The Future is Yours: Learn from Some Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs & Creatives How They Became Successful

We’ve partnered with some exciting, young entrepreneurs and creatives to show you what lies behind their success. Our luminaries have dealt with failure, doubters and adversity, but their drive has remained. They knew the only person that could make their vision a reality was themselves. With hard work, passion and persistence, the future can be yours. Make it.

All of our luminary stories can be found here: adobe.ly/2CQESVS. Five of our favourite are below.

Steven Bartlett

“The future belongs to the curious, the rebels and the brave”

Steven Bartlett is founder of global social media agency, Social Chain. One of the pioneers of influencer and social media marketing, he is behind some of social media’s most recognisable accounts and represents some of the world’s biggest brands including ASOS, Spotify and Coca-Cola. His lesson is simple. Self-belief and hard work are the only precursors to success. Don’t be realistic with your dreams. Aim high and stay true to your vision. Admire, don’t imitate, other visionaries – your heroes didn’t try and be someone else. Neither should you.

Mark van der Heijden

“Would it work? I had no idea. I just decided to go for it”

Mark found fame as The Backpacker Intern. He quit his job in advertising to realise his dream of travelling the world. One slight problem: he had no money. Rather than giving up, he found a way. He set out with the idea of instead swapping his skills for accommodation and meals. The project gained worldwide media coverage, and within a week he had 750 job offers. Since his journey, he’s launched his own company, Wanderbrief, helping travellers find work remotely around the globe. His lesson is to think less, do more. The best way to shape your future is to make something yourself, with no one else telling you what you should or shouldn’t do.

Weibe Wakker

“Ask questions. Challenge your teachers”

Weibe is in the middle of an around the world journey from the Netherlands to Australia in an electric car to promote sustainable living. He’s left his sat nav at home and is instead letting the internet pick his route. Via his website, people can offer a meal, a place to sleep or somewhere to plug in his car, and hope that he visits them. So far, he’s boxed in St. Petersburg, driven with Sheikhs in the UAE and even had his car seized by customs in Bangladesh. The project is a lesson in embracing uncertainty. Don’t restrict yourself by doing what other people say you can and can’t do.

Marjolaine Grondin

“Make something happen”

Marjolaine is CEO (Chief Emoji Officer) of Jam – a social media chatbot that helps students with anything, from what to have for dinner to how many push-ups they should be doing. The business has grown exponentially. From no users on day 1, 800 a fortnight later, to 250,000 today. Her lesson is that if you have an idea, it’s up to you to make it happen. She’s experienced failures in the past. But when ideas didn’t work out, she didn’t dwell. She learned and moved on. The only person that can make you realise your ambitions is you.

Christian Fenner

“Ups and downs, energy, endurance and creative cloud”

NUCAO makes nutritious and sustainable chocolate bars. Started by Christian Fenner, the brand is the product of persistence, collaboration and Creative Cloud. The shape of the bar was designed with Illustrator, the packaging with InDesign. Shared libraries allowed Christian to work seamlessly on documents with designers wherever they were. Making something healthy that still tasted of chocolate wasn’t done overnight. The more he and his team worked on the bar, the more obsessed with finding the perfect recipe they became. It’s this striving for perfection which has made him one of our luminaries.

We hope you feel inspired by our luminaries’s personal stories. You can read the rest here: adobe.ly/2CQESVS. Each bring their own lesson in making your dream job your day job. The future is yours for the taking. What are you waiting for?