One of the challenges we’ve seen to true equality of opportunity is that schools and books often can’t (or choose not) offer access to one of the most equalizing resources – first hand stories of how successful entrepreneurs made their ideas a reality. If you grew up in a family or community that had many successful entrepreneurs you may have been lucky to hear many conversations and stories about starting and executing on an idea, but there are millions of people across the country who haven’t had the same advantage and so our hope here is to create a space where those stories can be told in a more public forum for the benefit of any and every aspiring entrepreneur.
Andy Farra
My wife and I started our company about seven years ago. I was working in commercial real estate and as our demand started to pick up, I had to make a decision and transitioned into the wedding industry full time. Read more>>
Anna Zepplin
I have always loved working with my hands and creating beautiful things, jewelry, collages, embroidery, up-cycled vintage clothes. You name a craft, and I’ve probably bought all the materials and attempted to make that craft at least couple times, including some horrendous Pinterest fails. While I love creating and designing, jewelry has been the one avenue that I kept coming back to. Read more>>
La’Tosha Davis
I had a vision for The Confident Black Girl Brunch. There were beautiful melanated women of all hues twirling, sipping champagne, celebrating, and giggling freely. I wanted a space that was exclusive to us and only for us. A space where we could let our hair down, bask in the sun and have a sisterhood celebration. I had been wanting to have this brunch since 2020. Due to the pandemic my plans were canceled. Then again in 2021 I found that spark to create brunch, then hit a life hurdle of hospitalization, layoffs and started a journey to a new career. Read more>>
Samantha Wallace
When it came to wanting to start this as a small business there was a lot that I had to consider. When I started out my Instagram that was how I was conducting all of my business at first. It was mainly friends who were supporting me and I was sharing more of the photos I took during high school at events that volunteered at. However, when it came to expanding I went through and started a Facebook page to have another platform to share photos and let people know that I am open for doing sessions with anyone who wanted photos. Read more>>
Cierra Porter
When I first had the idea for a sustainable swimwear brand, I knew exactly who I wanted to partner with to accomplish my dream. My friend Aubrey Maggard was one of the first people I met and became friends with when I was in 8th grade and had just moved to Columbia, MO. Read more>>
Esther Cho
The idea of Milky & Co. started in our living room during the hot summer months of 2020. In the midst of quarantine I found myself scrolling through Instagram posts surroundeding by my newest obsession, bullet journaling. Amazed by my sister’s work, I was fascinated. Although I never posted my own journal, I was dedicated to helping my sister’s account grow by managing collaborations, editing pictures, and coming up with ideas for her newest additions. Read more>>
Prabhs Matharoo
Starting a business was a seed, in my mind, that was planted a long time ago. I saw the freedom that business owners had and also got to see some of the downfalls of having a business. I think we go through life, especially if we’re working for an employer, not knowing the amount of work that goes into running/maintaining a business in order to keep work coming through the door. Read more>>
AlphaMoses
Starting to make music for me wasn’t a quick switch. I didn’t just start writing and creating tunes and flows, it was more of a gradual accumulation of skills that got me confident enough to say “If I actually made this into a song and shared it, people might love it”. Keyword being might because not everyone is into the same style or some people just don’t like a certain song. Read more>>
Darryl Guilbeaux
The idea of designing came to me as a young child, I mean for years I designed plenty of things from pictures to toy models and even garments. I didn’t realize what I was doing until I stirred away from my talent and craft. It took me a while to find myself as a person because I went through the struggle of trying to figure out what I wanted to be in life. Read more>>
L.V. Palmes
Like any new and hungry entrepreneur, I was scared and nervous to go beyond what I first initially dreamed of. I was very inspired at an early age of all types of events and celebrations. Growing up, my mom was big on throwing house parties for any event and I was exposed to socializing with all ages at a young age. I had to learn how to be a social butterfly and entertain. Read more>>
Lauren Lockett
Creating something from nothing is one of the toughest things we have ever done in life. Calling your business your “baby” is right on the nose. My husband (then boyfriend) had the idea for myRE360 a few years before we met. He could clearly see his vision, myRE360 – an online platform dedicated to real estate investors to Learn the Business, Build their Team, Find a Deal, and Manage their Project. Read more>>
Jenn Hill
I like to say I started ZENJENN back when I was about 10 years old. My mom brought home some epsom salts and a small box of essential oils. It was the 90’s so you could really only get the basic essential oils…lavender, eucalyptus, and lemon. We made our own bath salts that day and I was hooked! From then on, I started making my own beauty and skincare creations from ingredients found in my kitchen. Read more>>
Bianca Crosby
Building an empire can be extremely challenging and hard. Especially when you have the plan already in your head and you don’t know where to start. My name is Bianca Crosby and I am a streetwear fashion designer from Chicago IL. Before, I became a well known designer, I was just known as the girl that modeled and had a large social media presence. Read more>>
Anne Watson
I have a background in advertising and corporate banking that I left behind to become a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. When my kids were young teens, I went back to work in women’s ministry which led me to become part of the host team with a conference for Christian communicators. For years I got to work with women who had dreams and ambitions but didn’t know where to start to get them off the ground. Read more>>
Matt Lerer
I come from a family of if you want something and you have a passion for it, go all in! It was simple for me because I had a lot of confidence in my passion/work and I felt it was time to introduce others to the way I see things. I researched who I would get photos printed from, what avenues I would take to get my work out there, what promoters I would have to contact in order to try and get into shows, and do I rent or buy my set ups for the shows if I get in. Read more>>
Daria W
SheIsLashed LLC started my sophomore year of college in 2018. I attended Hampton University in Hampton, VA and graduated May 2020. One day I got tired of asking my mom and other family members for money every week to eat and do fun stuff while I was in college. I decided I needed to make money but refused to work minimum wage in Virginia because it was only $7.25/hr. I thought of a couple things I could try out. Read more>>
Matthew Bentley
I come from the Trance scene and I have been producing music for years, actually. This includes video game remixes. In any case, I put out an album in March of 2021 called “Trapped in a World Between Beauty and Bass” and it had three video game remixes on it. I sent the album to my brother pre-release and he said, “You should just focus on video game remixes because your remixes are awesome.” That’s sort of how it was born, but I knew I needed more than that. Read more>>
Troy Kirby
You are never finished executing on an idea when it comes to business. The moment you think you are done, your business is about to die. I’ve run several, both bought existing businesses or created small businesses. Read more>>
Jolanda Bostick
I am an introvert. I started my writing journey at a young age because I lacked communication, shy and soft-spoken. As an adolescent, you’d think that I’d be into buying materialistic things. Absolutely not. I journaled so much that a gift to myself was a notebook. Read more>>
Wesley Kirk
I first started my business in 2007 as The Vision Beautiful, because people liked my photos and wanted to start paying me for it. I didn’t put much thought into it. People would just come to me with a film or photo project they thought I’d be good for, and I would take their money and deliver them something I thought they would like. Read more>>
Gina McGowan Cade
In 2014, I hired a guy to publish my book, but he fell short. I knew that the book I was to publish would be an encouragement for many others, so I wanted to do all I could to get it out to the hands of the public. So I found myself looking on the internet, looking for ways to make it all come together, and it happened. Read more>>
Jocelyn Sevier
KaoticKlone Productions started out as an audio production company. We produced beats and music for musicians. I have a record label that had myself and a number of artists on it. When it came to creating music videos the cost was crazy. Obviously the more professional the more it cost. My label is called Selfmademuzik. So I invested in myself as I always have. Went and bought camera equipment. Read more>>
Cazzie Lynn
When it comes to modeling, I was in a baby pageant I won and then growing up everyone was always telling me I should model. So one day I saw an opportunity to apply for a local modeling agency I went for it and i got it. That started my transition into the world. Eventually I went solo but continued to get published and make a name for myself with my own connections. Read more>>
Ana Meira
Regular Animal has been exciting, exhausting, and incredible from day one. It started by chance seven years ago when my business partner asked me to help with a project for a dream client. That project led to the next and that’s how we got here. Read more>>