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. 

Katherine Tozduman

When I was working 8+ hours per day in corporate, I noticed that one of the biggest mood improvers for me was remembering to take breaks and make space for additional creative outlets to feel refreshed. The benefits of this practice always trickled into my work and helped me be more productive, relate to my colleagues differently, and positively impact my wellbeing. Read More>>

Duke Kroger

The Idea for Side Piece has been a long and thought out kind of thing. When we imagined it, it was this risqué brunch theme where Michelin food bet bad manners and early morning food for the walk of shame home lol. Read More>>

Manon Almeida Saunier

My path emerged quite naturally from a personal desire to reconnect with knowledge that I felt was disappearing. Growing up, I realized that the women in my lineage knew far more about plants than I did, how to identify them, use them for food and medicine, and live more closely connected to the seasons. Read More>>

Jackie Lee

As a child, I battled chickenpox twice, leaving scars that made me self-conscious. Later, pregnancy brought stretch marks that only deepened my insecurities. I tried countless products, none worked, and many were overpriced. Seeing my sister struggle with eczema, I knew I had to create something safe, affordable, and effective. Read More>>

Desmond Edson

I didn’t start out thinking I was going to build a business. I started behind the bar. For years, I worked in hospitality, serving cocktails and connecting with people from all walks of life. What I noticed was that the moments guests remembered most weren’t necessarily the drinks themselves it was the experience surrounding them. Read More>>

Jacob Steinberger

The idea for Wellness with Jacob came from a growing sense of frustration I experienced while working in a hospital. Every day, I saw people struggling with pain and chronic conditions, yet many weren’t finding the relief they were looking for through conventional treatments alone. I often felt helpless watching patients continue to suffer despite receiving care. Read More>>

Glory Eguabor

The idea for Remote Tribe Africa came from my own experience of feeling stuck. A few years ago,I was doing what many young people in Nigeria and many parts of Africa are told to do. I went to school, got my degree, and was trying to build a career. But like many people across Africa, I quickly realized that talent alone wasn’t enough. Read More>>

Rachel Powell

Fybe is a project that the cross stitch community has wanted for a while now. Etsy has become a drop-shipping and AI cesspool, and it’s become nearly impossible for customers to find what they’re looking for. There’s no transparency on an artist’s process, and no requirement for people to disclose ai content. Read More>>

Daphne Davalie

Zansette Home is the premiere home decor brand of the Majority Minority generation. Zanset is a Kreyol word for ‘ancestors.’ As an African-American woman, my ancestors were transported here from Africa; thus, we have the beginning of the African Diaspora. Zansette Home sells African Disaspora inspired home decor, primarily pillow cases and candles. Read More>>

Sean Hyman

While the stock market newsletter industry already existed, I wanted to create a unique letter that wasn’t pulling upon people’s greed to ‘find the next Microsoft’ or to sell them a great story about a stock, whether it flops or soars. Read More>>

Kelvi Wilson

Kelvi Doviar Cosmetics wasn’t something I randomly decided to do—it came from a real place, a real need, and honestly, a lot of trial, error, and emotion. I’ve always loved beauty—lip gloss, lashes, the whole thing. But what really stood out to me was how hard it was to find products that felt like they were made for me. Read More>>

TJ Johnson

 

I first developed the idea for my jewelry business approximately 18 years ago. What began as a creative hobby gradually evolved into a part-time business as my passion for jewelry design grew and customer interest increased. Read More>>

Gabriel Rice

I came up with the idea of publishing a children’s book because I’ve always been a great writer. I’ve been writing since I was young. Rather it was poems, raps or just my thoughts. Read More>>

Nelson Hill

The idea for Where the Rich Won’t Go came from a real experience I had while working as a barback at Andy’s in West Hollywood. One night, a friend of mine came into work and invited me to a party in the Hollywood Hills after my shift. I got off around 10:30 p.m. Read More>>

Katina (Pearl) Warr

In 2021, I was battling major depression, I was on several medications including antidepressants and anxiety meds. Nothing worked. I gained 90 pounds, I was overweight and still depressed. I started researching and studying herbs and taking online courses. Eventually I began making my own supplements and from there, I was able to detox from the medications and use holistic-based solutions. Read More>>

Abby Hatteberg

So Wayfaren actually started with one slightly crazy dream: taking our kids to live in Italy for a month. I’d lived and taught 3rd Grade there after college, so once we had kids, I wasn’t about to let my deep love of Europe go! Read More>>

Yesenia

I created Celestial Aesthetics while I was pregnant with my second child because I wanted to be sure I was able to create and build a legacy for my children—they’ve been my ‘why’ since I found out I was pregnant. I knew I needed to create something that I can leave for them while also doing something which I enjoy, which is helping others. Read More>>

Grace Djokoto

Kalanchoe Skateboards grew out of my own journey into skateboarding. When I first decided I wanted to learn, I walked into a local skate shop excited to buy my first skateboard. Instead of being welcomed and guided through the process, I felt dismissed by the salesperson. It was a discouraging experience, but it didn’t stop me from pursuing skateboarding. Read More>>

Leslie Lehr

The idea for Leslie Lehr Living wasn’t born overnight, it evolved from a lifetime of curating spaces and a deep passion for the art of editing. Growing up originally, on the East Coast, I was immersed early on in a classic, timeless aesthetic. Read More>>

Jessica Lozada

The Story Behind She Is The Brand People often ask me how I came up with the title She Is The Brand. The truth is, I didn’t create the title while sitting in a business meeting or studying marketing strategies. Read More>>

Vesi Kay

I started Travel Addicted Unicorn with a very simple but personal intention: I wanted to help millennial women feel inspired and confident enough to travel the world more. Read More>>

Karli Norton

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved plants. I spent a childhood plucking raspberries from my grandparents’ garden, summer trips to nurseries to help pick out annuals to pot for the family patio, and a bi-weekly chore of watering the houseplants in the sunroom. Read More>>

Will Kimbrough

Coffee Talk With Will is how my podcast started. Coffee Talk With Will is a reaction to videos platform. And it all started when I was sitting in my truck after a long day of selling my products one Saturday evening. Read More>>

Delphine Dubuisson

Before launching my brand, I was working in the fashion industry in London. While I loved the creativity of fashion, I was also witnessing firsthand the darker side of the industry, the enormous environmental impact, the lack of transparency, and how little care was often given to both environmental and social values. Read More>>

Michael Huh

I came up with the idea for Veluro.ai after spending more than 10 years running a marketing agency and seeing the same problems over and over again. Businesses everywhere were struggling with growth, but the options available to them were broken. Hiring an agency is expensive, takes time, and even then, results can vary depending on the team, communication, or human error. Read More>>

Ryan Cobbins

Momentum Advisory really came from the accumulation of years of entrepreneurial experience, leadership, operational growth, community building, and helping people solve problems in real time. It wasn’t one single moment, it was the realization that throughout my career, people consistently came to me for guidance, clarity, strategy, and support around building something meaningful. Read More>>

RINI CHOUDHURY

I didn’t plan this. I want to say that upfront, because I think the honest version of this story is more interesting than the polished one. I spent years working as an engineer. I was good at it. Read More>>

Quentin Wilson

Q10 Crémant de Loire was born during one of the most difficult periods of my life. In 2019, I lost my father to cancer. Like many people who experience a significant loss, I found myself reflecting on how quickly life can change and how often we postpone celebration while waiting for some future milestone to arrive. Read More>>

Emily Ferrara

My Co-founder Joe and I have always been the kind of people who care about what we put into our bodies. Health and nutrition weren’t trends to us, they were part of how we lived long before we ever thought about starting a business. For me, that obsession started early. Read More>>

Abriana Gutierrez

Here’s a heartfelt and professional response you could use that ties into your portfolio, personal journey, and passion for natural hair: Growing up, I was the girl who constantly straightened her hair because I thought that was the standard of beauty. Over time, I experienced severe heat damage and lost touch with what made my hair uniquely mine. Read More>>

Jim and May Spanish and Go

The idea for Spanish and Go came from the intersection of our relationship, our professional backgrounds, and a very real problem Jim experienced as a Spanish learner. In 2011, we met on italki. Jim was living in Minnesota and had recently started learning Spanish. Read More>>

Audrey Kelly

There are two kinds of ideas you have in your early twenties: the ones that are deeply impractical and the ones that are deeply impractical but, for reasons no one can fully explain, actually work. The Hollywood Pitch Festival was the second kind. Read More>>

Valeria Sizova

My pageant journey started unexpectedly. I entered my first competition at 23 ( late by industry standards ) with no coaching, no community, and no real understanding of what I was walking into. What I didn’t expect was how much that world would open up. Read More>>

Renita Turner

Jewels of the Future Inc. was founded alongside my oldest daughter, Diamond Wallace, beginning with community events hosted through our business, Cutz Linez & Trimz. What started as simply giving back has grown into a nonprofit organization dedicated to mentoring teen girls, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship, education, and community service. Read More>>

Arson Sefi

The story of my business venture began back in 2018. I was in what felt like a creative dead end street of my life, when one day someone asked if I could photograph them. This person had seen some of my digital illustrations and wanted me to photograph them so I could make an illustration out of the photo. Read More>>

Mikey Denton

I’ve been behind the chair for years. And if you know this industry, you know we get sold to constantly. Hair shows, brand reps, Instagram ads, “free samples” that are really just subscriptions you didn’t agree to. The whole system is built to get professionals buying. And most of us do — because we care about our craft. Read More>>

Sarah Severance

Baking has been part of my life since childhood. As a young teen and through grad school, I would have a baking marathon over the holidays to bake thousands of cookies, bars, and treats for all of our family and friends. Around 2010, it was my banana bread that became my signature item, baked all year round, in addition to the holiday marathon. Read More>>

Courtney Robertson

When I was younger, there was an old timey photo booth at the amusement park we went to every summer. I thought it was incredible that you could take a photograph that made you look like you were from another time. Read More>>

Robert + Robin Sanzi

Robin Sanzi’s words “So I noticed how Rob knew every product that we sold what was in it wasn’t in it what he would add what he would take away And I said, honey, you need to create your own product line, so that’s how it started and you know Rob was the type of kid that whenever he was eating cereal he would be reading the Read More>>

Dr. Monica Ricks

In 2019, I found myself in the middle of a very bitter and tumultuous divorce, escaping from domestic violence, and on the brink of becoming a single mother of 3 children under the age of 5. During that same year, I lost my beloved cousin, aunt, and uncle. Read More>>

Elissa Fallo

People often ask how Elissa Evergreen and Letters from Evergreen came to be, and the truth is neither one started with a grand business plan. Elissa Evergreen was originally created as a way to showcase the creative side of my event production company, Perfect Productions. Read More>>

Quinn Conyers

The idea for The Audacity to Go SMALL came from years of feeling like society, social media and culture kept pressuring so many of us to go bigger, dream bigger and do more. It was becoming exhausting. So when I really looked at my life I notices that many of the biggest breakthroughs didn’t start big, they started small and I leaned into it. Read More>>

VaShaun J. Pickens

The story of PICTOPIA did not start with a business plan. It started with a burden and a belief. For years, I have been a creative. I am a graphic designer, photographer, marketer, DJ, storyteller, and someone who has always enjoyed helping people see the best version of themselves. Read More>>

Inessa Freylekhman

My journey began long before I ever imagined building a business. I was fascinated by psychology from a very young age. I was always curious about why people do what they do, what shapes us, and how we change. Read More>>

Brenda Anzaldua

My entrepreneurial journey actually started with couponing and teaching people how to save money. Years ago, I founded Saving Our Way because I was passionate about helping families stretch their budgets and become more financially secure. What began as sharing couponing tips quickly grew into free community classes where I taught people how to save money on groceries, household items, and everyday expenses. Read More>>

Sherrie Allsup

The idea for my business was born from a lifetime of witnessing pain, resilience, and the profound impact trauma has on individuals and communities. Throughout my own journey and years of advocacy work, I repeatedly saw the devastating effects of sexual assault, trauma, and suicide—not only on survivors and their families, but also on the professionals tasked with responding to these crises. Read More>> 

Jessica DeFeo

After being in marketing for years doing various things- web design, social media content and strategy, email marketing, etc. the one common pain point amongst all business owners within their first 5 years was how no one had an overall marketing strategy and plan for their business. Read More>>

Aprajita Lal

Honestly? Out of my own frustration. I’m an artist, but I also spent over seventeen years in technology. So when I finally decided to quit my corporate job and paint full time, I had this beautiful picture in my head — me, my easel, painting my heart out all day. That was the dream. What actually happened was very different. Read More>>

Pejman Zare

I’ve always believed that the things you carry say something about you. Not in an obvious way, in the details. The watch, the shoes, the case on your phone. I’ve always been drawn to things that stand out, that get a second look, that earn a compliment, that feel considered and deliberate. Luriax came from that instinct. At some point I noticed something was off. Read More>>

Vanessa Dessieu

After years of work that felt less like a job and more like a calling, after nights when one more hour could mean the difference between a child eating, a mother receiving medication, or a community holding onto hope. I received a pink slip. In January 2025, the Trump administration dismantled USAID. Read More>>

Nicole Hall

Gary, Indiana born and raised in 2003 decided to become a Medical Assistant at a local Merrillville College after graduating I was placed at a known clinic in Hammond, Indiana where I was placed in the Occupational Medicine Department where I then became a Certified Professional Collector. Read More>>

Raveena Kingsley

I got into AI in 2024, by chance. That year, I dealt with an illness that made me stay awake a lot of nights. Most nights I was in too much pain to do anything. However, on the nights where I just needed a distraction, the only comfort I had was my laptop. Read More>>

 Stacey Magovern

In 2005, I married the love of my life, Michael, a police officer, and we relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. While he protected our community, I took on an outside sales role. As a police wife, I quickly learned a harsh reality about law enforcement: despite putting their lives on the line every day, officers in most departments are paid remarkably little. To make ends meet, many rely heavily on off-duty security gigs. Read More>>

Sarah Jones

Holyxseis was born from the idea that every person has a little nerdiness in them. Whether you play tabletop roleplaying games, enjoy watching anime, or like to indulge in quirky accessories, you’ll find geeks from all walks of life, and sometimes in the most unexpected places. Read More>>

 Janie Villarreal McClinchie

I started selling my art. Read More>>

Terrell Williams

I came up with the idea to brand my up & coming Album title “The Don” off my real life experiences I handle each obstacle I came across with grace & integrity i didn’t fold under pressure… Money or any material didn’t make me a “Don” my demeanor my aura my way of thinking made me a “Don” I took losses with my chest out I was fasting my way through it I was disciplined behind closed doors…  Read More>>

Lemar Scott

“The Engagement Guide” was already in motion before I ever realized it was a viable business opportunity. As a jewelry and style expert, I was constantly being consulted for advice on jewelry designs, wear, and care. More specifically, close friends in the “engagement phase” of their lives would ask questions about what they should be shopping for, how they knew it was legitimate, and how much to spend. Read More>>