Many years ago I read an article from a woman who had been married and divorced a handful of times. I distinctly remember her saying something like, “When you’ve been married once and never divorced, you’re lucky. When you’ve been married and divorced, you’re an expert.”
This stuck with me—this idea of failure leading to expertise. This was long before I had even dreamed of owning my own brewery, before I understood what it felt like to risk everything, live fearlessly (while worrying about every detail), fail, and pick myself back up, only to try again. I didn’t really even understand vulnerability, courage, or resilience.
Success is revered in our society. It is a benchmark that we often aspire to, no matter the subject. Entrepreneurship, music, art, athletics—we all look to those who have succeeded. And rightly so. Of course, we want to model our own lives after those who have come before us and now have success (however you define it). But how many of us have stopped to consider someone who has failed?