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.

Jeri Brown

My background is in Business and Computer Information Systems and I worked as a financial analyst in NYC for 2 years after graduating from Baruch College Zicklin School of Business in 2018. Read more>>

Alessandra Brescia

How to bring us to today quickly? Before I decided to jump in the pool of starting my own business as a Commercial Photographer for Interior and Architectural spaces, I had had many lives. Read more>>

Lorraine Walston

I actually started with an idea to provide quality of life for my senior Rottweiler. At age 15, he was unable to stand on the hardwood and tile inside my home. Read more>>

Jennifer Nolan

I have always been an artist. From a young age, I was drawn to painting, drawing, and photography, and I enjoyed learning about the stories behind it all. Read more>>

Jeanetta Bagsby

As a little girl we always had dessert in our home. Even if it was just Jell-o or pudding, my Mom had something sweet for us after dinner. I used to make tiny cakes in my mini-bake oven and would at times, I would make them for my grandfather Dee. Read more>>

D. Shanelle Israel

I am a woman who wear many “hats”. There are so many skills that I have possessed over the years, and I would always feel bad about not being able to stick to one thing. Read more>>

Lindsay Ortez

Ive been an artist my whole life, its deep rooted in my soul. I like to think I embody and honor it in every area of life & self. After high school I went to college thinking I wanted to focus on fine arts and become an art teacher, Ive always had a heart for impacting and inspiring others. Read more>>

Sommer Hill

I’ve wanted to have my own show my entire life. When I was younger and people asked me what I wanted to be when I got older, I would say Oprah. Read more>>

Julio Domenech

Growing up on the island of Puerto Rico, I always saw my mother and my father worked hard, and I always wanted to be able to have financial freedom that I would be able to do what I want at any given moment. Read more>>

Laura Ellis

Organizing has always been a bit of a family affair for me—my mom and I used to tackle organizing projects over the weekends, finding joy in sorting out everything from the kitchen drawers to the linen closet. Read more>>

Jymm Adams

I have family in all parts of the United States and during Covid we would regular Zoom get togethers. On one of our meetings we came up with the idea of starting a family investment club. Read more>>

Shelby Goss

While I’m a healthcare worker during the day, content creation in my free time is my real passion. When I started my tiktok page, I had no expectations and no intention of having any viral videos. Read more>>

Diane Garvey, Terri Garabedian, Julie Manning

In 2013, at a Boise State University-Idaho Voices for Children literacy event, we learned that in middle and higher-income homes each child has about 50 books, but in lower-income homes, there is, on average, 1 book for every 300 kids. Read more>>

Amberlina Medina- Cuello

Never did I think that I would transition careers after an 18 year stretch as a blue collar worker. I was living the American dream; 6-figure job, great benefits, small family, and a beautiful home. Read more>>

Keturah Ballard

Shaboree and I met when we were 7 years old as neighbors , schoolmate and doing activities together such as cheering , dancing and karate. Read more>>

Sterling West

Creativity is often hailed as a mysterious force, but there are concrete strategies that I have seen employed that unleash the floodgates of imagination. Read more>>

Imani Tutt

My journey from idea to launching my business began with heartbreak and pain. I’ve come to realize that often, it’s heartbreak and pain that lead us to redemption and purpose. Read more>>

Daniel Belardinelli

I went to law school & practiced law for a number of years. My area of practice was criminal defense/civil litigation. Although I am trained as a lawyer, art has always been my passion. Read more>>

Christina Madore

My start up is a very unusual story, that I believe helps me encourage others. I was starting a venue and collaborated with a local photographer. Read more>>

Timirra Gaither

Honestly, the execution was the easy part for me. In this case, the hardest part was committing to starting the run club in the first place. Read more>>

Scott Schwenk

I’ve been working with consciousness in folks for over thirty years while deeply and continuously training further to refine, focus and potentize the work I facilitate in one-on-one mentoring and all of my group teaching and online course creative. Read more>>

Harry Stith

In 2013, I made the difficult decision to leave what was then my most stable job, despite its consistent hours and good pay. The company’s management changes signaled impending layoffs, prompting me to depart before they could let me go. Read more>>

Stacey Price

Shop Made Brands started in 2017 as an economic development experiment,. I had spent over a decade assisting local business and spreading localism and I wanted to know what would happen if we created a space that made it convenient for the consumer to support all locally-owned business Read more>>

Maynell Evans

Before my son was diagnosed with autism, the first place I decided to check into was YouTube. There, I realized so many vulnerable families were sharing their stories. Read more>>

Logan Bartels

Some of this may be information overload, but looking back I realize that each step was instrumental in getting me to where I am today. Read more>>

Tracy and Sunshine Gantt

We married at a young age. Unfortunately, our marriage took a turn for the worse approximately two years in. We separated. During our separation, both of our lives spiraled downhill. Read more>>

Rodrigo Lima

It didn’t start from one day to the other, the whole thing sort of developed itself. I have been drawing and painting ever since I was a child in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Read more>>

Dominique Murdock

From a young age, I was filled with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge that I knew extended far beyond the boundaries of the neighborhood and communities I was most familiar. Read more>>

Summer Keeney

Starting Buzz Bee Social Media was a journey born out of a desire for greater flexibility and a passion for diverse creative expression. Read more>>

Shan Tang

For every creation, I spend a considerable amount of time gathering inspiration from various fields. Apart from the realm of spatial design, I also explore art, other design-related topics, as well as nature, humanities, and technology. Read more>>

Bernadette Clemon

I actually began designing and creating jewelry in the mid part of the 2000’s around 2015, specifically creating Afrocentric necklaces. Read more>>

Melody Council

After moving here over 18yrs ago and starting from scratch with no clientele with my salon business; I decided to step out on Faith once again with a new launch with consulting. Read more>>

Donna Wilcox

Our business of stewarding the Prince of Peace painting has always been about finding a way to share with the world a masterpiece painted by then-eight-year-old child prodigy Akiane Kramarik and the miraculous story surrounding its creation, disappearance, and resurrection. Read more>>

Duncan Smith

When I come up with an idea for a film, generally there is a mood or emotion that wants to be expressed and it is incumbent upon me to find a genre that best expresses that thought. Read more>>

Cole Whitaker

I learned how to quilt from my grandmother at five years old. Although I did some sewing on and off throughout my life, I only got back into quilting a few years ago. Read more>>