One of the challenges we’ve seen to true equality of opportunity is that schools and books often can’t (or choose not) offer access to one of the most equalizing resources – first hand stories of how successful entrepreneurs made their ideas a reality. If you grew up in a family or community that had many successful entrepreneurs you may have been lucky to hear many conversations and stories about starting and executing on an idea, but there are millions of people across the country who haven’t had the same advantage and so our hope here is to create a space where those stories can be told in a more public forum for the benefit of any and every aspiring entrepreneur.

Cata Balzano

I started as a news reporter for the Miami Herald. I was an intern and then freelanced for them for about five years. With the Herald, I learned everything about proper storytelling, and I was also given a crash course on the art of freelance writing and how to work independently. Once I grasped that concept: pitching to different outlets, networking to acquire a strong group of people who believed in my work – especially editors – as well as coming up with great stories worth telling, I was able to branch out. Read more>>

Javier Edwards

Execution over ideation. That was “once” one of 7 core values that my former employer expected us to exist around. I’m sure it was created with the best intentions – but I think it falls short of painting the picture of how we relate and measure the ideation phase against the execution phase of a project or idea. To be brief, I’ll use a recent, real-life example to paint, what I believe, is the appropriate way to cultivate and nourish an idea in to an completed project, product or service. Read more>>

Ahmed Al-Sayeed and Adeeb Zaman

We own and operate a series of businesses in the eCommerce space. We are fully vertically integrated and do everything in-house from branding, manufacturing, marketing, content, distribution, customer service, etc. We own 5 eCommerce DTC brands. The main business we’d like to expand on today is Agency X which is our content and marketing agency. We had been in eCom for 5 years before we decided to launch Agency X.in January 2021. As brand owners, you begin to realize that the agency world is extremely profit driven and operates with a churn & burn mentality. Read more>> 

Jennifer Beck

One thing I’ve learned on my entrepreneurial journey is that going from idea to execution looks very different depending on the business model. When we started Cannabase, the first online wholesale marketplace in the legal cannabis industry, we utilized the Lean Startup model of iterative development. We started small with a barebones app and a handful of influential beta users, then developed the software based on how users were engaging and the client feedback we received. Most recently, when we began our business and technology consulting firm Morphosis Studios, we just dove into our clients’ projects – supporting their success however they needed us to – and allowed the structure to follow. Read more>>

Brendan Cleak

We met in college studying Film and Digital Media, and began a life of making short films together. In 2018, we got married and started our business, though we joke that starting the business was much more life-affirming for us. We weren’t sure what it would look like – we just knew that we could tell a visual story in a way that felt unique compared to what we were seeing out in the world. Read more>>

Joslynn Broughton

The process of going from idea to execution begins with risk. You literally have to decide one day whether or not you are willing to risk everything in order to start and that’s what I did and still doing. I would constantly talk about wanting to create no matter what it being I would make sketches write notes on everything I needed to start then one day over time I realized me going back and just adding on to notes isn’t doing anything so I began to actually start buying the things I needed, researching how to go about starting, learning new techniques, watching videos to get a better understanding, and practicing. Read more>>

Jermaine Clarkson

I knew I wanted to make music, but wanted to be under control and be my own boss and at the same time help others too. So the idea of having my own record label was very entertaining because I wanted creative control and to release music whenever I wanted and just remember hearing the stories how No Limit Records was doing it and other labels as well at that time. I already knew a lot as far as the hustle, but didn’t understand all the different avenues on how to make everything happen so basically it was a lot of trial and error. Read more>>

Emilee Henry

I had been vegan for going on a year and realized this lifestyle could benefit so many people in my community. Veganism was just on the cusp of becoming popular but as a black woman from the south “being vegan” wasn’t something we were interested in. Both sides of my family have ties to farming and agriculture; my moms side of the family raised hogs and my dad’s dad was a poultry farmer and raised cattle, so completely opposite of vegan. However I can vividly remember being told stories as a kid about the planting, growing, and harvesting my family did to provide, and that’s what I decided to lean into, when bringing this idea to life. Read more>>

Tiffany LaTrice

In August 2016, I left my corporate job and went on a two week vacation in Hawaii. I wanted a restorative vacation to help build the stamina I need to launch my business as I knew I was taking a risk leaving a well-paid salaried job to work first and third shift and two coffee shops. I wanted to have my afternoons free to take business meetings and entrepreneurial classes. Upon my return from Hawaii, I enrolled in C4 Atlanta, a workforce development arts organization that empowers creatives in Atlanta to learn the business skills needed to run a business or freelance career. I spent 8 weeks working on my business plan and would write the plan during my 5am break before the morning breakfast rush. Read more>>

Kaelyn Brooks

what was the process of going from idea to execution? II struggled a lot with depression after I had my daughter. I was just lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had just had my daughter Aylani in February 2020 then COVID hit March 2020. I just graduated from Concorde College with my certification in Medical Assistant and Phlebotomy and couldn’t get a job because the healthcare field had shut down. That through me a little deeper into my postpartum depression. Then I got a job as a COVID screener for Children’s hospital. There wasn’t much to do after we had our morning rush, so I had nothing but time to just figure out what I wanted to do. Keep in mind that I started off doing makeup from 2009-2019. Read more>>

Krystal Onuorji

The idea of launching my own online business came about when me and a friend were brainstorming on what type of business I should start. Originally, I came up with jewelry but I always knew I wanted to incorporate clothing and apparel eventually. I started first by researching different vendors and eventually figuring out what kind of items that I liked and felt were currently in style. Some of the main steps I took that allowed me to launch the business was: figuring out my top ten items that were my favorite. During the research phase, I also made up my mind on the business name, creation of the website, social media handles, and packaging. Read more>>

Rachel Loague

The reason why I got into business as an Author and Business Mentor is due to the fact that I seen a lot of people with a problem, but no real solution. If there is one thing I hate, it’s when I call an organization and they give me 25 different departments to go to just to get one answer. The same phenomenon was occurring around me with my friends and associates. A lot of people I knew wanted to start a business, but they had absolutely no clue as to where to start. Sure, we can go to google and find things, but it’s always easier when you have a one-stop shop for something you desperately wish to pursue. After hearing so many lost and confused about the business process, I decided to create a step-by-step book on how to plan, implement and execute your business idea. Read more>>

Sylvie Coulange

I have always been passionate about cooking, sharing, giving. But it all seemed inaccessible at that time. As a stay-at-home mom of 2, I would cook some much everyday, healthy and easy meals that my family and friends would love. We were on a holiday with friends that year and one of my best friends was complimenting my lifestyle, how beautiful and delicious my food was and said “I want to be you, please write a book so that I can learn your ways”. I came home from the trip, bought a camera and taught myself how to use it and starting writing what became “Shine Vol.1”. It was a magical moment. I had found a way to share and help people. Read more>>

Ashley Thornton

I have always been a creative individual since childhood. Journaling was one of my first loves in my teenage years. Little did I know that it was awakening the author inside of me. My gift to express myself/ emotions through writing and speech was the foundation of where I am today. As a dreamer I would see many things and it provoked me to seek ways to bring them to fruition. I’ve always had dreams and my mother would tell me to write them down and speak about them if they were deep. In 2009 I had a life changing dream and it was that my mother would pass away. She had given me a journal with a mother and daughter on it. I wrote the dream and I also went and told her. Read more>>

Ola Elkhazindar

I am a wardrobe/fashion stylist and moving into Denver two years ago in the midst of COVID things were a little slow to start with. I had been seeing a lot of beautiful gown photography and so over the last Christmas holiday I got inspired to start my own gown rental business. The most difficult part was budgeting, sourcing the gowns as well as receiving them in a particular time frame. Once I had a plan, picking gowns I liked was easy. Then came the marketing aspect, which continues to be a learning curve to this day! Read more>>

Shayne Wells

After graduating high school, I knew I wanted get into an occupation that I was passionate about, and figured out ways to help and work with other people. When my initial thought and major going into college was in the field of physical therapy, I quickly learned that there was so many more industries out there that offered various ways to work with and help other people and businesses, and fell in love with the creative way. I then changed my major to communications and marketing and knew from the jump I wanted to create something for myself. Read more>>

Fernando Hernandez

I actually never thought my business would launch this far. It all started in 2017 when my family decided to go to Florida for a vacation. We had a small Kodak camera to take our family photos. The camera was showing signs that it wasn’t gonna last very long. So I had the idea to buy a better camera for our photos. I had very little knowledge of photography at the time, but I knew how to take our family photos. Well now it’s time for our vacation and I started playing with certain modes and settings of the camera and took pictures of the seagulls, the ocean, and anything I could perceive as a good photo. After the vacation, I decided to upload the photos I had to my personal Instagram, I gained some great traction with them. Read more>>

Allan Gonzalez

I started as a landscape and architecture photographer then I moved to portrait photography. I was happy doing that, but coming from a dance background, I wanted to mix all my knowledge in photography with dance. I came up with the idea of mixing unique-looking buildings and architecture in downtown Dallas with ballet dancers. I sketched a few ideas I wanted to photograph at Thanksgiving Square and presented them to a few dancers to see if they were interested. It wasn’t an easy start; a few dancers loved the idea but unfortunately could never meet with me, and others got injured before the photoshoot, so it took some time for me to finally get the idea started. Read more>>

Tekesia Shields

How Mother’s Against Gang Violence , It started as an idea from a stressed mother who wanted to develop resources and opportunities for families who felt guilty and ashamed of there children actions. The process began as a support group hosted to educate families what it looks like when you notice your child is interested in gang activities. These session use to be held out of the Dunbar Recreation Center. Once the Teen Talk session begin to grow I was able to obtain a larger location at the West End Branch Library (where as of today we still host in person Family Groups there every Monday from 6pm – 7:30).  Read more>>

Adrienne Allende

I watched my grandmother make clothes and it was fascinating to me. I wanted to learn but she wouldn’t teach me. I would find pieces of material lying around and I started making clothes for my dolls. Nothing fit. When my grandmother finally realized that I wanted to learn to sew and “teaching” myself wasn’t working, she taught me about fabric. When I was 12 I made a pillow in a home economics class and I did NOT love it. I made myself a pair of shorts and the gates of heaven opened up. Read more>>