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I believe we can learn as much from failure as from success. It's with that in mind that I offer Failure Friday: short stories about mistakes, missteps, and disasters.
Today's story comes from Sascha in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who sells handcrafted jewelry on Etsy and Google. Early on, a customer who bought four pairs of earrings left a highly negative review — unhappy with the design, quality, and price — and refused to compromise. Despite Sascha's offers to make it right, the review became the first thing anyone saw on her listings.
At the same time, her emotional health was suffering and she was caring for a family member with dementia. Then she had a crazy idea: she wrote a post directly addressing the reviewer, telling the truth about what she'd done to fix the problem and how it had affected her life. It took several days to write, and there were tears in her eyes as she read it back.
The response was overwhelming. The post drew great feedback, pushed the negative review out of the spotlight, and the next day she had five sales — plus messages telling her how powerful her honesty was. The whole experience changed how she thinks about customer service and who she's meant to be.
"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat." Have a question? Visit SideHustleSchool.com/questions.
