Leah Michelle

I attribute my success to believing in myself even when others don't. As an entrepreneur, you get called crazy and insane all the time, but having the confidence to say 'I know that you can't see the site, and that's why I have it, so let me continue, and then I can share it with you in a way that you'll be able to have the site' is what has kept me going. It's about having that vision and trusting it, even when no one else can see it yet. That belief in myself, especially when working on projects that others don't understand, has been the foundation of everything I've built.

The best career advice I ever received was to believe in yourself, even when others don't. This isn't just career advice, it's a life thing too. When you're an entrepreneur, people throw 'you're crazy' and 'you're insane' at you constantly. Having the confidence to say 'I know that you can't see the vision, and that's why I have it, so let me continue, and then I can share it with you in a way that you'll be able to see it' has been what keeps me going. It's about trusting your vision even when others can't see what you see yet.

You are here for a purpose. You are here for a reason. We need every brilliant idea that you have to share. Do not let the glass ceiling or the male-dominated anything phase the fact that what you have is key. We need the feminine energy mixed with the masculine energy all blended together, and it's the ones that are willing to beam the brightest that are going to see that they are not beaming alone. Once you stand in this, you will not fall. You will be supported by those who are around you. It is scary entering into the tech industry, but when you realize the phenomenal, powerful women who are actually here, who are actually rooting for you, it's incredible. I encourage all to join. Find your communities, find those tribe folks that will elevate and help you know your worth, because you are worth it.

The biggest challenge is doing it not the solo way. It's very difficult to find a working path in groups that will readily accept the things I do in a way that aligns with modern business practices. Finding people interested in what I activate isn't hard at all - as soon as I talk to people, they're 100% interested. It's the matching and pairing of art and business that is a struggle. I can say I don't have that superpower of conversion, email generation, and lead generation, so I've been a student in that area. Making this financially beneficial is difficult, especially when so many organizations and platforms we've used as bread and butter are closing down. I've watched Ready Player Me shut down after I built custom avatar experiences there, 8th Wall shut down, and Spatial phased out the creators who initially got the hype going. But I'm still here, still building, and I will never stop. It's the creators that make these platforms - without us, they would be nothing. So don't fret, there will always be something else that comes along. The only thing that would hold me back is me sitting and allowing them to close down and saying that's it.

I value self-discovery and self-love above all. Self-love is definitely one of my biggest things that I want the world to be reminded of. We're told so often to go outside of self first, but if you're going outside of self first, you haven't asked yourself the questions that you need to ask to find out what you need from outside. I always want people to take the time to get to know yourself, and also give yourself space and grace to become that next version of yourself. There's going to be things that change - don't be brittle to the you that is flexible and fluid and becoming. I look for and love people who don't say 'I failed' but instead say 'I'm still on this path, I'm still navigating. It hasn't failed because I'm still going.' That resilience and self-compassion are everything to me.