We connected with some of the most resilient folks in the community and one of the most insightful questions we had an opportunity to ask centered around whether there was ever a time they almost gave up. Highlighting some of the responses below.
Joshua “Bunz” Ortiz
No. I am not a quitter. It isn’t in me to give up. If something doesn’t work, I will find a way. You can believe, I will find a way. An analogy I say quite often is… If I want that tree to come down, oh it’s coming down. I’ll keep chopping away, and some trees fall quicker than others. Read more>>
Katherine Piña of Menifee
Yes, there was a time I almost gave up. Running a creative business isn’t always as effortless as the final images make it look. Between the long hours, the pressure of balancing personal life and work, and the moments of self-doubt where I wondered if I was really good enough to stand out in such a competitive industry—it all weighed on me. Read more>>
Allan Manzano
There have been a couple of times when I wanted to give up. One was in grad school—I was struggling financially to buy art supplies and pay my share of rent, working two jobs just to keep going. The other was about five years ago, right before the pandemic. I was stuck in a terrible in-house design job for a sales team—nothing creative at all. Read more>>
Cristian Beas
Yes — back in college, I faced a big turning point. Several universities turned me down, and the only one that accepted me was in Los Angeles. Giving was on the table several times given the circumstances. All I wanted was to continue growing. I took the chance, even though it meant driving back and forth from San Diego to LA for school. Read more>>
Jessica Rena
Oh my gosh, was there? There are so many times I question myself, my sanity, everything while doing this work. Most recently, I had been working to gently ease myself back into taking birth clients. Read more>>
Sergio Santamaria
There was a time I was living project to project. The freelance world can be incredibly inconsistent, and I wanted to build a stable life—to support the family my wife and I always dreamed of. I was even ready to take a “normal” job just to be a stronger foundation for us. Then we took a trip to Italy—and everything changed. Read more>>
Jen Blackstock
One of my core beliefs is that a secret to life is to walk through fires of our choosing, so that we can handle the fires we must walk through in our life. Read more>>
Raymundo Landavazo
Absolutely, there have been multiple times when I’ve almost given up. As I mentioned earlier, dentistry is an incredibly demanding profession. It requires constant focus, precision, and emotional resilience. On top of that, we often work with patients who are anxious or fearful, which means we’re not always welcomed with open arms. That emotional weight, day after day, can be mentally exhausting. Read more>>
Leah NaDeau
As a professional, I can attest that setbacks and self-doubt are an inherent part of the learning process, especially when pursuing a creative field like nail art or design. It’s common to feel frustrated and demotivated when faced with imperfections or unmet expectations, leading to temporary abandonment of one’s goals. Read more>>
Tyler Davidson
Here’s a shocker… I almost quit. Weekly. And honestly? Who could blame a real estate professional. We wake up every day basically unemployed—no salary, no benefits, no safety net. Just hope and hustle. We’re expected to carry the weight of one of the three biggest decisions in someone’s life—every single day—without any guarantee we’ll even get paid for it. Read more>>
Jacqueline Kowalik
When everything shut down in 2020, I really thought that might be the end of it. I had built something special with my classes, and suddenly it was just gone. The idea of starting over felt so heavy. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to rebuild. Read more>>
Dr Zach Beatty
Give up? No. Quitting has never even crossed my mind. But second-guessing? For sure. When I launched Gonstead Family Chiropractic in San Diego, I moved here not knowing a single person. No friends, no family, no safety net. Just a dream, a lease, and a whole lot of faith. Read more>>
Ian Chen
The first was in 2016. We were still in our early days at Discotech and had just gotten a verbal commitment from a lead VC for our seed round. At the eleventh hour, they pulled out — and suddenly we were staring at $20K left in the bank. That barely covered a month of expenses. Read more>>
