Coming up with an idea for a business or creative project can feel exhilarating. Inspiration for a new idea can come from so many places and we’ve asked some great folks from the community to share their stories of how they came up with their ideas.

Myron Travis

I was using my smart phone to record videos of myself practicing my target language (which is Spanish). Realizing that eventually, my phone would run out of space. I decided to post my videos publicly on social media. I didn’t want to completely erase my videos, in doing that I wouldn’t have any way to track my progress. Read more>>

Esha Chhabra

I’ve been working as a writer and journalist for the past 15 years, covering the intersection of business, environment, and social impact. When I graduated from college, there were few journalists focused on solutions. And yet, many people were frustrated by the media and the news channels for just focusing on problems. Read more>>

Patty Zamora

My boyfriend, Joel and I decided to go into business together when we realized we loved spending time together thrifting and collecting unique pieces from times mostly forgotten about now. It made us reminisce about our childhood, especially when we found something like a G.I. Joe doll, Bert and Ernie figurines or cocktail glasses our parents had back in the 60s and 70s. Read more>>

Michelle DidThat

Starting a beauty school is an incredible idea, especially in a bustling city like San Antonio, where the demand for beauty professionals is high. Creating a successful beauty school requires a lot of planning, hard work, and dedication. It all starts with identifying a gap in the market and developing a plan to fill that gap. Read more>>

Katie Anderson

The idea for PDP was really built from feeling isolated or lost or rejected when it comes to being in an audition room. It’s from trying the best you possibly can, but not always having the right tools or knowledge or resources to truly know what your best can be. Read more>>

Amber Bullis

Olive Peach Autumn Leaves started off as a place where you could get a custom wreath made. I enjoyed making wreaths for fun and then decided it was something I could make a business out of. I wanted a place that people could order custom made seasonal wreaths. Read more>>

Felisa Dees

Back in 2004 I worked for an oil manufacturing company that provided the oils to big name candle and soap makers. While working there I had access to free oils and free candle making information from customers. I was so tired of purchasing candles that smelled good in the store but didn’t fragrance my space once I got them home and burned them. Read more>>

Sharai Mustatia

Following an injury that left me unable to do any heavy lifting for extended periods, my dream to be a full-time truck driver came to a screeching halt. The saddest thing about that being; I had just gotten my commercial driver license and was ready to go. Read more>>

Sheba and Genevive Zaidi and Savundranayagam

Mahara Mindfulness is a contemporary lifestyle brand offering products and experiences that provide people a stepping-stone into a world of mindful practices and personal transformation. From years of personal experience with journaling, meditation and breathwork, we came to deeply understand the immense healing power of a lifestyle rooted in mindfulness and wanted to share that with others. Read more>>

Timala Stewart

I worked in the home furnishings industry as a buyer for 9 years prior to starting my interior design business. I’ve always had an eye for fashion, decor and styling so I knew that I eventually wanted to start my own thing, I was just unsure of what that looked like. Read more>>

Bonn Rassavong

The restaurant was born out of the covid Pandemic. I’ve been in kitchens for close to 15 years. It’s really all I’ve ever known. When the shut down happened I was out of work and had no idea how I was going to survive. I’ had done a few burger pop ups at local bars in my neighborhood. Read more>>

Samantha Zurek Gordon

In 2005 I read the novel “The Secret Life of Bees” and it made beekeeping sound almost enchanting. I was hooked! We purchased fully established hives in April and put them in my parents back field. We had absolutely no idea what we were supposed to do. Read more>>

Alan White

It all started in 1969 when Alan got his very first German Shepherd. In 1972, he donated her to the military to become a Military Working Dog with the stipulation he would be her handler after completing training. Read more>>

Kimia Khalvati

I had always worked in a space where I knew the outcome of the work I put in right away. Personal fitness training had become a way for me to mold both my own physique as well as my clients. After a 15 year career in fitness training my life had changed courses due to an unexpected illness I was diagnosed with. Read more>>

Alvin Mitchell

I love it when people ask this question because I think it is rare for founders (like myself) to have first-hand experience with the problem(s) they’re working to solve. Jiffy’s roots were planted in the winter of 2020 when I found myself in the situation that inspired this company. Read more>>

Bianca Brooks

In 2014, I was terminated from my job, that I worked for a combined 7 years a total of two times in two locations. I was a single mother with two children and I had bills and daily needs that I had to find a way to pay. I was still in school online, and I was looking for jobs when I had the idea to start my own business from home…. but what could I sell. Read more>>

Marymarie Scarbrough

Growing up, my grandmother, Mary Lou, whom I am half named after, always had a hook or needle in hand; be it an afghan, a blanket, a sweater for me, a shirt for my grandfather, a dress for a cousin, she was constantly making something. Fiber arts and handmade love is in my DNA! Read more>>

Aleesha Worthington

My husband Iquan Worthington and I have been a creative couple for 19 years. We thrive off of ideating and building on the life we live but also for the brands we build. During one of our relaxing outings, we talked about how COVID changed the working landscape and the reality of the new “norm”. Read more>>

Sasha Wasiek

After having my babies, I quickly realized I loved the “imperfect” and silly photos. As much as I wanted to have my kids perfectly dressed and well-behaved for photos, that didn’t happen often. I came across some of my childhood photographs and was quickly reminded of the feelings or things going on in those awkward or silly moments my parents captured of me. Read more>>

Tim Washington

Have you been on dating apps lately? Let’s share a laugh here, because I’ve been on and off dating apps in a serious way since 2011. I was on a quest for my forever partner, my comrade for life, my significant other. Regardless of the labels given to the apps, I always had the same expectations: to find someone I could focus my attention on, get to know intimately, and hopefully share an ever-ending life together – all that cutesy stuff I see many of my friends enjoying. Read more>>

Addie Bondhus

As a single mom in 2006 I quickly realized I had a choice to make in terms of raising my daughter. I could enroll her in childcare full time as I worked for someone else and sacrificed all of my time with my kid. Or I could work for myself doing what I’ve always loved, photography. Read more>>

Anthony Galizia

My story takes us back to the start of my career in the logistics industry working for a larger brokerage firm. Picture the scene: a young and hungry account manager on a relentless pursuit of results. I had just begun to scratch the surface of the FTL and drayage industries. Read more>>

Claudia Garcia

Prior to establishing my business, Camper Kiddos Handmade, sewing was something I would only do for my children. It was just me, and my two sewing machines in the little kitchen table of our RV. We were traveling frequently for my husband’s occupation. Read more>>

Caroline , Bobby Baker , Weschler

We came up with the idea of opening an eclectic gallery and gathering space for local visual and performing artists several years ago when Raw Ink, the tattoo studio that Bobby owns, was located in Gaithersburg, MD. What is now “the beachKraft Studio-Gallery” started as a small art gallery inside a larger tattoo shop. Read more>>

Eric & Valerie Castillo

Well, it all started with our first trip to the Grand Canyon. Believe it or not, that was our first ever visit to a national park, and we didn’t really know much about them at the time. We just had Journey, our baby girl, and with everything going on – the pandemic, the crazy speed of social media and tech changes – we just wanted to get away from it all and spend some quality time in nature. Read more>>

Verazonda Walker

At 36, my world was turned upside down and seemed to start spinning faster when I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. For over 2 years I went through 4 surgeries and 16 rounds of chemo, to be told that it didn’t kill the cancer and that it was aggressive. Read more>>

Brandy Clark

My youngest daughter, Vivian, was three years old when a seemingly random story popped in my head. It was a story about Vivian and her grandmother planting a flower garden. I shared it with my husband who said it sounded very similar to one of Jesus’s well-known parables called the Parable of the Sower. Read more>>

Nancy Meck

I didn’t know this could be a career. Up to the time I took the leap of faith and started Meck Organizing in 2007, my professional life had consisted of teaching for a semester before grad school, then working with academics and medical professionals who were doing research at universities and hospitals. Read more>>

Helen Coquin

I have been in the aesthetic industry for over a decade and within that time I have worked in many roles, from working with clients in plastic surgery, to sales and consulting. I was working a lot with dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and large med spas and saw a need for something different. Read more>>

Vanessa Serratos

The story behind Santo Patrè pays homage in honoring my family and lost loved ones. Back in Christmas of 2021, I didn’t have the means to purchase gifts for everyone in my family. I love treating those I care about, it is one of my love languages. Read more>>

Travis Moh

I always wanted to be a musician growing up. Playing guitar, songwriting, and composing music was always my jam. It was definitely a creative outlet for sure. I’ve always enjoyed writing in general. I got the entrepreneur bug in college once I started teaching guitar lessons in a small, local college town in Idaho. Read more>>

Taron Schumpert

The creation of The Original People Fashion Brand (TOP) came about through the aspiration to educate our melanated population about the ancient empowering culture we derived from. I came upon the knowledge of our true culture while caring for my ten-month-old daughter at the time, In search of my divine purpose in life. Read more>>

Victoria Faling

I’ve spent the last 20 years battling chronic illness. I’ve had to make a lot of lifestyle changes in order to support my health and healing journey. In college, I drastically changed my diet to support my healing and I had to start being more creative in the kitchen. Read more>>

Christopher Kearse

a part of me i would say was that i knew i had a talent for this industry but i also i knew i have a voice and wanted to show that and knew how to another part of me just knew i could open and run a resturant better then the places i worked in as a chef so why limit my self to working for someone. Read more>>

Quentin White

FFL Athletics is a sustainable athleisure startup catering to men, women, and children, who are committed to living a fit life. A profound realization dawned upon me as I observed the landscape of popular fitness brands: a conspicuous absence of sustainability in their material choices and a dearth of elegance in their designs left me dissatisfied. Read more>>

Robbi Gallagher

In 2015, I began my journey as a makeup artist, initially focusing on events like weddings and proms while balancing college and a job at Topgolf. The turning point came in 2020 when frequent trips to Los Angeles for various events and on-set work led me to discover a passion for photography, inspired by the newfound family I had in LA. Read more>>

Bridgette Forson

Fante Gold unofficially started in 2013 when my first child was born. Early in her infancy, she developed severe eczema and became visibly uncomfortable with each passing day. Being the concerned first-time mom that I was, I searched online for solutions, suggestions and remedies. Read more>>