Yuko Shimizu

Some great advice from Yuko Shimizu:

First of all, love what you do. If you are not in love with what you do you can never compete in a field where everyone else have so much passion in what they do.
Have high ambitions, and work harder than your ambitions. School may be a hard work, but you will soon realize that you have to work even harder in the real world. Hard work is not so hard if you are in love with what you do.
Let yourself experiment and grow. Be open to constructive criticism. You are an artist and not craftsman who's job is to create the same things over and over again.
Don’t forget that you are running a small business as well as being an artist. Learn to be a good business person. Be nice.
Don’t ever try to be someone else who is already in the field. Be the best of who you are and who you can become. Try and aim to create something nobody else has done/seen.

I highly recommend reading the rest of her advice here.