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.

Jonathan Spencer

Jon first became aware of the problem of sex trafficking in 2012 while he was serving as Chief Operating Officer for a non-profit that was delivering clean water solutions to impoverished communities around the globe. At a non-profit fair, he was surprised to learn that there are actually more individuals enslaved today than at any other time in history. According to the United Nations, India was the most dangerous place in the world to be a girl, with an estimated 200,000 victims trafficked annually. Read more>>

Bastardo’s Adventures

Bastardo was gifted to me by the family of my deceased boyfriend, Ben, as a present. My late love’s family knew that I liked to run around to see shows, festivals, museums, etc. and I would often send his mother photos from my excursions. Growing up, I was a fan of Flat Stanley, the boy who was flattened and lived his life traveling from place to place. When Ben’s aunt made Bastardo for me, I instantly thought of how fun it would be for him to become, in concept, my Stanley. Read more>>

Toni Tronu

The idea to open Visual Index developed organically. Both of my parents are small business owners and I knew it was the path I wanted to take with my career. I gained useful many skills helping out at my parent’s businesses, but it was the focused experience that helped bring Visual Index to fruition. Prior to opening my own gallery, I was working as a shop manager, registrar, and photographer for an organization that specialized in the representation of North Carolina artists. Read more>>

Mascha Lina Borodin

In her early years, the native Salzburger Mascha Lina Borodin founded her own label and quickly gained recognition in the jewelry industry with her luxurious designs under the synonym Maschalina. What began with personalized creations for friends and acquaintances evolved into a well-known brand for exclusive jewelry. The collaboration with the renowned jeweler Valenta expanded the horizon of the young designer on a professional level. Read more>>

Kenneth Hatchett

I came up with this idea because I wanted to make something tangible that my son could see and be inspired by. I want him to see that anything is possible if you work hard, work smart, put your mind to it, and follow your dreams. I also want to create generational wealth and give him the opportunity to own something. I believe everyone deserves a chance to succeed, and I want to help make that happen for my son. Read more>>

Kimani Haley

I’ve always loved to read and write. I remember winning a writing contest in third grade for writing a story from the perspective of a pencil. I remember editing my friends’ boyfriends’ love letters. No one asked me to do it; it was just something that I did! I always enjoyed my English classes in grade school, too. I enjoyed the exercises in Language Arts textbooks when we worked on sentence structure, parts of speech, etc. Writing was just my thing. Read more>>

Matthew Onojafe

I started the company at the height of the pandemic. For the last few years prior cycling had become a new passion of mine and saw tremendous amounts of health benefits. With the rapid rate of COVID infections and health declines within the community, my thought was how could I share the gift of health and wellness through cycling. Read more>>

Zoë Schaeffer

For the past 10 years, I have been sending punny holiday cards to my friends and family. In 2022, an idea hit me – why limit the joy of puns to just one season? At that time, I was living in St. Louis, Missouri, where I was born and raised. I had been considering a move to Seattle, Washington to be closer to my sister and her family, and knew that I wanted the name of my business to have a tie to Missouri – Howdy Stranger Studio was created! Read more>>

Altrazo Tiller

I became tired of the typical “norm” of how artists and actors should look or sound. Mybusiness partner and I decided to create a platform that’s all inclusive for other artists who are looking to display their talent without having to conform to superficial, societal rules. Tillervision Productions LLC became that vehicle for actors, artists, and musicians to simply express their respective disciplines without having to compromise their true selves. Read more>>

Jordan Roche

I was a health coach for over a year after working through a LOT of my own physical & mental health problems. I had 7 bulging and herniated discs in my back, tendinitis in my wrists, migraines, anxiety, depression, bloating & constipation, sciatic pain and so much more. At 25 years old I was on 5-9 medications a day depending on where we stop along my journey. Read more>>

Karen Jiménez

When I went to beauty school, I never wanted to be fully behind the chair. However, I was given a cookie cutter formula of what it is to be a cosmetologist. From beauty school, to an internship at a high end salon, to becoming a hair stylist on the floor. That all seemed so anti-climatic to me. It was putting myself in a box, and as much as I tried… it just wasn’t for me. Read more>>

Abby Balluch

My partner, Marquies and I came up with the idea of Canna Brand by combining both of our passions; his being cannabis and mine being photography, we brought the two together. Read more>>

Lydia Knorr

The idea for becoming a Motivational Speaker was born from a deep rooted desire I had, from a very young age, to use my voice to inspire, empower and create positive impact. Even though my nerves were something I struggled with, it seemed that from a very young age, my stage presence awarded me attention and accolades. Read more>>

Manolo Alayeto

I’ve had a long life relationship with music. It’s part of who I am. The piano was my first love. Then came singing, playing the guitar, the ukulele, percussion and so on. I fell in love with songwriting while studying music in college and that’s when everything clicked. “Man, what if I switch majors and take on sound engineering?” Best decision I ever made. Read more>>

Lateka Starnes

On my healing journey, I came up with the idea of rebranding my company in every way possible. While on this journey, I changed my vision, mission, and brand names. Black Roses Bloom Enterprises holds several companies while adding RediscovHER magazine, Priority Media, and PR Firm. Read more>>

Marquese Dukes

As a 17 year old kid, fresh out of foster care, with not much to show for myself but a gift and a dream, I stepped onto the campus of Morehouse College. With the anchorage of my faith, and the power of my purpose which came with it, I started The Way, a college and young adult ministry. In October of 2022, during my first homecoming at Morehouse college, I said the opening prayer for the homecoming service at Martin Luther King International Chapel. Read more>>

Natasha Lambkin

At the tender age of 7, I developed an innate interest in fashion. My love for fashion stayed with me far into my teenage years. My dreams became a reality during my senior year of high school when I launched a sole proprietorship business designing prom dresses for my peers. That experience helped cultivate me into an award-winning entrepreneur. Read more>>

John Riddle

I Love To Write Day: How it Got Started By John Riddle Read more>>

Angelle Scardino, Jeff Scardino

Dips Kitchens serves dips and only dips. A concept inspired by an old family tradition — an all dip Christmas Eve dinner. Every year, Jeff’s Italian family gets together in his small hometown. Food is shared while opening gifts and revealing adolescent stories his parents never knew about nor wanted to know about. Read more>>

Steven Lenchner

I began working with color and light at the age of 13 when he started lighting plays and musicals. Read more>>

BreAnna Malancon

Busy Bee Bookings, LLC came about because I was always planning something for my family and traveling on my free time. A coworker informed me that I could be my own agent and I ran with the idea, It started out as something that was just supposed to be for me to plan my own trips, but grew great following via social media. The name was easy, it was my mom’s nickname and it fit my travel lifestyle. Here we are years later creating memories for travelers all over the world! Read more>>

Ren Rice

As an only child growing up, I was surrounded by media. Books and film were my entertainment, and I knew at a very young age I wanted to get involved with both. I was lucky to have been able to pursue the film aspect of it in my early 30s getting to work on indie films as a costumer/wardrobe stylist in CA but I had always wanted to open my own bookstore. Read more>>

Brittany Lewis

A Hundred XOXO was created out of my love of all things self care. I have 3 children and was recently divorced , and really in a space of rediscovery. I found that taking time for self care and creating self care routines really helped me cope and learn things about myself, I made it my mission to share that with other and A Hundred XOXO was born. Read more>>

Andrea Dubois

My name is Andrea DuBois and I am the woman behind “Hands By Dre and Hair Care By Dre”. I started doing hair at the age of 15 and at the time I just wanted to look fly and keep my friends and family fly as well. As time went on I realized that I have a gift but this was my calling in life. I officially started Hands By Dre in 2017. Read more>>

Heather Hall

For the past 16 years, I had devoted my life to teaching students with autism. Each day, I entered my classroom, filled with a diverse group of incredible young minds, each unique and special in their own way. These children held within them a world of untapped potential, and my goal was to unlock it, one lesson at a time. However, I soon realized that there was a significant gap in resources for teachers like me. Read more>>

Latifah Creer

I really enjoy modeling. I’d have to say what got me into modeling is that I enjoy and love taking pictures. I really like trying on clothes because my style is a bit different from everyone elses. My own unique style is what makes me love taking pictures and capturing my bold outfits. When it comes to my style, I don’t like to match. Read more>>

Gregory Garza

Coming up with the idea for our business was something that we had always talked about when we played professional soccer for the longest time. We realized that throughout the longevity of our careers, the consistency within the success that we had was much more than just the God given talent that we had at our feet. It was much more based on the mindset that we had throughout each and every phase, journey, and environment that we were in at that given time. Read more>>

Denisse Cano

The idea originally came as a Mother’s and Graduation Day present. My mom had recently graduated from San Diego State University and I had decided to put together two things I thought she could enjoy. Beautiful flowers and a nice bottle of wine. I created a garland with the flowers and placed it above the closure of the wine bottle. Read more>>

Miguel Ramirez

Ramirez Creations was something that initially started as a photo-only type of service, but I knew early on that I did not want to restrict it to just photography. I wanted a business that was multifaceted. I have proficiency in video editing/color grading, camera operation, graphic design, and audio mixing experience as well. I was able to implement these varied skills and be a well-rounded asset to any film/TV or event production set. Read more>>

Rachel Olson-Pruneda

I was a single mom on a very limited income. I had wanted to have a published book for years, but never realized it could be a reality until I started seeing others talk about self-publishing. The more I researched, the more I discovered that there were other elements that I simply could not afford. So I began to teach myself very basic design. My first several covers were HORRIBLE, but I spent countless hours researching and practicing until I finally felt confident enough to use my learned skills to help others in similar financial predicaments. Read more>>

Nichole Martini

The inception of Raven & Moon is a story deeply rooted in personal growth, a quest for authenticity, and a genuine desire to create a community that reflected the values of its founders, Melissa and myself. The idea was not a response to market trends; instead, it emerged organically from our own spiritual journeys. Read more>>

Adam Dashevsky Samuel Sarfo

Adam: Sam and I were in a “hip-hop heads” Ohio State groupchat, and I was in there writing to the void. No one would answer me. One day, Sam, who I did not know at all at the time, reached out to me about the idea of starting a music podcast. We shared this common love and obsession for hip-hop and music in general. Read more>>

Brittney Batson

During my college years, the desire to delve into dance classes and pursue my passion burned within me, yet financial constraints and a demanding schedule as a full-time student and provider for myself held me back. However, I harbored the belief that post-graduation, with a steady income, I could allocate resources to fuel my dancing aspirations. True to my vision, upon relocating to Houston, I discovered my first dance studio and wholeheartedly committed myself. Read more>>

Joseph Luckett

My journey to understand networking began in June of 2010 when I was invited to a meeting by a friend. I never knew something like this Read more>>