Three Women Say a ‘Delusional' Mindset Built Their Successful Businesses

From resilience and risk-taking to sharp instincts and the ability to bounce back, success in business is often tied to familiar traits-but three women who built thriving companies say one less talked-about quality helped them push past doubt and keep backing their ideas when nothing felt certain.

According to a Shopify-Gallup Entrepreneurship study, 62 percent of U.S. adults would prefer to be their own boss, with more than half (52 percent) willing to take on financial risk.

"I've been delusional for seven years now," Jelena Skene told Newsweek.

The 37-year-old recalled feeling panicked as her notice period at her full-time job-paying almost $80,000 per year-came to an end in 2019.

"Most of my friends thought, when I quit my job, I was completely ‘delulu' and that I will be back within six months (sometimes I did too), but that never came true," she said.

Skene quit her job as head of digital marketing to launch a marketing agency and later became a co-founder of Pressflow, a PR platform connecting journalists and experts.

While she described starting her own business as a "crazy decision," she said she never looked back.

London-based Skene said: "Most days are amazing, and then there are some when you really feel completely delusional, but I feel like that delusion is what often turns into success, at the end."

‘The Only Thing That Keeps You Going'

More than half of existing founders (57 percent) who participated in the Gallup study credit encouragement from people in their lives as a key factor. But not everyone receives that initial support.

Jessica Strickland, co-founder and CEO of a matchmaking agency, said her loved ones thought she was "crazy" when she walked away from her $100,000 salary as a boutique matchmaker.

The 32-year-old, based in Austin, Texas, told Newsweek: "When you've been told ‘no' a hundred times, worked 80-hour weeks, and worried about making payroll or paying your mortgage, that's the only thing that keeps you from feeling like a complete lunatic."

After years working in the dating industry, Strickland decided to launch Matchmaker AI, an artificial intelligence powered matchmaking platform for professionals.

"It is built off feedback I got from singles about what they did and didn't like about dating apps," she said.

Strickland added that having "an unreasonably high-risk tolerance and delusional confidence" in herself helped bring her vision to life.

‘Fake It Until You Make It'

Zakia Moulaoui Guery, 39, agrees that belief can play a critical role in success.

"The ‘fake it until you make it' motto is true and good to follow," she told Newsweek.

Guery is the founder of Invisible Cities, a social enterprise that trains people with lived experience of homelessness to lead city tours and share their stories.

After battling bowel cancer at 26, Guery, from England, quit her job as director of international partnerships at Homeless World Cup.

"I wanted to make a difference myself by starting something new that would give people a practical chance to tell their stories. So, my cancer really made me take the plunge. I thought, well I didn't die so let's do it!" she said.

What Experts Say About ‘Delusional' Confidence

While all three entrepreneurs agree that there is an element of "delusion" that keeps them convinced their ideas will succeed, careers expert Abi Hall is not entirely convinced by the label.

"I do think there is often an element of irrational confidence behind successful entrepreneurs, but I wouldn't necessarily call it delusion," she told Newsweek.

Hall, the co-founder of Just Starting Out, a startup-customer connection platform, explained that founders must believe in something long before there is any evidence it will work, as there are often no customers, testimonials or guarantees in the early stages.

She said the key difference lies in how that belief is applied. Rather than blind optimism, she said successful founders tend to have an informed conviction-remaining aware of the risks while choosing to push forward regardless.

According to Hall, those who succeed are constantly learning, adapting and adjusting course when needed, while staying focused on the bigger picture.

"I've certainly experienced this myself," she said, adding there have been moments where it would have been easier to quit.

"Building a platform from scratch has taken far longer than I imagined, but we never stopped believing in what it would become. To some people, that probably looked irrational. To us, it was believing in it long before anyone else did."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Emma Lee-Sang.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 4:18 AM.