The 4 Photos That Changed How These Founders Think About Business Do you have a photo that speaks to you? One that you look to for inspiration? Four successful founders showed us the photos they love, and shared the inspiration they draw from it.

In the often murky world of running a business, it helps to have a North Star — something to guide you when the pressure is relentless, the data seems unclear, distractions are everywhere, and your CFO casually mentions that his month-long silent retreat in Big Sur starts tomorrow. For some, that guiding light might be a mantra-like quote (for instance, Sun Tzu's "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity") or even a poster tacked to the door ("Keep calm and..."). For others, a photograph holds all the meaning, memory, and motivation they need to steer theship through stormy weather.

Consider the power of a simple photo: Those few inches of paper, those few drops of ink — or, you know, those few hundred thousand pixels — have an almost magical ability to transport you back in time, to connect you to your deeply held values, to inspire, to motivate, to thrill. Just ask these four CEOs, each one a leader of a breakthrough company. Here, they each share the photo they turn to for guidance during turbulent times.

Julia Hartz, Cofounder and CEO, Eventbrite, says…

In a dark-paneled room, around an imposing conference table, sit 22 middle-aged men and one dynamic, gorgeous figure at the front — wearing a brilliant aqua-blue dress, hands folded in her lap, and a look of confidence, determination, and perhaps a little bit of terror behind her eyes. This is Katharine Graham in 1975, and to me, this photo is a symbol of a CEO leading The Washington Post through some of the most tumultuous times it's ever seen.

I first saw this picture about a decade ago, when I read Graham's memoir. She had never run a company before, and she never imagined she'd be the CEO, but after the unexpected death of her husband, she stepped in and stepped up. And one of the biggest things she had to handle was Watergate. Yes, she had some trepidation about her role — she wrote that she would do things like practice saying 'Merry Christmas' over and over again before a work holiday party. That resonated with me because I feel like, at times in my career, I've been two to three times more prepared than the average person. But the other thing that spoke to me is that everybody has to be a first-time CEO, and the realization that, even if it doesn't always feel natural, after years of learning and growing, you're actually ready.

Looking at this picture, I feel grateful for people like Katharine who carved a path for women to lead big companies and sit at the boardroom table. It reminds me that in 62 years, we've come a long way. I mean, the scene in this picture couldn't be farther from what you'd see at an Eventbrite board meeting. Our board is 87.5% female, and there's racial diversity, diverse backgrounds, diverse ways of thinking. But this photo also reminds me — given how low the numbers are for female representation in both public company CEO positions and on public company boards — how much further we have to go.

Anytime I'm in a position where I need to influence others through principles and I need to be resolute, I think about leaders like Katharine. And I ask myself, 'What would Katharine do?'

Kind of kidding…but not really.

No, I'm actually not kidding.

To me, she's the epitome of grit and resilience, of grace under pressure. I'm inspired by her strength."

Related: 5 Ways to Fix Your Lack of Inspiration

Blake Scholl , Founder and CEO, Boom Supersonic, says…

This is the very first Concorde test flight in Britain in April of 1969, as it was getting ready to land in Gloucestershire, England. You can see that lots of people — families, kids — had come out to see what everyone thought would be the future of air travel. About a decade earlier, we'd gone from propeller planes to the first jet airliners that were literally twice as fast, and now here comes the Concorde, which was supposed to be the next great leap forward.

And yet when I look at this picture, the dominant emotion I feel is sadness. Really deep sadness. Because this is an aspirational view of the future of flight that no longer exists. And not because we've replaced it with something better, but because we never figured out how to take it mainstream. At the same time, staring at the photo, I feel driven to finish what was started.

I began thinking about supersonic travel in 2004, when I was visiting a museum in Seattle. One of the last Concordes was on display, and I remember seeing the airplane and thinking, 'What happened? Why is the most impressive passenger plane ever built in a museum?' About 10 years later, when I started Boom, I came upon this photo. It instantly became a motivator for me. I wanted to restart the supersonic innovation machine and fix the things that were wrong about the Concorde — like its lack of affordability, sustainability, and convenience — and pick up where it left off. For me, there's both great inspiration and motivation in this photo, and I use it in talks to illustrate that a faster and more sustainable future of travel is overdue and well within our reach.

This photo also reminds me of another first flight: the one made by the Wright Brothers. They were bicycle mechanics — complete outsiders — and no one expected them to invent the airplane. One of the advantages outsiders have is that they haven't spent an entire career learning all the stale, conventional wisdom. I didn't have time to go get a four-year degree in aerospace, let alone a whole career in the field. I had to get to the 'first principle' truths [boiling a problem down to what you know to be true, and starting again from there]. When I did, it stripped away what everyone else believed to be true and allowed me to focus on what could be. The question of 'Who thinks in first principles?' has been hugely influential for us as we build this company. It's one of the key things we look for when we hire because if a couple of bicycle entrepreneurs can invent the airplane, we can't write anybody off. Innovation can come from anywhere."

Related: How to Go From Procrastination to Inspiration

Angie Hicks, Cofounder, Angi (formerly Angie's List), says…

I took this picture of a sunrise at an Angi's offsite in Miami, and every time it pops up on my phone, it reminds me that I get to start anew. When you're running a business, it's important to say, 'OK, whatever didn't quite go right yesterday, or did go right, let's learn from it, and see how we're going to change things.' It might even mean doing the exact same thing, but trying it in a slightly different way, because you want to get to success today.

I remember the early days of starting Angie's List, now 30 years ago. I was just out of college, and things were not going well. One day ran into the next, and they were all hard. Honestly, I was pretty upset. I was only selling maybe one membership a day and I had this realization: This was not a summer job. This was my career. This was it! So I called my cofounder, who was more of an advisor, and we met at a bakery down the street from the office, and I was like, How do I get through this? He gave me a pep talk, and I didn't say much, but I did tell him I wasn't going to quit. I learned early on that starting a business is a marathon. Sure, you'll have your big wins down the road, but if you're not celebrating those small wins, those everyday wins — and if you don't treat every day like a chance to have a win — you just burn yourself out. So now I think about work in little moments rather than the big milestone moments.

I waited a while to take this picture. I was hoping those rain clouds would clear and that the barge would move out of the frame. But that didn't happen, and in the end, both made the photo better. And those footprints at the bottom of the picture? In a way, they're like work: Sometimes we get caught up in something that didn't turn out as planned — but watching the tide wash them away made me realize that not any one of them is so important that it has to rule the day. I often say to our team, 'Let's make sure that we're keeping things in perspective. We're not running an ER here.'"

Related: The Difference Between Inspiration and Motivation

Miguel Garza, Cofounder, Siete Foods, says…

This photo captures one of life's little moments that you might just gloss over, but when you look at it through the lens of understanding what Siete has become and who our family is, it's almost prophetic. The picture was taken 32 years ago at the kitchen table in the home where we grew up, in Laredo, Texas. There's my sister Veronica getting ready to blow out her birthday candles on her 11th birthday — seven years before she was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions — and me, the annoying little brother. I'm getting ready to, well, let's say I'm getting ready to 'assist' her with the candles. In the picture, you can see my sister, a seasoned older sibling with Ninja-like reflexes, pull back her hair, cover my mouth, and continue with her mission. Siete is a family business and, yes, I'm the leader, but in the family hierarchy, I sit at the bottom. I'm still the baby. And when I look at this photo with her hand covering my mouth, I'm like, 'This still happens today!'

The picture reminds me that even though I run the business, we would not be successful if I was the only one speaking. One thing we talk a lot about in the organization is humility. As a leader, you're not infallible, so to me, the metaphor of somebody putting their hand over my mouth says a lot. If someone stops me or alerts me to something I may have done wrong, they're actually doing right by me because they're helping me to listen, understand, and then subsequently be better fit to lead. Encouraging people to do this gives them permission to participate and challenge and be a part of the organization.

What's it like working with family? Well, a lot of the answer is in this photo. For one thing, we're gathered around the table, which we do today — we still eat lunch together. The moment is centered on food, and, of course, our business is building a better-for-you Mexican-American food brand. But our core values are also present: 'Family first, family second, business third' and 'juntos es mejor' — or 'together is better' — really does embody the culture we try to cultivate within Siete. Looking at this old photo, you realize how much influence you get from life's simple moments."

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