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.

Adriane Zackery

I came up with the idea of helping women transition after divorce after experiencing the damaging effects of toxic relationships and God has called me to minister to the hearts of women who have been through similar experiences break free from bondage. I gained wisdom and revelatory knowledge to support others on their journey by listening to the voice of God. In 2015, I went through divorce in which I lost everything, but I did not lose my faith in God. I shifted my mindset and made a conscious decision that I wanted to help women know their worth and understand their value so they could transform their lives and become healed and whole. Read more>>

India Cook

When I started my journey as a runner, I searched for someone like me to reference and learn from. Someone that was black, female, non-elite, and someone who could speak to the masses. It was a hard find. I struggled with empathizing with pro athletes that ran for a living and honestly looked nothing like me. I couldn’t relate. Whether it was their body type, lifestyle or lingo, I needed a different connection. So a part of me said let me be what I didn’t see and that always stuck in my mind. Read more>>

Mary Gaul

After working for someone else my entire career of over 20+ years, I took the leap to start my first business in 2013. It is a Virtual Assistant business, which allowed me to use all of my skills in marketing, operations and communication to work for small business owners. It started great – I had my first client before I left my full time job! Read more>>

Michelle Sargent

I can’t take credit for the idea, as it truly came from God. At church we call it “download”, when you are in prayer and just listening to God and get this idea or thought. That is truly where the idea came from, a thought that opened a door, that door lead to an opportunity. That opportunity not only equipped me for where I am but provided me room to grow, learn and evolve. Read more>>

Caity Barton

Prior to having my daughter I worked in Fashion in NYC. I was a visual merchandiser, then merchant and finally buyer for retail stores. After moving to Denver I worked for a women’s ready to wear business and then an outdoor company as buyer and product line manger. I always imagined opening my own small women’s clothing shop one day. Read more>>

Erin Yates

Sales has always run through my veins. I was the kid who rummaged through my parents’ carport looking for anything I could sell at the end of the driveway. Old newspapers, old coolers, anything I could wheel in my red wagon to the street to hustle. Old fishing trophies were my bread & butter. I just liked the satisfaction of helping someone find something they liked. Read more>>

Amanda Dlouhy Bailey

Me and my husband met in 2006 and started dating. We were engaged in 2008 and started planning our wedding. We knew we wanted to get married on my family’s property and farm and when we started pricing out a tent large enough to hold our event, we realized it was quite a few thousand dollars to do that. We knew we were going to build our dream home on the property that my family had given us, so I went to my dad and said why don’t we build a barn we can get married and have the reception in the barn. Read more>>

Maximiliano Solorzano

The idea of Proyección Latina was born from my father back in 2005 in Venezuela. At the time, I was barely starting my dance career at another dance school where I learned latin rhythms and performed for several years. Read more>>

Caroline Ojeda

Growing up I always admired seeing the women in my family with a great lip color. It didn’t matter the occasion lipstick was always a part of their fashion statement. Then as a teen growing up in the Bronx we didn’t wear much makeup but Lipstick that was always a must. My favorite colors were shades of deep Browns, Burgundy’s and I loved Red. Read more>>

Valencya Thompson

I have been writing creatively since my elementary school teacher introduced me to the art. I imagine the seed was first planted, as my mother read so many books to me, some years above my grade level that peeked my interest. I loved books! And, I loved reading! I soon after learned that I loved writing. I even took on the project of creating an anthology of poems about all the boys I had crushes on around 5th grade or so. Read more>>

Lydia Krasner

I was working an art teacher in the religious school at a Synagogue, and the President approached me asking for help to “make the room pretty” for their annual fundraiser gala. I have a background in theater and I had friends who could bring in sets, props, lighting, backdrops etc., so I took the offer and made the centerpieces as well as designed the look for the room. Read more>>

Alexis Jones

At this time in my career I had been running a ministry, Lovers Anonymous, where I taught the depth behind love and helped individuals separate emotion from the choice that love requires. I was walking back and forth in my mother’s apartment I believe in either late April or early May and seeking the Lord for strategy within the ministry and like water came “Habit of loving You”. Read more>>

Brendane Tynes

Alyssa, the other co-host of the podcast, actually came up with the idea. We both are getting our PhDs at Columbia University, and we’ve built a great friendship. We discussed current events over the phone all the time, so when Alyssa suggested we take our conversations off WhatsApp and into a podcast, I was like “Absolutely! How do we do this?” As the 2020 uprisings happened all over the world, we thought our voices as Black queer women would provide more insight into what’s going on. Read more>>

Jennifer Garone

My colleague Naomi and I both work as wedding officiants, and we create deep-dive, beautiful, custom ceremonies for couples. We often joke that we want couple’s communities to think that we are a good friend of the couple — that’s how intimate and authentic we want the ceremonies to feel. We both share the belief that there is so much room for improvement when it comes to wedding ceremonies… and we aim to create real and true, inclusive and inspiring moments for the couple and their guests. Read more>>

Chelsea Hare

I’m standing in the shower with my (now ex) boyfriend and he turns around to reach for the shampoo and notices the purple branded bottle of pH Balancing Vagisil and concerningly asks me, “is everything okay???” and spastically gestures his eyes downward. I ask him okay with what?? *insert curious emoji* He proceeds to tell me he thought when women had any sort of vaginal product in the shower, that something was wrong. Read more>>

Suqura Shannon

I’d like to think that I was born an artist. I knew that I could turn my passion into a profession if I found my purpose and my niche. Painting my first mural in high school was a huge moment for me because I realized the impact I could make on so many people without saying a word. I challenged myself and perfected my technique through self-directed learning. Read more>>

Kayla Lawson

Thriver’s mission is to redefine fitness for all abilities by providing more accessible fitness opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Read more>>

Jacqueline Vignona

I decided to shift my business from a product based business to a digital content creator when COVID hit in 2020. I had been running a baked goods business but knew that business was going to be greatly impacted because of the pandemic so I decided to pivot. I started creating digital marketing ads for food & beverage companies instead. Read more>>

Marcus Washington

MOTIV8 U was birthed from an idea of wanting to help students successfully transition to adulthood. Eight years ago I began coaching football and teaching seniors at Chavez High School in Southeast Houston. I taught some amazing students at this low socioeconomic school and it bothered me whenever I would see my students a year after graduating and they were no longer pursuing their dreams and goals. I reached my breaking point when I encountered a former student that was less than a year removed from high school and they were struggling physically, mentally and emotionally. Read more>>

Ayden Stoefen

Back in my early 20’s I was living out of a backpack on the road. Collaborating with a lot of non-profit projects abroad. With a background in graphic design and working full time drawing for the surf and skate scene back in the states. I wanted to find a way to merge my work with my strong devotion to working with underprivileged communities around the globe. Read more>>

Michele Cozzens

I write about how I came up with the idea for our business, Sandy Point Resort and Disc Golf Ranch, in my 2002 memoir, “I’m Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner.” I wrote the book to not only explain how we came up with the idea for the world’s first disc golf resort but also to tell the truth about what it takes to make a so-called ‘dream life’ come true. Read more>>

Jasmine Cato

Cooking has always been a strong passion of mine. Throughout my adulthood it started bringing me joy to watch people enjoy what I’ve worked hard cooking! From feeding my college teammates, to cooking for my family when my mom was out of town, to later host gatherings where I served food, cooking really became one of my favorite hobbies! Read more>>

Ray Roman

I came up with the idea to expand my video production services to include aerial drone photography and videography when business dried up a bit. Being a full-time video creator isn’t as fun or easy as some might assume. You’re always networking, and searching for your next gig. Expanding my business to include drone services wasn’t necessarily an original idea — in fact, it was a must do. When it comes to real estate photography, Read more>>

Edward Crawford

Coming up with the name for our business. Coltala – (Colt= Young Horse) and (Ala= Wing in Latin and Spanish) My pattern Ralph Manning and I wanted to start a business where we could invest with founders of existing companies and impact peoples lives through job creation, personal growth and increased profit. Read more>>

Carlee Krichmar

Before starting Explore to Heal I worked in the field of education and early intervention and used a play-to-learn approach to teach children all kinds of skills. I couldn’t help but notice how rarely, if ever, we use that approach to teach adults new skills and so I’ve always wanted to do something to change that. I took that thought and combined it with my passion for self-growth and healing to create a way for families who, like mine, Read more>>

Emanuel Cabrera

The brand was built on the foundation of Heaven on Earth, taking direct inspiration from Genesis and God’s original design for creation: the Garden of Eden. The ides came when I noticed that the world is crumbling and falling apart, and the fact is that my generation is looking for answers. Everyone needs answers, they need peace, love, identity, and purpose. Read more>>

Brooke Bundy

I feel like getting to this point (which to be clear is me as co-owner with my twin sister of a still very young interior design business) has been years in the making. I would love to be able to say that there was one big lightbulb moment and I suddenly knew that I was going to start an interior design business and I knew what kinds of services I would offer… Read more>>

Linda Bloom

My husband and I had taken vows to mutually support each other’s career development and to bring up our three children together. Then he was offered a position in the corporate world that was his dream job, which he accepted. The demands of his career were highly disruptive to our marriage and family life to the point that our family almost shattered apart. Read more>>