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.

Daisha Morris

Hello Rebels! My name is Daisha and i am a master hairstylist. From natural hair services, to extensions, and now wigs. I have created my own lane in the hair industry. I graduated hair school back in 2015 and took off on my own ever since. The journey of being your own boss has its perks and also has its downfalls. By the time i left hair school i had enough clientele to uphold booth rent, which is where you pay a salon owner weekly for being in their establishment. Read more>>

Karinna Fischer

I came up with the idea for All Hallows’ Hair in the midst of the pandemic. When you’re given 2+ months to sit with yourself, a lot of things come into perspective. My interest in witchcraft and spirituality expanded greatly during this time. With that, my etsy shop All Hallows’ Apothecary was born. My shop’s motto is “encouraging self-love through magic,” and I quickly realized that this related to the hair that I create, as well. My goal was to create a space where my guests felt safe (pandemic or not); Read more>>

Shannon Beckham

I came up with the idea for Jacksonville Beach Moms back in 2017 while I was serving as PTA president at my children’s school. I was working with a group of volunteers, planning community events, and I realized there were no free or low-cost options to promote our community events and I wanted to change that. We first launched Jacksonville Beach Moms with social media channels, but I quickly realized I needed a way to keep the content organized, searchable, and easy to navigate. From social media we then added a website, and most recently a podcast and set of activity books for kids. Read more>>

Jasmyne Tomlin

My idea to start a consulting agency began the summer entering my senior year at Jackson State University in 2017. I was a business management major and hadn’t figured out a business to create. While a student, I helped numerous classmates create ideas for their businesses, gave unbiased opinions, and helped run their social media accounts. Along this journey tons of problems began with the teams of some of the classmates I helped. Some people were taking ideas from their peers and creating businesses from them. Shockingly some people were so foul enough to take business names that weren’t licensed yet just so the entrepreneur couldn’t use them. Read more>>

Tamara Capel-Wilson

Working for luxury brands for over 15 years I always knew I wanted to create a brand that spoke more to me. My love for contemporary art, fashion, photography, and beauty gave me the inspiration to start Mutha Art Gallery. After motherhood, I rediscovered my fearless, confident, badass self through fashion, art and lifestyle. I wanted Mutha Art Gallery to be centered around art and not just fashion. Uniqueness, style, and originality is what I continued to search for when creating my designs. Yes, tee shirts and sweatshirts are sold at millions of retail locations. However, my statement tees, original photographic tees taken in the 70’s and hand painted sweatshirts would only be found at Mutha Art Gallery. Read more>>

Tiffanie Glaze

In 2014, on a solo hike in South Korea, I was faced with a tough decision – keep the teaching job I had dreamed of since I was a little girl that came with safety and security -OR- take a leap of faith and jump into a world of unknowns and what-ifs that had potential to align with the things I valued most. Well needless to say I took that leap and Grounded by Nature Co. was created out of my love of nature and passion for teaching. Although starting my own business took time to actualize, the journey was really what allowed me to fulfill this endeavor. Read more>>

Trina Quirindongo

Prior to becoming a mom I only traveled within the United States. It was as if North America was the only continent I believed to be in reach of. When I had my daughter at the age of 24 I was not in a good place financially and barely made rent so taking a vacation yet alone travel was not even a thought. However, life took a turn when I completed my bachelors degree at Bowie State University and joined the US Air Force. I suddenly explored the idea of traveling to new countries and I became aware of my spending in budgeting. When my daughter was 2 I made the decision to get her a passport. We went on our first international trip together as mom and daughter. The idea of Mommy and Me Take Flight came to existence to inspire moms and share the real life trip taken from DC to Germany. Read more>>

Stephanie Montano

I’m pretty sure I always knew I would be organizing for my whole life since I was little. But in reality, the idea came to fruition when I was sitting at my 9-5 job, bored out of my mind wondering what I was even doing there. I was fresh out of college with a degree that I had no use for. At my desk, I sat down and asked myself: “what am I good at?” and I jotted down some of my answer’s. Then I asked myself: “what can make me money?”. I was looking for something unique, different, and out of the box so that I would have a better chance of succeeding within a niche community. Read more>>

Choshonya Waddell-Green

I came up with the idea for The Vision Castle rental facility when my father passed away. I was raised in the Mt Airy Section of Philadelphia and recently moved over to South Jersey 5 years ago. Once my parents knew I was moving to a different state they picked up and found a house before myself and my husband did. 2 years after moving my father passed away and since we were still pretty new to the area, we didn’t know of any places we could host my father’s repast. I began looking on the internet and noticed most of the halls were large spaces and wasn’t affordable. Read more>>

Dawn Levian

Sadly, my business idea comes from a lifetime of hurt and tragedy but it’s what got me to where I am. I was an abused child growing up which eventually led me to foster care homes and sadly some of those were also abusive. So, the feeling of pain, being lost or hurt isn’t new to me. So when seeking a way to let go the idea of a visit to a rage room was presented to me. At that time the closest one was hours away from me. I connected with the idea of this like nothing I had ever connected to before. Read more>>

Brock Taylor

I wanted to become a stylist because I love fashion and I love to create an outfit for my clients that is eye catching, professional and true to their personality and my brand. I knew this was a worthwhile endeavor because I have an eye for fashion and I truly enjoy what I do. I felt that I could succeed because I an passionate about my craft. Read more>>

Breanna Lee, Victoria Dixon

I (Breanna) interned with the St. Louis Blues and have always had a passion for sports. After the internship was completed, I wanted to continue working in sports but wasn’t sure of what path to take. A friend suggested starting a sports podcast as my way into the sports world. I jumped at the idea but did not want to do it alone and knew I needed a cohost. Read more>>

Randell

During the 30 years I’ve spent in business environments, the last 15 spent as a legal ‘headhunter’ for all levels in the field (legal secretary to partners), there has been a well documented and researched, alarming deterioration in our abilities to initiate, develop, sustain, nurture and maintain professional relationships. What I know, empirically, is the most business, (aside from transactional interactions, think: buying a car or groceries) is conducted because of human to human, professional to professional relationships with shared interests and goals. Read more>>

Andrea Aguirre

The Art of Donut was born in 2016, at the beginning it was just me wanting to explore the entrepreneurial world but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve always been a fan of coffee and sweet bread and brunch places and when I met Miguel (Co founder) Boyfriend we travel to California and stop by different cool coffee spots and of course donut shops and fell involve with the vibes and the possibilities and creativity behind crafted donut shops. Read more>>

Sharde Harrison

Shardè’s grandmother planted the seed of cooking and baking into her life at a young age. Finding her niche for baking, Shardè, could not get rid of her sweet tooth and continue to cultivate her love for baked goods. Baking and hosting events at her home began to be a weekly routine. During holidays and special events, family and friends would gather around the table laughing and enjoying the savory taste of Shardè’s Sweet Potato Pie! Read more>>

Tina Brunsman

I would visit my youngest daughter Alexandra at her school (Florida Southern College) quite often. It was not far from our home in Tampa Fl. We loved to visit antique stores and while at one, we started talking to the owner who invited Alexandra to bring her paintings to her once a month Friday market. We had fun with that and decided to add other products to the table. We started to get up cycling ideas from Pinterest. Then we saw these beautiful soap bars that were piped on Pinterest. We decided to buy a kit from a popular soap company. Read more>>

Chad Wilson

I am married man with 4 children, and currently reside in Trinity, Florida. I am a proud owner of a few businesses I opened and currently operate. Ready to Train Mobile Gym and Ready to Train Health Supplements, Ready to Shine Mobile Detailing & Pressure Washing. And my new venture Ready to go Coffee. Read more>>

Tatiana Phillips

I had recently graduated with my Master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications and was freelancing on and off while I looked for full-time work. I had pivoted my career a few times due to life circumstances, but always knew I wanted to return to marketing. I was recently laid off due to my position becoming obsolete at a full-time job I took while I looked for a company I could grow with. And then, boom – the pandemic hit, and everything shut down. I thought to myself if I really want to live the life I’ve always wanted, now is my opportunity. Read more>>

Michael & Derek

Back in the day, Derek and I (Michael) used to work together at a movie theater and one of the topics that sparked our friendship was sports. From that moment, we would always talk and text about the recent news or exciting moments across all the major sports leagues. You can tell from our intense conversations that sports was a passion for us. We even made a deal to watch one another’s favorite sport, even though we weren’t the biggest fans of that sport at the time, to gain a better understanding of why we were so infatuated with that particular sport. Read more>>

Brian Greenblatt

I had always been interested in visual arts, but never had the medium really growing up to creativity execute my ideas outside dabbling briefly in high-school with film and darkrooms. After graduating college in 2012 I had heavily been involved in the music industry in Philadelphia and was working with events in pre-production but I found myself wanting to do things while working the event so I decided to go back to my roots in film photography and picked up a camera and since then its been history. Read more>>

Sean O’Neill

It was early 2020 during the lockdown. My wife and I, both in the hospitality industry, all of a sudden had no work and were stuck at home. There seemed to be no end in sight. One night, I came across an article online about the best liquors to drink straight. The problem presenting itself was that people no longer had mixers for their cocktails at home and were either not able or not willing to go out to the store to buy more. Being a mixologist with nothing but time on my hands, I realized that this was a problem I could solve. I could create mixers and deliver them to people’s houses so they could enjoy good cocktails without having to leave their homes. Read more>>

John Painter

Growing up, I was fascinated listening to records and all the effort that went into making them. For whatever reason, I had an equal amount of interest in the gear and equipment we were utilizing. This combination made it natural for me to pursue audio engineering and to be the “man behind the desk”. It only took a short while before I was recording all my bands and other local groups we were around. In my first year I managed to make all this work recording in my kitchen. Then as I upgraded and improved people starting wanting me to work on more projects and even wanted to pay me. At some point it realized I could do this for a living and I went for it. Read more>>

Yana Cooper

There is no one good answer to this question. Good ideas come from your mind, feelings, emotions and from your heart. Sometime I would get inspired by looking at another artists work. Now that does not mean that I am trying to recreate what has already been created. Usually what would happen is things like colors would get my attention and they will remind me of something and i will just see this picture in my head that I would want to create! Other things would be clothing, accessories, poses and even faces! Read more>>

Jessica Harrington

I started my career and education in the drug and alcohol field. While working with my patients I realized there was a common factor, my patients and my co-workers did not know how to handle stress. I wanted to be part of the prevention and education of stress. This sparked the idea to start my own business. If only the ending was, and now I have a beautiful successful business… nope. While starting my first business, I received my Master’s In Public Health ~ Integrative Medicine, continue working a full time job, and kept a shift or two as a bartender. Read more>>

Ryann Liebl

As an actress and a filmmaker storytelling has always been something that was important to me. It’s in my blood and it’s how I think as an artist. So when I got into video content creation, music videos and commercials, I used all the skills I learned from being in the industry for over fifteen years and applied it to my business. We now produce hundreds of videos a year all with the focus of storytelling and creating that movie quality visualization. Read more>>

Felicia Todd.

As far as humble beginnings go there was always a SaseeChic. Just not the one you know of and love today. It went through a few iterations before becoming an online boutique. The initial idea came from food. Yes, food in a not-so-subtle way. Watching my grandma and my mom in the kitchen growing up, gave me a penchant for cooking. My potato salad and mac and cheese were always holiday favorites to make but my chicken salad was on another level. Read more>>

Jereme Brown

Well upon my last interview I stated how my business “Series Blu” came about. I always wanted to run my graphic design firm and offer numerous art services that I’ve learned and build a team around that. Although this had a strong start I’ve discovered not everyone can be as passionate or connected to your business as you are. I was able to go through the harsh growing pains and spend every last dime into I believe can get to where I want it. I may not have the team but I’m discovering once they see you succeeding and working hard that will spark their interest into wanting to be apart of something bigger. Read more>>

Robyn Thomas

Technically, I’m supposed to be going into my 6th year as an elementary school teacher but somewhere along the way, everything changed! I just finished earning my B.S in Early Childhood Education and moved to California. While waiting to be entered into the system in San Diego County, I wanted something to do. I’ve always been productive whether being involved in in-school activities, after school activities, working or enjoying life. I didn’t want to stand idle waiting for the school district so I though about different things to do to earn income. Read more>>

Jenifer D agrela

The idea of ​​starting in the world of decoration with balloons was born from the need to have economic independence, that I could do something from home to be able to continue taking care of my son. (back then I had only one, now I have two beautiful children, who are my inspiration and motivation). When we arrived in the United States in August 2017, in the adaptation process, I had to be at home with my son, while my husband worked and adapted to the new changes. I felt a little afflicted, being at home doing nothing, and not producing my own money. Read more>>

Stephanie & Mitchell Moulton

September 2017, we took our first trip to Asia. We started our 15-day adventure on a guided tour through China eating dumplings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then, we visited family in South Korea and spent hours exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace dressed in hanboks. Our trip ended by exploring Tokyo on our own and cheered after successfully taking the metro from Shinjuku to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Read more>>

Maria Caruso Martin

The Bella Rosa Collection represents the legacy of my grandparents’ love story passed down four generations. In 1915 they fell in love as teenagers in a small town in the hills of southern Italy. From there, their life was an adventure with only one constant — love letters. Love letters were how they circumvented their family’s approval while they secretly courted. It was how my grandpa continued to reassure Grandma Rosa of his deep love for her when called into the Italian army. It’s where he penned his first of many proposals that led to the wedding that was just the beginning of their epic love story. Read more>>

Dallas Tillman

I started working for a longtime friend during a period of unemployment. I wasn’t sure what my next step should be and I was really trying to figure out what my future held. I quickly fell in love with the work and decided it was the path I wanted to peruse for myself. In the beginning of Covid, everyone wanted to improve their outdoor spaces. It just made sense to dive into it. I started my business with my husbands truck. It was slow at first but exciting. Read more>>

Amy Nelipovich

My passion for art started when I was young. While growing up my parents exposed us to all kinds of creativity…..drawing, painting, clay, glass blowing, jewelry making, museums, music, camps, classes. The whole house was filled with art, music, and creativity. I am so grateful for this. I remember going to my Aunt and Uncle’s house when I was young, and their walls were filled with art too, not a blank space anywhere. It was so beautiful, I would wonder around just soaking it all in. I thought to myself, I want my home to look like this when I grow up. Read more>>

Lauren Stewart

My buisness was born out of my desire to provide quality yet luxurious beauty treatments for women of color. As a woman of color I felt that we were under represented in Spa settings. From product choices to taste in music selection I felt that most spa’s serve a one size fits all selection. Lavish Beauti is all about custom treatments for a more personalized experience. From your choice of aromatherapy scents, massage modalities and beverages ;your treatment is designed around you. Read more>>

Kobe Morrison

I started privately puppeteering in middle school around the same time I made silly videos with my cousins on the apps Vine & Musical.ly. After a while, I wanted to start showcasing my talents online. This gave me the idea to combine the two worlds of puppeteering and making videos with my cousins as one, and TCG Puppets was born. We started off making videos with my family as co-stars to the puppets, which I perform with. Read more>>

Melanie Eubanks

Entertaining and event planning had always been a part of my life. When I was a child, my family would host Christmas events where the turnout would be in the hundreds. Having a house full of loved one celebrating together became a staple of what made me smile. It didn’t end there. As I got older, I had a typical nine to five job, but I would help friends and family plan birthday dinners with elaborate tablescapes and decorate households for major holidays. It was what I was truly passionate about and it was always in the back of my mind. When I started truly considering this passion as a means to start my own business, I got the opportunity to test it out. Read more>>