Episode 30: Why the Secret to Success is Chasing Failure with Jane Park

We’re taught to chase success, but what if the real growth comes from chasing failure? In this episode of In Confidence, Lisa sits down with her best friend, Jane Park, founder of Julep and Tokki, and former director at Starbucks and leader at BCG, to talk about why she sets “failure goals” on purpose. Jane shares how reframing failure as a target instead of a setback can help you aim higher, take bigger risks, and uncover who you’re truly meant to be.

You’ll learn:

• Why avoiding failure is the enemy of growth and how to rewire your brain to seek it out


• The “next time this happens, I will…” method to turn regrets into learnings


• How to process rejection, face worst-case scenarios, and keep the conversation going when you hear “no”

This conversation will inspire you to rethink your relationship with failure and see it as proof that you are stretching, growing, and playing bigger than before.

00:00 Intro

01:37 Meet Jane Park

08:22 Why Jane Thinks We Should Strive to Fail

12:00 What Is a Failure Goal?

17:37 No Regrets, Only Learnings

19:51 Why Jane Adopted This Philosophy

22:47 Jane’s Failure of Character Story and What She Learned from It

32:53 How to Process Shame and Embarrassment

34:56 Shame Buddies, Holding Space, and Recognizing Toxic Positivity

39:07 Quick Questions: Ritual to Stay Grounded, Rewards for Failing, Normalizing Failure in the Workplace, Jane’s Professional Failure Rate

48:39 Why Great Risk-Taking Means Being an Expert in Failure

53:16 Try This Failure Goal This Week

55:10 Outro

56:25 Disclaimer