Starting a business or creative project is scary for many reasons, but one that is often overlooked is the anxiety related to whether this is really “the one.” To some, this isn’t a valid consideration while to others this is the only consideration. Some argue that what you work on, along with who you work with are the two most pivotal decisions you’ll make and so we’ve asked folks to tell us about how they came up with their ideas and how they knew this idea was the one.

Bridgett Burrick Brown

The inspiration for the Beyond Beauty Project came from my life journey, societal observations, and professional experiences. Growing up in the Midwest, I balanced competitive dancing with family responsibilities due to my mother’s battle with multiple sclerosis. Being the only daughter in the house, I often helped my Mom get dressed and do her hair and makeup – during these intimate times, I witnessed early on in my life the impact of our appearance on a woman’s self-esteem and mental health as her body changed significantly due to the MS. This early realization sparked the inception of the Beyond Beauty Project.  Read more>>

Abigail Joseph

I have spent most of my career out of graduate school thinking dreaming up business ideas. When you enter a field that doesn’t pay a huge salary figuring out ways to make extra money is very logical. As a computer scientist with a deep love for art and all things creative, it made sense that my first step into entrepreneurship would be about technically helping people. I married this with my natural design sense and started creating websites for folks, but soon the time and commitment of teaching in K-12 schools would take over my life, and the dreams of creating a business were put on hold.  Read more>>

Chris Binotto

I’ve been in the restaurant industry my entire life, starting at the age of 15. Throughout my career I was fortunate enough to work with some incredible chefs such as Iron Chef Morimoto and Graham Eliot, winning some of the most coveted awards along the way, from 2 Michelin Stars to the Forbes Five Star Award. I had become an executive chef at 28 and established many fine dining and casual restaurants over the years. Often to escape the city and restaurant life I would take camping trips with friends and family, this is where my fascination for live fire cooking began. Read more>>

Julia Tunstall

My story actually starts out as my co-founder and husband’s story. Chris was working as a professional bartender in California and was having a hard time learning “advanced” mixology. He taught himself (the hard way!) and several years later met me! Once we were together we had the perfect team: his expertise and my operational skills. We partnered up to solve this problem and serve our industry with in-depth training videos on the internet. A Bar Above was born! We started as a YouTube channel and Blog in 2013 and added a Podcast and training courses in 2014. Read more>>

Matthew Perlman

I used to think about going all-in with my art career, but I figured, right out of college, it might be a good idea to get some real-world experience at a big company first. So, I kicked off my career working for a few fashion brands in New York City. But every move I made felt like I was just spinning my wheels, both in terms of my creativity and my personal growth. Every time I hit a roadblock, I found myself gravitating back to the canvas. It was my go-to outlet for creativity. So, I decided to pick up painting on the side, just as a side gig. But in my small New York City apartment, I found myself struggling to find the space to paint. My paints were on my bed, my canvas was leaning against my dresser. I knew that I had to find my own space. However, rents in the heart of New York City were astronomical, and anything I could afford was a long commute to get to. Read more>>

Jean Criss

Jean Criss Media, LLC After working as a leader and business exec in tech, publishing, and media for 20 years, I got laid off from my most recent corporate job in cable TV. I didn’t expect that especially as a top performer managing corporate layoffs, two sales offices, over 60 staff in two sales offices 75 miles apart from one another and holding down the fort at home. On the homefront, I had two small kids 5 and 7 at the time, was going thru a contentious divorce, settling on co-parenting plans, and enduring ongoing complications with bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, simultaneously. Read more>>

Megan Michals

In 2020, while the world was deep in the throes of the pandemic, I was battling alcoholism and going through a traumatic divorce. I had to return to the work force after five and a half years of being a stay-at-home mom. I took a leap of faith and began working as a social worker in a men’s prison in my area. I was shocked and heart broken at what I saw during my time there. The prison was full of hopeless men- most of whom were also battling addiction and mental illness. I was even more heart broken to learn how few services exist for former offenders returning to society. Read more>>

J.R. Smith

My wife and I are proud patriots meaning we are the 99% that support the 1% that wore the uniform, and my Father is a Vietnam Veteran of the United States Navy. We were all trying to come up with something that we could do to assist his fellow Veterans. We were sick and tired of reading stories about the Veteran suicide rate going up and the lack of care that they were getting after serving their country honorably. Read more>>

Sharde Calloway

I was working in Finance. I received my MBA with a concentration in Finance from Rockford University, so I was so proud and felt accomplished in life. Then the Pandemic hit, I was furloughed from the hospital I was working at as a Financial Analyst then eventually let go. I was devastated, and felt hopeless for a brief moment. Then I spoke with my parents, and they provided the words of wisdom I needed to move forward on my entrepreneurial journey.  Read more>>

Yazan Soofi

Through Arwa Yemeni Coffee, we hoped to not only shed light on the origins of coffee and aiding farmers across Yemen to flourish once again, we are in a sense, creating a home away from home. We envisioned Arwa Yemeni Coffee to be the vessel that houses our culture and the lens that focuses on the rich history of Yemen and the Yemeni people. Our objective is to bring a small piece of Yemen to the DFW community. We worked tirelessly to create a space that would transport customers to a land outside of the DFW area. At Arwa, customers get exposed to the rich Yemeni culture by experiencing hospitable service, viewing architecture, artwork, and literatures, smelling in-house roasted coffee beans and freshly grinded spices, and, of course, tasting our foods and menu of high quality coffees and teas. Read more>>

Amanda Smith

I have always loved being in the kitchen. To me, it is almost like a stress reliever but that was always the case. You see, I grew up with A LOT of food allergies. I was around the age of 2 when my mother walked in the room and saw my lips turning blue, as a result of eating a bite of a waffle, covered in peanut butter, off of my sibling`s plate. From there, we discovered just how many foods I was allergic to, and the list seemed to grow as I got older. As a result, I couldn’t enjoy the foods that many seemed to loved. This affected my life in many ways but especially in social settings. I would often say no to outings for fear that I would have an allergic reactions. As I grew into adulthood, I outgrew some of my allergies, but the more severe ones stayed with me. Read more>>

Tom Alper

I had given up acting to help take care of my family. An actor friend of mine told me had just made $400K in 2002 as a telemarketer. He told me it was a ‘gold mine’ and that I should consider coming to work with him. I figured if he made $400k, with my charisma I could easily make $500-600K in one year, and then I could quit this job and go back to acting for ten years. (since I was making about $50K a year back then). So I went to work in this telemarketing ‘boiler-room’ sales office and I quickly found out I was not going to make $600k in my first year (although I did make more money than I had ever made in any previous office job, I worked 100 times harder than any other job). Read more>>

Jaslyn Anderson

So, my passion for the beauty industry was first recognized during my junior year homecoming. I was excited to professionally get my makeup done at Sephora for the first time. A Caucasian lady who was super nice was my makeup artist for the evening. I sat in her chair, excited and nervously anticipating my results. As she spun me around in the chair and handed me a mirror, I tried my hardest not to break down and cry. I looked like a clown! She could tell I was unhappy and embarrassed she did not know how to do makeup on a person of color. Read more>>

Helen Thoenes

I had been in the fitness industry for close to a decade and had become disenchanted with the typical approach to exercise/movement which was all about trying to control “misbehaving” bodies. From my perspective, the industry was (and very much still is) focused entirely on using exercise solely for the purpose of changing what bodies look like instead of helping clients discover the joy of movement. I was part of a program that used coercion, bullying, strong-arming, and cult-like loyalty to get athletes to conform. Read more>>

Shanette Coad

I am a pastry chef my husband is a culinarian, so it only made sense that our name would have the number two in it somehow. Our “them” song is It Takes 2 by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock lol. My husband was already doing private dinners and I’d help him prep and get squared away. After I graduated from culinary school everyone would ask if we were going into business for ourselves. So we decided to just go for it and became an LLC in 2020 Read more>>

Krisztina Konya

The story of how I came up with the idea for my coaching business is a journey filled with hardship, resilience, and unwavering determination. It all began in Romania, a country gripped by communism at the time of my birth. Life there was tough, and opportunities were scarce. But I always felt a burning desire, a deep conviction, that there was something more to life for me. Read more>>

Lanre Oriowo

Actually, the name came before the product. The co-founders, Abi, Lanre, and Tony, and 2 other friends were in a group chat, vigorously and hilariously discussing an instagram post where a man was cautioning his future wife against hanging out with bitter feminists. Abi loved the moniker “Bitter Feminist”, thinking it would make a great name for a rock band. And then, bolt of lightning, Abi said it would be a great name for an alcoholic beverage that focused on sharing fun stories about women. Read more>>