Nneka Onuorah is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. From the surface, her inspiring career looks well planned: She was hired full-time at Viacom (BET) after a six-week internship, then she moved her way up at BET until she left to create the award-winning film The Same Difference — a festival darling that cemented her status as LGBTQIA activist speaking around the world.

In this episode, Onuorah shares the other side of the story: The parts that don't make it on the highlight reel.

From learning she was not quite where she thought she was as a dancer, to the failed Kickstarter meant to fund her passion, Onuorah has learned that failure can be a constant and painful reminder that you are not where you hoped you'd be. However, she also learned that when you go back and start at the beginning, you can always build yourself up again in order to deliver your full potential.

Onuorah has good advice for those hard moments: "It is okay to not be perfect right away. You have to enjoy the process of growth. Give failure a hug."

Watch her tell her story in the video above.