavan, Writer, Actor, Filmmaker, Director

‘The world could always use more people who are interested in lifting up others, not only themselves.’- Christy Turlington, Activist, Model

‘Success to me is when I am feeling purposeful, authentic, and of service to others.’- Christy Turlington

‘Being an artist means you are always working.’- Shizu Saldoamando, Artist

‘Success to me is being psychologically healthy, happy, and secure with who you are as a person regardless of income, position, or title.’- Shizu Saldoamando, Artist

‘Be you and not another.’- Olimpia Zagnoli, Illustrator

Success is ‘making an idea real…’- Shadi Petosky, Writer, Executive Producer, Showrunner

‘Successs … means loving and accepting myself and using my creativity to have a positive effect on the world around me.’- Amina Mucciolo, Artist, Designer

‘Your success and failure are completely in your hands, with every minute decision.’- Issa Rae, Writer, Director, Actor

Success means ‘being comfortable and happy creating what I love on a consistent basis.’- Issa Rae

‘Avoid overthinking and allow yourself to be wrong.’- Fay Andrada, Jewelry Designer

‘Allow time and life to develop. Things don’t happen overnight.’- Frances Palmer, Potter

‘All mistakes teach us something, so there are, in reality, no mistakes. Just things we learn.’- Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Professor

‘Being patient, without judgment, makes you a good employer and employee.’- Carla Hall, Chef, Television Host

‘The world needs more face-to-face conversation, perhaps over a meal, so we can really get to know each other without assumptions. The world needs fewer sound bites where those assumptions are formed.’- Carla Hall, Chef, Television Host

‘Never say no to yourself.’- Sibella Court, Interior Designer, Stylist, Author

Success is ‘knowing someone feels a connection with the work I’m doing. Success also means respect, happiness, friends, and love.’- Carrie Brownstein, Musician, Writer, Actor

‘Success is contextual and fleeting, so when things are harmonious, even for moment, I try to savor it.’- Ping Zhu, Illustrator, Artist

‘Embrace discomfort and allow for all possibilities for the sake of learning.’- Ping Zhu

‘You can’t do it all. You need to choose what’s most important to you and go after it. And that can change at different points in your life, so it’s important to be flexible and react to the moment. Put your efforts toward the things that are important to you and that you do best, the things that only you can do.’- Veronica Corzo- Duchardt, Graphic Designer, Artist

‘Laughter is the ultimate definition of success.’- Abbi Jacobson, Writer, Illustrator, Actor, Comedian

‘The world needs your voice, so stop trying to fit someone else’s idea of who you are. Make them look you dead in the eye; make them know you.’- Danielle Henderson, Writer, Editor

‘Do the hard right thing. Be three times as good and have what you want. If you don’t know where something is, you don’t know where it isn’t.’- Alice Randell and Caroline Randall, Writers, Food Activists

‘We all get knocked down- what matters is resilience. The ability to learn from a stumble, regain momentum, and reinvent, if necessary.’- Dominique Browning, Author, Activist

‘… Success means having the freedom to do whatever you want with your day.’- Ana Serrano, Artist

‘Grow organically. Don’t get ahead of yourself.’- Eileen Fisher, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur

‘The world needs more love, happiness, and joy, and less stuff, but just the right stuff.’- Eileen Fisher

‘I don’t see success as a linear rise to money and fame, but rather as a full circle that leads me back home with the things I set out to accomplish.’- Bethany Yellowtail, Fashion Designer

‘Nobody knows better what you’re capable of than you. Trust yourself. Trust your ideas.’– Tina Roth Eisenberg, Graphic Designer, Entrepreneur

‘Success means being able to generate projects actively, rather than passively waiting for things to fall into my lap.’- Ayumi Horie, Potter

‘You can’t win if you don’t play.’- Kristina Gill, Development Adviser, Food Editor/ Photographer

‘Having patience means being at peace with the time it takes to do something right and do its fullest.’- Jonna Twigg, Bookbinder

‘Jumping in and being a little uncomfortable is part of the process of growing my business.’- Jessica Marquez, Artist, Crafter

‘Fear does not keep me up at night. Sometimes I’ll stay up for prayer. Or dancing. But never for fear. I’m too exhausted for fear.’- Matika Wilbur, Photographer

‘We don’t live like nobody’s watching. We live like our ancestors are watching.’- Matika Wilbur, Photographer

‘Business is like a fruit tree. There are several life cycles before the bearing stage; and even though we know it will take several generations to bear fruit, we plant it anyway because our grandchildren will relish what we produced or created for them.’- Matika Wilbur, Photographer

‘Examine your life and how you want to exist. That way, you can design your business around those things, and you will know when you get there.’- Natalie Chanin, Fashion Designer

‘Mix what you love to do with what you care about changing most.’ – Kathleen Hanna, Artist, Musician

Success means ‘having a healthy, happy staff; happy, impressed customers; and a balanced life.’ – Anita Lo, Chef, Restaurateur

Source

Grace Bonney (2016). In The Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs