Crisis To Catalyst: 7 Entrepreneurs Who Turned Failure Into Fuel

Forbes

04-04-2025

Failure hits like a truck. It shatters confidence, drains motivation, and makes you question everything you thought you knew. But failure is inevitable. What separates the exceptional from the average is what they do when it arrives.
The most successful entrepreneurs I know take the energy of failure, all that disappointment, frustration, and pain, and convert it into rocket fuel for their next chapter. They use crisis as a catalyst for something bigger than would have been possible without it. They thrive.
These entrepreneurs didn't let failure hold them back. And neither should you.
Executive coach Jane Galloway was thriving in her NHS career when crisis struck from multiple directions. "My mum's diagnosis and death from secondary breast cancer, getting divorced, having a diabetes diagnosis and experiencing bullying at work," she recalls. Any one of these challenges would be significant. Together, they created the perfect storm.
Instead of collapsing under the pressure, Galloway started her own business (Quiet the Hive) while working through these personal and professional crises. What kept her going? "Seeing the impact I was having for the women I was working with, and taking my own advice."
The outcome transformed her professional trajectory completely. "I stepped away from a 24 year career in the NHS to go full in on my business." Sometimes the most painful workplace experiences become the push we need to pursue what we truly want.
Author Christopher Anselmo's crisis began with a devastating diagnosis, finding out he had, "a rare muscle disease at age 21." Three years later, the emotional impact hit full force. "I had a panic attack and landed in the emergency room. I didn't know how to move forward with my life."
Instead of giving up, Anselmo discovered a new purpose. "I started writing and speaking about my healthcare journey, which gave me a new purpose and desire to help others." That purpose evolved into an entirely new career path. "I am a writer today. I am finishing a book about my journey and write a newsletter called Hello, Adversity," with over 3,000 subscribers.
What could have remained simply a medical crisis became the catalyst for a meaningful new direction that helps countless others with their own health challenges.
What happens when decades of career stability suddenly vanish? Historian Simon Green faced this at age 56. "Made redundant from a large famous British corporation having emigrated to South Africa." Two years of uncertainty followed, with Green "doing some creative writing and photography refresher courses."
During downtime, Green's passion for a specific type of blockhouse hinted a career pivot. "10 years later and the passion was an obsession that I intended to convert into a book." But this new direction faced significant obstacles. "Every publisher in the military history genre in South Africa and the UK turned me down saying it was 'too risky, too niche, and won't sell'." Rather than accepting these rejections, Green decided to self-publish.
The result? "Another four years later, I've written three books, I've sold 1,500 books in several formats, globally and I'm about to start a PhD on blockhouses!" Green's philosophy distills resilience into four words: "Never ever say never!" When one career door closed, he found multiple new doors to open.
Business coach Brianna Johnston's entrepreneurial journey began during her darkest personal crisis. "I was 16 years old when I started my first business. In the depths of an eating disorder and anxiety that meant I often couldn't leave my house." Her mental health challenges created profound existential questions. "I would wake up every day and feel so insignificant, wonder what the point was of life, how could I possibly go on when I felt like this? I couldn't see a way out."
Starting a business became a lifeline. "I started my business as a way to fuel some thinking and brain power." During her darkest moments, Johnston recognized the future significance of her struggle. "Even on the days my anxiety and eating disorder felt so consuming, I realized THIS would one day be my story."
That perspective transformation kept her going. She knew "that one day I'd share my story that if I can build a company, anyone can. Because there's always hope and there's always light."
The outcome exceeded her wildest expectations. "I've now been running my business for 12 years and have built something truly incredible in the online space; showing other business owners how to build their business and live in overflow." Johnston also created BriBot with Coachvox, to share her expertise beyond her time. What began as a desperate search for meaning became the foundation for business success and helping others find their own path.
Identity alignment coach Antonio Strunjak faced a crisis of recognition similar to Risch's, but with an added spiritual dimension. "I started in corporate, coaching hundreds of people inside a fast-scaling company. Clients saw massive transformations. The company scaled to 7-figures monthly. But I was stuck, overworked, underpaid, and told 'no' when I asked for a raise, despite delivering results that spoke for themselves."
The rejection was compounded by a manipulative appeal to his values. "The CEO, same age and origin, dismissed my ask with 'I thought you were doing this to get closer to God.'" A belated offer came only when Strunjak demonstrated his seriousness. "A 60% raise offer followed when I quit. Too late."
This professional crisis catalyzed a fundamental life decision. "I walked away. No backup plan, just a decision: I would never let someone else put a ceiling on me again." Instead of fear, Strunjak focused on purpose. "How I kept going? Loving service over fear. I coached relentlessly. Clients came. Word spread. Business grew."
The outcome transformed both his business and approach to life. "Today, I work with high-level leaders, helping them reclaim the life they lost on the way up without sacrificing what they've built. Because everyone deserves both success and fulfillment." Personal hardship continued alongside professional growth, as "in the year of starting the business, I also lost my father to brain cancer and had a wedding to plan." Yet the crisis had revealed a profound truth: "All we do is merely a reflection of our mindset."
Can a childhood game become your second career? Online educator Missy Walker faced the identity crisis that retirement often brings. "After retiring, I found myself clueless on where to go next. 20+ years in teaching. Yes, I needed to retire, but I'd hit rock bottom in so many ways, financially, emotionally, spiritually, and most importantly I felt like I was no longer needed."
Instead of accepting this loss of purpose, Walker decided to "reinvent" herself. She began with a passion that might have seemed frivolous to others. "I started playing jigsaw puzzles daily. Then I started winning speed puzzling competitions too."
Playing puzzles offered Walker a stable environment to regroup and focus, but it needed financing. "I started a blog about tips and tricks for playing jigsaw puzzles and focused on the trend of speed puzzling and jigsaw puzzle events." She decided to turn it into a business.
"It's not been easy. I had to learn WordPress, and then the SEO world, all while writing and sharing my posts looking for my audience." But the transformation from crisis to catalyst created multiple forms of success. "The blog is making money with posts and ads. My desire to be teaching online classes on speed puzzling and jigsaw puzzle tips happens weekly. And I'm happy, so very happy!" A retirement crisis created an entirely new career, combining past skills with new passions.
PR specialist Faye Hatton faced compounding crises with limited time to adjust. Having been a "stay-at-home mum for eight years after a successful PR career" she faced a devastating double-blow: "Lockdown and marriage breakdown within six months of going freelance."
Taking immediate responsibility kept her going. She had no choice. "My business fuelled my independence and passion for work. The children were my reason to keep strong and healthy." That motivation transformed a personal crisis into a professional opportunity.
The outcome extended far beyond survival. "Five years freelancing. Business growth. Happiness. Singledom. And now I'm beginning to coach single parent entrepreneurs." Hatton found business success and the ability to help others facing similar challenges.
Every story follows a similar pattern. Crisis hits. Options narrow. The easy path is giving up, scaling back, and accepting defeat. But these entrepreneurs choose a different response. They use the crisis as a beginning. A reason to act. Not proof of their limitations. But as evidence of their untapped potential.
They convert the energy of failure into fuel for something new. Something that often wouldn't have been possible without the very crisis that threatened to destroy them.
Your current crisis might be the catalyst for your greatest achievement. Not because crises are good, but because your response to them can transform both you and your future. The question isn't whether you'll face crises, you will. The question is whether you'll let them define your limits or reveal your possibilities.