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On Saturday, Bradley Cooper revealed that he auditioned for the legendary Spike Lee and was rejected. When I heard this story I immediately thought about his tenacity, his willingness to never give up, his belief in himself. Sure he probably had good days and bad days, sometimes wanting to give up on his dreams but he didn’t. He says that he was rejected THOUSANDS of times yet he persisted. He continued to audition. He trained, honed his craft, and never gave up.

I attended a Paparrazzi conference yesterday where the keynote speaker was one of the company’s founders Trent Kirby. He encouraged us to fail. That may sound funny but is t that exactly how Bradley Cooper and so many others have achieved their success. He failed. He failed to get that part with Spike Lee but did that deter him. NO! We are going to fail but we must fail forward, get back up and try it again. Be engaged in our business, our dream; fail, learn from that failure and try again.

Be like Bradley Cooper! Remember that great people fail all the time. We may not see all their failures. We may not see any at all, but as a student of history, Trent reminded me yesterday that greatness doesn’t come from always winning. In order to truly be great, there will be times when you fall short of your goals. The key yo greatness is how you respond to your failures. Do you give in and give up? Or, do you pick yourself up, fail forward, learn and try again?