A dad can’t find a bakery to make a birthday cake that can accommodate his daughter’s allergy-related needs. Two freelancers realize they need a way to organize all of their client contracts and can’t find software that adequately handles their use case. Necessity is often hailed as the mother of innovation – but not all ideas come from necessity. Unfortunately, in our experience, often media coverage of the ideas that powered amazing businesses and projects often stops at a very superficial level. The founders noticed a need and boom – idea. Often the ideation process has a much longer, more complex story and so we’ve asked some entrepreneurs and creatives we admire to go into detail about their ideation stories.
Danitza Borges
In early May of 2017, I was going for a morning jog, and I was thinking about my son who was going off to college in about a month. Read more>>
Acanthys Films
Acanthys Films was created by 4 friends, Kenny Nguyen, Priscilla Dasilva, Alex Cabrera and Mary Tran, who each desired to create compelling works together after working alone in the film industry for close to a decade. Read more>>
Sandy Moss
My passion for jewelry, which began in childhood, naturally led me to start my own jewelry business. From a young age, I was captivated by the sparkle and design of various pieces of jewelry, which not only drew my attention but also stirred my imagination. Read more>>
Mia Zee
In 2019, I was on vacation in Mexico with my family. Despite religiously reapplying SPF 50 every 90 minutes, by the third day, both my sister and I had broken out in painful rashes all over our bodies in the areas that were most exposed to the sun. Read more>>
Sierra & Evan Byers
I, Sierra, have a background in skincare as a Cosmetologist. I’ve been a successful makeup artist for over 10 years and worked on my first bride at 15 years old. Read more>>
Mayra Perkins
I went to school for Graphic design and worked in corporate settings until my first child was born. I felt really lucky I was able to stay home and raise my two boys since they were newborns. Read more>>
Adam & Ashley Spadafora
While we met each other working a dance studio, we both shared the same dream of one day running our own studio together. Read more>>
Andrea Radford
I have always had a love for photography. Growing up, I’d go through my great grandmothers old box of photos over and over. Read more>>
Annie Johnston
In my 20s, I launched an online company. There’s a whole story there, and I learned a lot, but after a little over a year, I realized I didn’t want to work at a computer all day. Read more>>
Krissy Burch
At RYE The Label, our journey began from a simple yet relatable experience. While shopping with our husbands, we noticed a common complaint – the lack of comfortable spaces for them to relax and enjoy the experience. Read more>>
Lee “Natty” Trebotich
The concept for “Food For Adventures” originated in 2019 during our honeymoon, while Thru Hiking the John Muir Trail with my wife Meghan. Read more>>
Kristin Jorgensen
I’ve always believed that when creating the ideas for a business, a life, a creative enterprise, it is essential to work backwards. Read more>>
Monica Roca-Quesada
The inception of our business, Agile, was truly a journey fueled by a desire for change and innovation in an industry ripe for transformation. Read more>>
Pooja Rathi
I never imagined I’d become a business owner, but life had other plans. Back in 2019, I was all set to become an air hostess. Then the pandemic hit, throwing everything into chaos. Read more>>
Ramon Ramirez
After setting foot in college I set out to become a cartoonist. I got my first opportunity to publish with the school campus newspaper at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1987. Read more>>
Bob Coates
Wanting to create art has been a goal since I was in high school. I felt I had some talent in art classes but I could never quite get what was in my head onto the media surface. Read more>>
Bryan Maasch
The idea for our nonprofit organization, “Active Adventure,” emerged from a journey of overcoming addiction and finding solace in nature. Read more>>
Kimberly Shanks
Strategize With Kimberly was born from the reflections of The Purposeful Pause in 2020. During this time, job losses, business closures, financial struggles, and strict regulations left many feeling disheartened and restricted. Read more>>
Taylour Matz
Social neuroscience tells us that the foundation for learning and a thriving workplace is built on the strength of our relationships. Read more>>
Brianna Johnson
My business, Leigh-An Jewelry, was started after I finished university in 2017. Though I had achieved a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management and was looking for a job in that field, it was more out of the obligation we all face to find employment rather than a passion for that career path. Read more>>
Rico Dominguez
Music has always been a big part of my life, besides making music myself it’s what I turned to in good & bad times. Read more>>
Paige Johnson
About 5 years ago I met founder of Outcast Press, Sebastian Vice (https://canvasrebel.com/meet-sebastian-vice/), on a writing site, where he had a group called The Transgressive Mind. Read more>>
Debra Gaines
My brother was killed in 2017 by a drunk driver. Every year since I get really emotional around his birthday and death anniversary, I would take off from work for a few days. Read more>>
Shirlé Hale
My husband and I have been life long indie rock musicians. We toured the country extensively and release many albums from the early 90’s throughout the 2000’s. Read more>>
JP Revel
Back in the weird times Covid-y of 2020, when everyone was either baking bread or talking to their plants, I was stuck in a tiny office in Michigan, trying not to share germs with my family. Read more>>
Giuseppe Fancellu
From my passion for vintage horror aesthetics I started my journey with my sscvlt designs project Read more>>
Lucy Strickland
My name is Lucy Strickland and I am the owner of FireLight Candle. I thought I would start with my story. Read more>>
Erick Ramos
We started a few years ago, 2020, right when COVID was hitting the economy hard. At the time, my former partner was the one who came up to me with the idea of being event producers/promoters for Kansas City’s alternative scenes, and he needed a partner. Read more>>
Scott Matteson-Bixler
I started photography as a hobby while living in Tokyo, Japan while serving in the US Navy. I wanted to capture the moments of traveling Asia and Australia because it was my first time living outside of the US. Read more>>
Kat Stam
Two years ago, I stumbled into this business. I was just closing my tech startup, in which I served as a CTO. A friend of mine came to me with a problem – she needed to hire a CTO for their 12-person company but had no idea how to interview and evaluate for this position. Read more>>
Terysa Ridgeway
During the challenging times of the pandemic, I found myself unable to visit classrooms and talk to kids about my career path—a part of STEM advocacy that I deeply enjoyed. Read more>>
Stacy O’Connor
Actually, the idea and concept of Stacy O Designs was an easy choice. It was an extension of what I already did for many years. However, my first job is Mom. Read more>>
Fathima Ali
When I gave birth to the first daughter, I was hit with PPD. At the time I was so young, 21 to be exact. I had no idea what PPD was or that it even existed. Read more>>
Ellenor Argyropoulos
The idea for Mermaid Toast was born from my lifelong passion for storytelling and more recently, a pivor in the business that merges my fascination with the potential of AI technology to revolutionize filmmaking. Read more>>
Nijeria Thompson
I have a passion for all things that smell great and for music. I wanted to combine the two and in a way that hadn’t been done before and would be luxurious yet sustainable. Read more>>
Crystal Sebring
As a pediatric, school-based Speech-Language Pathologist, I am always looking for the best therapy materials to use in my sessions with children. Read more>>
Daniel Walker
The Mahalia Project LLC is a social justice impact brand, focused on anti-human trafficking through media, fashion, and events. Read more>>
Joe Kovachevich.
What I do essentially falls under 2 main categories: 1. Professional Photo/Video work and 2. Social Media Content creation I began my photo and video work years ago (about 20, Read more>>