Learning How to Fail

Have you ever been taught how to fail?”

What?…

It sounds strange because no one really teaches us that. We are often taught to put our best selves forward, smile through challenges, stay confident, and appear as if we have everything under control. But never when we don’t.

When I first took Daboya to a flea market, I dreamt of how people would crowd my table, asking all types of questions, admiring my work.

I was drowning in Daydreams.

But reality had other plans.

Daboya, my longing

Is this really real? Sleepless nights, endless thoughts, and the wild belief that I could sell my dreams and make them come true. Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the most unpredictable journeys, a gamble with yourself, your faith, your creativity, and your heart.

For me, it reached a point in my life where I needed to show who Fay truly is. For a long time, I wanted to create something that spoke for who I was, my thoughts, my style, my imagination. Starting that journey from scratch was not easy. From long walks with former artisans to late-night YouTube tutorials at 3 a.m., to reading and watching many podcasts, I found myself learning, failing, and trying again. I didn’t sign up for this. Picking up a thread and a handful of beads every day became my quiet act of persistence. However, through consistency, optimism, and a famous quote I always tell myself, ‘there’s always a solution’, I did it. It was mine. When I sold it, I could hardly believe it. It wasn’t just a sale; it was proof that something I imagined could live beyond me, that someone could connect to what I created.

The First Market_ A Reality Check

But of course, like any journey, there’s always a hurdle waiting when you least expect it, and this time, it was my turn at the table. When you take a risk, you have to be optimistic about it. You have to believe that your effort will meet opportunity somewhere along the way. That’s exactly how I felt heading to my first market

Shocker to myself, people passed by, glanced at my display, smiled politely, and moved on. A few stopped to look, but no one bought anything. At this point, like anyone else, doubts crept into my so-called dreams.

Am I doing too much? Maybe my products aren’t good enough? Overwhelmed by worry, I sat at the corner of my tent in disbelief from 8 am to 11 pm. I made nothing, so ultimately I did fail.  This was the end, and yet, looking back, that day it was the beginning of understanding what entrepreneurship really means.

When I got home, I couldn’t believe what had happened. I kept replaying the day in my head, trying to pinpoint what went wrong. It couldn’t be the bags, I told myself. I’ve never seen anything like them. I went back to drawing books, and it was never about the product. It was about how I presented it.

I lacked the confidence to truly believe that I can do it. In my next market, I had to fix that.

I forcefully made myself speak to people, constantly engaging them, not just selling my product but myself. I wasn’t perfect, I did shake, but I did it.

Why I say this is because sometimes in life, you’re going to fail, and that’s okay. Failure doesn’t mean you’re not capable; it simply means there’s something more to learn, something more to refine, something more within you waiting to grow. Because maybe the longing for Daboya that constant pull inside me to create something that spoke for who I am — was never meant to come easy. It had to be strengthened through failure. And maybe that’s true for you too. Maybe your dream, your passion, or your calling has to go through its own testing, not to break you, but to prepare you.

So my message is simple: don’t be afraid to fail.

In fact, go find out if you will fail  because maybe that’s exactly what you needed.

Article by Daboya

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