March 23, 2017

Let's learn from failure

Share the goods.

Failure Sucks
Failure can really suck. It’s embarrassing. It derails your confidence. It can be held over your head for months to come.
But when failure happens, it can be an extremely valuable asset.
Some of Team834 were asked to be co-hosts for Generation Grand’s twitter chat about failure on Wednesday night. This was in anticipation of the upcoming PRSSA Failure:LAB event in April. We shared our thoughts on failure, and were able to engage with some great people about how we all deal with it, experience it, and make it through.
Here are some highlights of the discussion:
Twitter chats are actually a thing, and they’re fun! They’re also a great way to connect with people. (Okay this one isn’t exactly about failure, but we thought we’d share for those of you who aren’t up to speed on the Twitterverse)

Failure doesn’t mean you’re bad at your job. A lot of people equate failure with a lack of skill or intelligence, but that is far from the truth. Failure means that you tried something, which shows you are willing to take a risk.
Failure for us involves a lot of swearing, alcohol, and pizza rolls, and that’s okay. Having a momentary breakdown is totally acceptable as long as you keep it at a moment and you then buck up and move on.
There is always an opportunity to learn from a failure, and it gives you new perspectives that can be leveraged. Be sure you find and leverage the learning opportunity in each of your failures.
When we fail, we find inspiration in others around us. We surround ourselves with successful people who hopefully rub off a bit and pull us up, and we educate ourselves on the badass people that have come before us.
PR pros need to have resilience, drive, confidence, and a decent sense of humor to be able to effectively recover from a failure.

All and all, failure is a part of life. We all experience it. It’s everything from forgetting your wallet, to missing a deadline at work or having a relationship break up. It’s how you move on from failure that sets you apart, we like to see that some many of us are willing to accept failure and use it to improve ourselves. Also, we learned that pizza rolls always help in every situation.

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Panel table set up with microphones, water bottles and name cards for a perimenopause discussion featuring three guest panelists.

It Is Time to Have More Uncomfortable Conversations About Perimenopause

Kim stands at the front of a room. She's holding a microphone giving a speech to a room full of PR professionals.

Keeping Humans in the AI Loop: A Guide to Responsible AI Adoption

Something on Your Mind?

A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

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A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

Who made all these rules anyway?

Don’t wear color. Don’t share your ideas. Don’t put yourself out there. Don’t talk about your family.

We’re told to follow them, but @bodespeaks says question every single one. Then uncover your big hairy audacious goal, throw out the rulebook, and build a personal brand that actually works for you.

Thank you to Aggie and Cristy for having Kim on the @badass_women_in_business Podcast and, well... for being total badasses.

Listen to the full episode in bio.

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

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The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

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We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

Showing up to an interview with an iced coffee? Not the move… unless it’s for @bodespeaks

#icedcoffee #agency #PR #trending #grandrapids

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