By: Sydney Tyler
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
One of the most important lessons to understand as an entrepreneur and business owner, is that failure is a learning opportunity to grow, adapt and find success in the future. On September 22, 2020, ENI held the Failed It, Learned It livestream where attendees were able to hear firsthand stories of failure from three Atlanta entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs shared how they took their experiences and crafted them into opportunities to improve. Through the discovery process, these businessowners adapted and created new avenues which allowed them to achieve success.
One undergraduate entrepreneurship student shared her reflections…
“I attended Tuesday’s Failed It, Learned It panel discussion, and hearing about what ‘failing’ really means when developing your business from seasoned business owners put some important things into perspective for me. Overall, I truly appreciated the conversation style approach to this and the great storytellers who were chosen.”
About the Storytellers
Tiffini Gatlin is the CEO and Founder of Latched and Hooked Beauty. This outstanding title was not achieved until after the loss of $20K in revenue on her new hair product, due to the failure to confirm that the name of her product was not already trademarked. Gatlin overcame this initial setback by carefully selecting a new name and working with an attorney to register and copyright before launching – lesson learned!
Watch video and learn more about Tiffini’s story.
Before his success as the Founder at Thinker, Re-Thinker, Jeff Goldblatt built a rejection hotline business for millions of phone users. Unfortunately, he never made a profit, because he did not understand the complex mechanics of business. Goldblatt overcame this by making the tough but necessary decision to fire himself as the CEO of his company and went into business with a co-founder who could do the job better than he could – personal lesson learned!
Watch video and learn more about Jeff’s story.
Shawn Johnson, a Hero at Mobile App Hero, suffered from a heart attack as the result of working himself too hard. He reflected on his experience, and realized he needed to better prioritize his responsibilities and health. He overcame this by setting up systems to help him communicate with clients better, as well as arrange and organize tasks. Lesson learned to make his health a priority.
Watch video and learn more about Shawn’s story.
Visit the ENI YouTube Channel to read other inspiring stories about and our students and alumni striving to bring their business ideas into existence.