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.

Alana Craig

I started my business with my first job at Chipotle. I spent my first paycheck, which wasn’t much but still a lot to me at the time, on fabric. I was broke for the next two weeks, but I felt happy knowing that I had invested in something I was passionate about. Read more>>

Jennifer Maxwell

Like many people, the pandemic forced change upon a large portion of the population, myself included. I had just had my best financial month for my corporate training and speaking business when the world shut down overnight, cancelling my future contracts with it. Read more>>

Tara-Whitney Rison

Before the pandemic, I was really solely existing as a struggling actor. On top of that, I was an actor living with an autoimmune disease and struggling financially trying to keep my head above water. Read more>>

BigFace Bennie

Around February of 2018, I purchased a home in Kissimmee Florida and quickly settled in. I then began to set up my recording studio equipment in the back end of my two car garage. Read more>>

Mandisa Wynn

It all started with a vision to make a way for myself and others who can relate to my story. As a single mother of four children who had personally experienced growing up in poverty, I knew that embarking on this entrepreneurial journey wouldn’t be easy. Read more>>

Ashleigh Gray

I began writing about dating and relationships after a college professor encouraged me to choose a niche and start a blog. I’d always been fascinated by love, sex, and romance so it was the first thing that came to mind. Read more>>

Keyoka Russo

I first developed an interest in helping people find their significant other when a friend of mine approached me regarding an independent contracting position for a company that hosted speed dating events. Read more>>

Vanessa Barendt

I have been a lash stylist for 15 years, starting when lashes were new to the beauty world. Over the last 15 years, I have done thousands of full sets and have a steady clientele, but it felt like there was something missing. Read more>>

Lindsey Ofcacek

Edward and I started the LEE Initiative in 2017 because we saw an opportunity to promote more women in positions of power and more diversity in our chefs, bartenders and GM’s. Read more>>

Catalina Parker

In the summer of 2023, my business partner and I decided to create an Instagram account called Relatable Nonprofit. Our goal was simple: to make people involved with nonprofits laugh. Read more>>

Sophie Zollmann

Over 20 years ago, I was a stay at home mom who needed to earn money for the family finances. Working a regular job would all go to daycare for my 2 small children. Read more>>

Stephanie Tangen

A few years ago, I got sick and found out that I was gluten intolerant. Our favorite meal of the day is breakfast, and you would find us on many Saturday and Sunday mornings at our local restaurant or home entertaining with a Bloody Mary’s with our breakfast. Read more>>

Harriet Hastings

How did you actually start – what was the process of going from idea to execution – walk us through some of the main steps that allowed you to launch your business? Tell it to us as a story – you had the idea, then what happened? Read more>>

Patrick Cray

During Covid like many people I had a lot of free time on my hands and especially at night. I started sharing images from my night adventures and walks around the city of Buffalo that I was taking on my IPhone and they started getting some eyes on them. Read more>>

Tara Pratt

I have spent most of my life having fun. I have always been self-employed and had very little responsibility on my shoulders before I had my son. But becoming the mother was a huge change for me. Read more>>

Alexandrea Sumuel

What started as a passion project during the pandemic unexpectedly became a revenue stream and a way to travel the world without straining my bank account. Read more>>

Erica Trinette Young

My journey into founding a business focused on trauma recovery, mindset coaching, and Christian life coaching stems from a deeply personal place—a culmination of years grappling with my own childhood trauma and the transformative power of healing that followed. Read more>>

Alex Usasilp

One day, I was on Amazon ordering products, and it dawned on me how Amazon’s competitors are faring with their shipping process because Amazon seems to have it locked down. Read more>>

Leslie Rivera Mercedes Ayala

We’ve been best friends for over ten years and we have always done everything together. One day we started talking about how we should start a business and inspire and empower women. Read more>>

Nicole & Jason Oswalt

It all started as Jason’s idea to be honest. He wanted to get into 3D printing mainly as a hobby. He basically kept asking Nicole (me) about getting a 3D resin printer so that they could print their own miniatures for table top rpg games like Dungeons and Dragons. Read more>>

Jolene MacDonald

I owned another design agency previously for close to 15 years, and I’ve been a graphic designer for over 25. When my youngest daughter was born with Dwarfism, I started heavily advocating for her. Read more>>

Grecia Martínez

I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 15 years old and I had to be hospitalized for 10 months to take my chemotherapy treatment. Since I was a child, jewelry has always caught my attention and in my free time I took classes and made jewelry and sold it to my friends. Read more>>

Trinity McConnell

My photography business journey ultimately started about 8 years ago at the ripe age of 15. I was gifted my first camera and that was really a turning point for me. Read more>>

Mariela Fernandez

MFFPhotography has been a journey that started way back, even before MySpace was a thing. It all began with me snapping self-portraits, a journey of self-discovery and body acceptance. Read more>>

Carey Platto

I spent my career in many aspects of the outdoor and action sports industries. After a year in a national bicyce industry marketing role getting to know the retail landscape, I realized that traditional retail was floundering and there was a hole in the market. Read more>>

Karley Juarez

The idea was rooted in family. I come from a big family, my grandmother and grandfather had 13 children. For the majority of my childhood, I was raised by my grandmother. Read more>>