Going from idea to execution isn’t easy. Part of the difficulty is that often there is no playbook to follow and while we can’t offer a playbook either, we wanted to create a space where aspiring entrepreneurs could read the stories of how some very smart, very thoughtful entrepreneurs form the community got started.

Anne De la Parra

I have always been a decrete and concrete person but when I started to plan the idea of my own Pilates studio it scared a lot. It all began because I moved to the suburbs and I could not find a studio that I loved around the area. Read more>>

Jonathan Breaux

I recently finished my first feature film, Loss of Essence. Having recently moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2020, I had made a handful of short films and worked for a Hollywood director, and I knew that making a feature film was going to be my next undertaking. I knew I had a certain budget to work with, and I shaped my story with that in mind. I drew inspiration from filmmakers own stories like Stanley Kubrick and Christopher Nolan and wrote a story that was new and fresh but also something that was contained and that I could film in my family’s farm in Natchez, MS. I wrote three drafts of the script, and after I had it in a good place, I starting casting it. The casting process was challenging because I had a specific need from all of my characters, and I wanted to find the most talented actors with a super low budget. During the casting, I also spent time scouting locations, working on the costume and prop design, and gearing up our camera package. I chose to shoot this on 16mm film. You have to be very prepared and run various camera tests when working with film stock because, unlike shooting digital, film is a finite material and it can be costly. We shot the film in October of 2021 and had a great time. Everyone got along with one another and we managed to shoot a feature film in 12 days with a crew of about 6 people. I would often shoot all day and cook for everyone at night. It was like summer camp for filmmaking. We really enjoyed ourselves and worked hard. I spend the following year editing the film, working with my composer Théo on the score, coloring, and sound mixing. The post production process definitely took the longest. I was able to secure distribution with Buffalo 8, and we are excited to be releasing the film on February 2nd. It will be available to rent or buy on platforms like Amazon and iTunes. When I look back on this endeavor, I was so nervous and scared of doing it, but it was the greatest film school I could ever ask for. The lessons I learned while making this film will be some of the most important in my career. Read more>>

Yasmin Mistry

I was volunteering with youth in the foster care system as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) while simultaneously running a design and animation business (idesygn creative). Read more>>

Yohalmo Coto

Before I started doing drone work I was a full time commercial truck driver. I drove locally but work days where 12 hours long 5 days a week. Sometimes weekend. The way I got into drone work was originally through learning videography. Read more>>

Yolandra Powell

I have been in the Childcare Industry for 30 years , I absolutely love what I do, it is my passion. It started from a part time job at a daycare center when I graduated from high school, I was going to college in the fall but was uncertain of my major. It was then that I realized my gift in childcare. I was 18 years old, and now I am 48 years old, a successful Childcare Business owner, author, speaker, Childcare Coach, advocate and guru in the Childcare Industry. Read more>>

Dodley “Seaux9” Joseph

In 2004, the seed of my artistic journey was planted when I wrote my first song. Fast forward to 2009, and stepping into the studio for the first time breathed life into my musical aspirations. The following year, I ventured into beat-making, crafting the sound that would define me. Read more>>

 Josh Bone

I struggled through active addiction for over a decade, (24-35) spending time in 5 sober living homes across the state of NC. Throughout that time, I would frequent countless state funded detox facilities and hospitals along with multiple jails. Upon release, there were rarely any options other than returning to the same place I came from and that only exasperated the cycle of despair. It was painful, monotonous and hopeless. Read more>>

Tammy Rapp

When I decided to open my own hair salon 9 years ago, I knew I had to be unique enough to stand out from the 50,000 other salons located in California. I was never good with fashion or decor. But there was one thing that has remained constant throughout my entire life…horror movies. It was 1981 when it all started, with a boxum vamp movie host by the name of Elvira. Read more>>

Diana Michelle

When my fascination with nail art sparked, I was caught in the grind of a regular 9-5 job, barely scraping by. Money was tight, and investing in nail supplies seemed like a luxury. Initially, I didn’t have a clear vision—taking on clients or owning a salon wasn’t on my radar. What drove me was the joy of capturing nail processes and creating content around them. Read more>>

Ashtin Holman

When I first began my interest and passion in photography and videography, I was young and going into high school. The beginning of The Holman Effect Photography started 7 years ago when I was first doing photography as just a hobby. I was the friend and family member who always wanted to take photos and videos because I love memories and I loved the art in photography. Since I was young I have always been artistic. Whether it was writing, drawing, painting, and taking photos. That was my vision of art. As time goes on I continued to grow my passion for the art of photography when I would practice with my friends and with myself. I realized in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, that I wanted to take my skill and passion more seriously. I had to figure out a name for myself because I knew I wanted this business to be a legacy for my family and I. I had to figure out how I could continue to gain trust from others during this journey. I had to think of how I would be able to balance being an entrepreneur as I am entering into college. As I enter college in August 2020, I put myself out there as a person, as a friend, as a student-athlete, and as a entrepreneur. I started learning how marketing was a big asset as being an entrepreneur. As I was setting everything up, the name The Holman Effect Photography came to me as the perfect name. I came up with that name because I wanted people to know what type of effect they were working with. It’s not just any effect. It’s The Holman Effect. Read more>>

Tamira Dunn

COVID was one of the most difficult yet eye opening time for most of us. I had so much time on my hands Read more>>

Sandra Garcia

I take a look at what’s needed and start from there. When I first started Papelitos Lindos I started creating because of the lack of connection I felt in stationery products. I once went to the National Museum of Mexican Art, took a look at their card options, and thought to myself “I could do this” and so I did. Now my cards are sold in that exact gift shop that inspired me to create. You often see things in Spanish but they’re not always created with the Latinx community in mind. I felt most cards were too wordy and decided to intentionally create blank cards that spark connections with bold and meaningful covers for my community to express themselves to those they love. Read more>>

Danny Offei

It’s funny, I’ve been starting and growing businesses since elementary school, but it wasn’t until I turned 30 that I realized entrepreneurship was/is my calling. During the pandemic, I was working what would end up being my last job as a sales rep for a Fortune 500 company. I distinctly remember waking up one day and saying “I have so much more to offer.” So I tried, I talked to my manager about ideas I had about marketing, systems, sales processes, and practices we could implement to grow. She said that’s not my job and that if I had so many ideas, I should do that on my own time. That’s exactly what I did. Over the next few weeks I spent every night creating my most successful business to date, Nova Shine Cleaning. Read more>>

Angie Kantor

Thank you so much for having me. The key steps that allowed me to move beyond my idea was to have the courage, the support and to have the time.  Starting anything from the ground up is never an easy task especially when you are trying to create something unique and one of a kind. I always had dinner parties and had a natural talent to create beautiful spaces but when COVID hit and all of that went away I realized how much I really loved and missed it. That is when I created Angie’s Tables.  The initial concept was to have a full tablescape in a box for a client who would have everything they need to execute a beautiful tablescape for their home and for entertaining.  I was successful for two years but it just never took off the way that I had hoped and then we moved from NYC to Florida and I needed to reconfigure my company.  Today I am an Event Designer of Orlando who will travel to help create beautiful and memorable events and parties for her clients. Read more>>

Amber Andrews

I’ve always run my business on the side while working other jobs, but during the pandemic is when I decided to go at it full time. The company I was employed at closed their doors and I had no interest in going back to work in an office setting. So I tried to go at it full time, and in the process of doing so I brought in my friend and prior employee, Brooke, to help me do the branding. We were really happy with what we built and she decided to stay on and help freelance while deciding what her own next steps were. As we continued to work together, Brooke got as invested in the work as I did and we decided to approach the work as partners, redesigning our services to incorporate things that she was an expert at. So now we are both full time for the business! Read more>>

Ryan Roehl

The story of my business goes way back to when I was junior high school. At the time I was really getting into photography, videography, and graphic design. I knew I wanted to do something within that field, but wasn’t entirely sure what the options were or what that totally looked like. Read more>>

Luis La Porte

I started singing at the age of 5. I sang at any event that was presented to me including at church, school and communities, events throughout my childhood. I knew I wanted to go into the music field however I had no idea how to begin. No one in my family was a professional musician and couldn’t help me. In my freshmen year of college, a family friend came to visit his daughters on campus. He was a pastor and he asked me what I was studying. I told him that I was studying elementary education and taking several music classes. When he heard this, he invited me to his church in Kansas City, Missouri to give a concert. I gave my first concert at his church in 2011. From there, I started calling different churches and organizations and booking concerts. I made my television debut in 2012 and recorded my first album in 2018. I had to learn how to write contracts, negotiate deals, promote events, operate social media and a website, produce albums, and so many other elements of running a business. I reached out to other experienced professional musicians to help teach and mentor me on how to run my music ministry. It takes time but you have to be dedicated to learning. You also have to be persistent and focused because this field is very hard. Read more>>

Elizabeth Marnoch

I started Canadian National Miss as an accumulation of all the positive experiences I have had at competitions I have participated in over the last 13 years. The pageant industry is small and I find that it at times lacks innovation, there are a lot of competitions that offer similar experiences. While I wanted to stay true to the classic format of pageants in Canada, I also wanted to have some competitive advantage against some of the other pageants in the country. This thought process is what I used to create an environment that everyone was familiar with enough to enter but different enough from what they are used to that it would separate the experience from others they have had in the past. Read more>>

Wizdom The Healer

I started writing when I was 7 years old, from there I noticed my personality was very vibrant and animated. At 17, I had my first spoken word performance in Dutchtown Highschool (Hampton, GA). At 18, a Rastafarian named me Wizdom, from there I added “The Healer” at the end of the name. The years of 2012-2015 I was the president of an poetry club at Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn, NY) college. There I gained experienced with performing in front of crowds 50+. In 2018, my best friend kept telling me that I should start a podcast because of how funny I am and the inspiration I gave to others. I started the podcast call “Wizdom The Healer” in 2018 and is currently available in all platforms. There I interviewed business owners, artists , anybody with a story. I made it into a motivational station. In 2020, I said to myself that I wanted to get monetized for my work without any business knowledge I obtained my LLC calling it Wizdom The Healer, LLC. When I moved to Georgia in 2021, same year is when I launched my business and did my first show at Riverdale, GA at non-profit call Overlooked creations, inc. I noticed I can put people together and give them the resources they need such as vendors, artists, venues, djs, photographers anything an artist or anybody needs to showcase their work. I started organizing events and networking with other creatives in the area. As my business grew, I expanded my services to include event planning, artist management, and promotion. I began helping artists book gigs, curating shows and exhibitions, and connecting them with industry professionals. I also started offering workshops and coaching sessions to help individuals unleash their creative potential and find their unique voice. Through my podcast and events, I continued to inspire and motivate others to pursue their passions and achieve their goals. Along the way, I enrolled to Colorado State University and learned valuable lessons about business management, marketing, and networking. I attended seminars, read books, and sought advice from mentors to continually improve my expertise. Today, Wizdom The Healer, LLC is a thriving creative agency that supports artists and entrepreneurs in their journey to success. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to make a difference in people’s lives and help them achieve their dreams. It has been a rewarding and fulfilling journey, and I look forward to continuing to empower and uplift others through my work. Read more>>

Lisa Carroll

I started my business by launching an Instagram Page based on Natural Hair. I would showcase myself and my two kids natural hairstyles. I received a lot of questions about the clothes I wore in my posts. So I decided to branch out to fashion content. I have a BS degree in fashion design and went to school for art, so this was an easy transition. I would take pictures of my kids hair after styling. And my son would take my pictures. It was a family affair, until my kids decided to quit! They have no interest in social media. So I continued my page alone. I had the support of my Sorors Delta Sigma Theta Inc. Delta Tau Chapter. And my best friends the Satin Dolls encouraging me to go after my goals. Honestly my first year on social media was really bad, I didn’t take it seriously. And my content was inconsistent and all over the place. So I decided to hire a coach to help me improve. I hired Justin JC Collins @jcofthefinest He was an amazing coach who helped me overcome my fear of public speaking and fear of being in front of the camera. My comfort zone was always behind the camera. He would make me talk publicly daily for an entire year. And he would hold me accountable for reaching my daily goals. By, time I was finished his coaching I was confident being in camera and shooting a campaign with talking and voiceovers. And I was reaching the goals I planned for myself. This was the best decision I made for my social media career. Fast forward, I always had a love for photography since the age of 11. I always had a camera since I was 13 years old. It was a fun hobby for me. So I decided to take my photography seriously and upgrade to a DSLR. I bought my first professional camera from Best Buy and began taking their photography classes. With the help of photographer friends, and You Tube and Best Buy. I learned by trial and error. And eventually would meet my mentor and friend Enoch @prescientphotos He taught me how to do studio lighting and showed me tips and tricks to shoot in many different scenarios. I caught on fast and still continue to learn new and exciting photography techniques. I learned how to use my camera while posting on social media. So of course my next step was to would start @lisanicoleimages my LLC. I’m still working to improve my business part time, so that eventually it will be my full time. Read more>>

Tiffany Smith

Hello, I’m Tiffany Smith, a former criminal justice professional turned education enthusiast! After a decade in the legal world, I took a detour and discovered my passion for education. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been deeply involved in K-12 secondary public schools, wearing various hats from special educator to dual-certified math teacher, instructional coach, and even assistant principal. However, the majority of my educational career has been as a dual-certified math teacher in an inclusive environment. Read more>>

Lucas Nunez

It all started with my Uncle, Chef Diego. Diego has specialized in empanadas for the last two decades, working for different empanada shops around the United States. What is an empanada you ask? An empanada is literally the perfect finger food, it is a type of baked turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in different styles around the world. Our empanadas are Argentine-style, but we offer international flavors. Argentine-style empanadas mean that every empanada is made with wheat dough, is crescent-shaped, and is baked. The origin of empanadas is unknown but they are thought to have originated thousands of years ago in Greece and later became very popular throughout Spain. Now, empanadas are one of the few foods that unite all of Latin America. Still, you can find similar concepts all over the globe. In 2018, Diego and his wife moved to Cincinnati because he got the opportunity to be the empanada chef at a Argentinian restaurant in downtown. Diego needed help with someone running food stands at events all over the city and that’s where i come in to the rescue. I worked along side him for the next 2 years and it was a tremendous experience. When covid-19 emerged, the food industry wasn’t doing so well, we were scared for what was to come and it was Diego’s dream to open up his own empanada shop after years of specializing in them. We found out about Findlay Market and their incubator kitchen: Findlay Kitchen. Findlay Kitchen supports food entrepreneurs looking to start, grow and scale their business, by providing affordable access to 11 licensed commercial kitchens, commercial-grade kitchen equipment, and ample storage space. This was the holy grail for us, the stepping stone that launched us to success. After becoming members of Findlay Market we started producing at their incubator kitchen and selling at the market on the weekends out of a pop up tent. Every Saturday and Sunday for the next 52 weekends. Findlay then released their newest program: Findlay Launch. Findlay Launch is a food-focused Storefront Accelerator, located in the Findlay Market District of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the first of its kind in the region, with a specific focus on giving real time experience to food-related retail and restaurant concepts. This residency-based program provides crucial mentorship, industry connections, a 9-week food retail and restaurant curriculum, and a minimum of 9 months in a fully built-out, operating storefront. This gave us the opportunity to be in a actual storefront for the next 9 months to see if this is possible for us. There is a big difference between being open on weekends only to being open 6 days a week right in front of the market. This opportunity built relationships and networks i never thought were possible. It gave us hope that we can do this, we can run a storefront and sell our empanadas to the whole city of Cincinnati! Fast forward 9 months later and we finally graduated the Findlay Launch program. This was huge for us, this meant that now we are ready to take the next chapter of our lives and move into a permanent storefront. Findlay Market of course helped us find many options so that we can pick the right one. We stumbled upon a storefront in Covington, KY, only 10 minutes away from the Market. This storefront had a full built in kitchen and we said “this is it”. The hardest part of being a food business is building out a kitchen which is the most expensive part of the whole operation. We loved the are and a few months later, on July of 2022 we opened our doors to the public. It has been a year and a half now since we have been at our new home. It has been a long journey but along side my family and our few employees that stuck with is through thick and thing, we have become of the most successful empanada shops in the tri-state region. With over 20 different international flavors, there will always be an empanada for you! Some examples of our selection of international flavors include: From our hometown Buenos Aires, Argentina, the “Buenos Aires Empanada”! The house’s main specialty! With delicious ground beef, onion, red pepper, & green onion. When you bite into one, you feel like you are walking down the streets of Buenos Aires, enjoying its culture and tango shows. From the country of Jamaica, the “Jamaica Empanada”, with jerk chicken thighs, green onion & a sweet spice mix. Jamaica empanadas are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Try one and feel like you are in the Caribbean. and From the beautiful state of California the “California Empanada”! With garlic buttered mushrooms and onion, mozzarella cheese & green onion. California empanadas remind us of our arrival to the United States of America. Read more>>

Rina Rovinelli