Starting a business or creative project is scary for many reasons, but one that is often overlooked is the anxiety related to whether this is really “the one.” To some, this isn’t a valid consideration while to others this is the only consideration. Some argue that what you work on, along with who you work with are the two most pivotal decisions you’ll make and so we’ve asked folks to tell us about how they came up with their ideas and how they knew this idea was the one.

Briana Tillman

kDelta’s five owners all met while working at a training company together. We bonded over how much we believed in the work we were doing and expressed our desire to put the best, most up-to-date training available out to our community. Our little work group fell on the “new” side of old school vs. new school because we pushed for the latest, evidenced based practice to be taught to our students as opposed to 20-30 year old direction. This led to us being labeled as sort of the “B Team” which we embraced and affectionately re-named ourselves “Team Two.” Read more>>

Sasha Ledawn

I would definitely say that it wasn’t a quick arrival. It took several years to understand my unique position in the marketplace and I’m still learning. I’m processing what it means to be an Encouragist. The encouraging side of me wants to help my clients and readers to master the ebbs and flows of life, while the strategist side demands action, tenacity, and endurance. Both are necessary, but there is a fine line and I’m learning how to navigate that to give people what they need when they need it. Read more>>

Anna DiCarlo

Let me preface by stating that I never thought I would be doing what I am doing. I didn’t start knowing I would be a business! My story starts when I had my first-born daughter. She was only a few months old when she began to have a rash on the front shin part of her leg. I took her to the pediatrician and turned out it was eczema. After telling the doctor that I don’t wash her daily and didn’t know how to make it better…he told me that it was chemically induced. Read more>>

Lauren Branch

Starting this business was an idea that had been floating around in my head for quite some time. I had graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in Textile Design and grew up around a slew of inspiring and creative women, including my Yia Yia (greek word for grandmother). She co-owned and operated a very successful Interiors Store here in Raleigh with her equally talented sisters and so my love for colors, fabrics, pattern..etc grew as I got older. I saw so many talented industry creatives in this space and thought, “why not me? I can do this!” Drawing inspiration from my Greek roots and my approach to interior spaces, Kefi Home Interiors was born. Read more>>

Noel Broda

September 2015… I was boring, checking Instagram updates, as usual… After wasting some hours in the infinite scroll of Instagram, I suddenly saw an awesome photo that make me stop scrolling. The photo was superb. It was taken from some place that looked like a “Giardino” (and they say in Italy), and far away in the focus you could see the amazing “Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore”. It was clearly a photo taken in Florence, Italy… And that… That was a problem… Read more>>

James De Lacey

My business helps combat sports athletes maximize their physical and mental preparation for fights, tournaments, and competitive matches. It may seem there are endless “trainers” and “coaches” parading on social media and I would be lost in the sea of content. However, I knew I had a competitive advantage. My previous career was working in professional and international level sport. Specifically rugby and rugby league. I hold a Masters in Sport & Exercise Science and have published academic research. On the side, I review the latest strength & conditioning research for another company and have a vast network of coaches. Read more>>

Payton Rademacher

I’ve had a camera in my hand as long as I can remember.  With encouragement and support from my mother, grandmother and husband I decide to go for it and pursue my dream of starting my photography business. Read more>>

Brandon Small.

The concept of Realtyless was born from a desire to directly improve the issues I experienced when selling a home. I spent months going through the real estate process with my parents so they could relocate to Knoxville, TN for retirement. The entire process was emotional and grueling. From preparing for handfuls of showings to dealing with closing hiccups, I saw firsthand the inefficacies in the real estate system. Read more>>

Jennifer Agnew

I was at a swanky low lit bar in Dallas and noticed there were suspicious dropper bottles lining the counter. I asked what strange science experiment was going on feeling a little nervous about my drink. The bartender informed me those bottles contained house-made bitters. I knew about Angostura bitters, but had no idea it was possible to make your own or come up with different flavors. For the next year back in Kansas City, I looked behind every bar I went to and noticed their bitters supply. Everyone had Ango, a few had Peychauds, and maybe one or two more. Read more>>

Amanda & Jason Mazzo

Jason & I (Amanda) were both creative freelancers (a videographer and graphic designer, respectively) when we met in 2011. After we married in 2013, we were sitting on the couch one day when I wondered out loud, “What would happen if we combined forces and brought our skills under one umbrella? What would it look like if we worked with other contractors to grow services beyond our scope to work with larger clients?” With that question, Mazzo Media was born. Read more>>

Patricia Garza

It all started in mid-November 2018. I was so excited about the cool weather that I decided to host a dinner party, I’m a big snacker so I always make sure I have different little bites to offer my guests. I went all out since all my big group of friends confirmed they were coming. I was struggling to find serving dishes that matched together and after opening what it felt like 30 cabinets and not finding what I wanted, I remember thinking: wouldn’t it be great to have one long serving plate to fit all the things! And that was it!! The very next day I starting thinking on how I could create something that would solve my aesthetic problems Lol. Read more>>

Tony Landazuri

Way before I ever had the thought of making videos I was making music. That’s always been my passion, and still the reason I do what I do now. My biggest struggle with pursuing a music career is the amount of money that you have to put into it. There’s always going to be cheap home studios, beats, and basic music videos that you can do on a budget, but I just always felt like that was my art and I didn’t ever want to sell myself short. I would always spend the extra money to get the best possible outcome, so my music would reach its full potential. Read more>>

Kim Hernandez

I remember bringing up the idea of creating a clothing brand to my siblings and close friends a couple of years ago. I would have late night talks with my brother, dreaming about what could be if I just had the resources- the knowledge and the finances- to actually make this happen. When 2020 came, I was already starting to brainstorm how I could pivot in my entrepreneurial journey, but I didn’t have the finances to actually go forward with it- that is until the stimulus checks came in. I knew that this was my opportunity to invest in something I truly believed in, a business that I could be proud of. Read more>>

April Love

So originally I began my business after going viral and declaring how I was a spoiled girlfriend. I believe that that exact video was titled “I’m a kept girlfriend and I love all of my boyfriends” or something like that. Basically, it was a Facebook post with pictures and videos of me with different guys traveling, having dinner, and just living my best life and that was seen and shared over hundreds of thousands of times. This inspired a multitude of women to reach out to me and ask me what was I doing to have men treating me well and spoiling me and to want my help. Read more>>

Roshi Day

Cush Concierge is the result of wanting to create luxury experiences and resources in select industries. I believe I came full circle in the pursuit of my service career so I had to find more ways to be of service. It was time to be more focused on building in the community and creating streams of passive income so that I could be available for my family. Sometimes being a business owner you find yourself in-between a rock and hard place when its time to make that transition. Read more>>

Katie Hawkins

Here For Good Films started with a simple idea: there are a lot of good people doing good things and more people need to hear about it. This idea first started bouncing around in my head back in 2011 when I was living overseas working with an NGO. I met so many good people and realized that there was no way I could do as much good as people already living and working among their peers. But I knew these stories needed to be told. Read more>>

Shawn Mangenje

As a freelance photographer and artist, I traveled to various gigs, including schools. I noticed the aching financial gap and disinterest within art departments here locally and across the nation. It hit home when kids would come up to me asking: “how are you shooting this celebrity right now?” “I wish our school had an art department.” or “can you help me start photography?” These things led me to start our community organization RAWDetroit back in 2016. Read more>>

Taylor Sprewell

In April of 2020 my husband and I finally bought the 60 acre farm we had been living on for years. My first thought was to get a couple bee hives to help pollinate our garden now that we were in our forever home. After a very exciting first honey harvest I had a ton of beeswax left over and had no idea what to do with it. I’ve always loved the cozy warmth of candles but with so much fragrance in commercially sold candles i would usually have side effects from burning them in my home. Read more>>

Troy Richardson

Every idea must have that seed planted at some point. My seat was planted Long ago by my late mother when she showed me the gift of giving to others and bringing Joy into their lives. I started my media company with an idea of doing a TV drama based on my personal experience. During this process I started a streaming TV network to help others get their content seen. This channel has been a blessing to many and is serving as a training ground or a minor league and the bridge to the pros and network television Read more>>

Stephanie Olson

Adulting Financial basically started itself – the need for basic financial education is enormous, especially for young professionals just starting their careers. I have been actively helping my peers with budgeting and saving since high school. It wasn’t until after college that I realized that non-judgmental education didn’t exist for those seeking help. Having the education and background in finance helped me realize that I could be a great resource for those struggling to grab ahold of their personal finances. Read more>>

Raven Clark

Back in November 2019 I was on a holiday trip to Texas to see family in Texas. While I was spending time with family on Thanksgiving my cousin and I was having a discussion about Fashion. Then, my cousin stated that, ” I’m one of the more girly girls in the family. ” My cousin knew how passionate I was about fashion. My cousin gave me confirmation that I should start my own online boutique because she felt that I knew how to dress and have the capabilities of giving women advice about fashion. Read more>>

Latrisa Griffin

I attended the University of Alabama from 2004-2009. As a freshman and sophomore in college, I had about $500 in overdraft fees. When I realized that, I began learn how to balance my check book and improve on my finances. I continued on this journey and eventually during my junior year (2007), I take an intro to accounting course. During one of the discussions on the time value of money, internally I became upset in class and made a statement, “One day I will help people with this”. Read more>>

Brittany Harding

Britt’s Kitchen was actually my hobby Instagram page named by my cousin back when I was in college. I’ve always loved cooking, and baking with my mom since I was a young age, and she taught me almost everything I know in the kitchen. When I would try new recipes I would invite my cousin over to try everything, so she called it Britt’s Kitchen. In 2020 during the pandemic is when I really decided I wanted to make a business out of it. Since so many people were isolated to their homes everyone was loving the DIY trends. Read more>>

Ashley J. Hughes

I used to be afraid of dogs as a child, terrified even… so how did I end up working with furry, feathered, and scaled-kids of all kinds? Concussions suck, let’s start there. Summer 2017 I had been working in my career as a Medical Insurance Specialist for 10 years, having taken on just about every role one can have, and I had finally reached the top of my field! I purchased a home in my name alone (a big deal!) after receiving a large raise, I was a few months away from getting married, things were looking great… and then the accident happened three weeks later. Read more>>

Adam Ritchie

In the middle of the pandemic we had loads of time to think. Business was a little slow but we had just opened our first coffee shop in the town of Roanoke, Va. The coffee shop was located right near Interstate 81 so we had loads of traffic from travelers passing through. After speaking to the travelers a common theme kept coming up. Everyone would talk about how hard it was to find independent coffee shops while they were traveling. Anytime they searched coffee near me they would only find the big guys. Read more>>

Quan Spivey

I came up with my brand PopQuan because I wasn’t able to get a job in the media field. I was advised numerous times I lacked experience so I decided to create my experience. I build my empire off an idea and research, I came into the eager to learn and dedicated to being a business owner. Read more>>

Argentina Harris

I actually stumbled across the idea for my business. Actually, I had already been in business for 6 years prior to discovering the product that would change the trajectory of my business. I would not label myself as a business owner prior because I was still working a full-time job and being a hairstylist in my spare time. As a busy professional, I was always looking for ways to save time and cut down on the care and maintenance of my own hair. I have always worn my hair short and loved the ease and convenience of it all. Read more>>

Molly King

Molly Jo Events started very organically, with very little time spent “dreaming” and “envisioning”; I literally dove in head first, sink or swim. I was born and raised in South Knoxville, coming home in 2014 after 14 years away, I’d spent about 10 years working in events and catering in the Bay Area of California, always working for someone else. The expense and the competitive nature of the industry there made the prospect of going it on my own extremely daunting, if not impossible, and I moved back with this same mindset. Read more>>

Mary Ann Griffiths

I came up with the idea of Kaylor Girl Promotions, my publicist business, fifteen years ago when I was in college in Auburn, AL. There was only MySpace back then for social media and I found a growing need for music promotions. I would go around and talk with venue owners and offer to promote and hang fliers. From there it grew to selling merchandise, connecting people, and really doing whatever I could for the artists and club owners. Read more>>

Shantraya Gustafson

After graduating college in 2018, it was hard landing a marketing job due to not having any internship experience. I honestly gave up and started using my minor degree in business and landed a job in accounting. Queen of Relations started back in 2020 during the pandemic. My best friend worked for a small blacked owned restaurant and he was looking for someone to run their social media page. My best friend asked me did I know how to do so, and connected me with the owner. Read more>>

Dria Ashley

I came up with the idea of ‘The Glamroom SC’ at the beginning of 2022. Prior to that I had been using ‘Dria the Glam Guru’. I’m a Licensed Nail Tech, Lash Tech, MUA, & Brow Specialist. I wanted to create something that would be able to tie my brand together as a whole. I offer a variety of services and didn’t want to just put myself into one category. Prior to me branching off on my own at the beginning of this year, I was a freelance nail tech at a local nail salon. Read more>>

Shannon Thomason

I was born and raised in New York City, so fashion has always been a part of my life. I would watch BET and other shows like America Next top Model or reality shows that would place fashion to the forefront, Fashion has always been my passion and its something that I take really serious. In 2018, I dived into the fashion entrepreneur world. I started with offering stylist session with friends and family who truly enjoyed my styles. Read more>>

Desmond Darby

This idea started back when I was doing and going to car shows. I had a passion for cars. Doing unique builds and doing something extreme to catch people attention. It was my thing growing up. My dad always told me that “you got this from me but, you take it a little extreme when it comes down to your vehicles. I realized I wasn’t really enthused about going to car shows but I always get a compliment regarding how clean and paint was always top tier wherever I drove. Read more>>

Ashley King

In Fall 2021 I studied abroad in Rome, Italy. I was one of only two Black women in my program, and I know my experience was unique to me. Because of this, I began to journal my daily feelings and experiences. Closer to the end of my program I decided to create and publish a blog entitled Ashley in Italy. After positive reception and feedback from viewers in places such as Germany, Sweden and Spain, I wanted to take my experience to the next level. While studying abroad I was charged with the responsibility of recruiting other young women from my school (Bennett College) to study abroad. Read more>>

Edgar Victoria

I was born and raised in Mexico city 2 weeks after the pandemic I was craving some really good Mexican food while I respect what everyone does in the city …is not really what I was craving ,and the idea was born I decided to make alebrije happen ,Andale Mexican food that the city hasn’t seen yet it was different my childhood memories ,and what makes me who I am today ,but on a plate! Read more>>

Cameron Owen

The idea first arose in college when I was taking art classes, working at multiple restaurants and promoting for regional music festivals. Although I was studying packaging science at the time, I was able to pursue a minor in Fine Arts. Here I was taught to refine my ideas, and pay closer attention to the smaller details of the puzzle while expanding on what truly interests me. I know all of this may seem like a lot to start but in a sense we are creating a palette of colors to build a fuller more complete image. Read more>>

Chantwan Shields

I was asked to be a Brand Ambassador for Miracles and Mane. A company that provides cranial prosthetics (wigs) to men, women, and children diagnosed with Alopecia. I myself suffer from Alopecia as well, and at the time I was dealing with the fact that my hair was continuing to fall out. My confidence level had slightly decreased after applying for several programs to assist with this issue. The CEO actually pulled my application and called me back. After receiving my final edits back from my 1st professional photoshoot, never would I have believed the positive feedback I’d receive. Read more>>

Shadarryl Mcfalling

I have a bachelors degree in marketing and a masters degree in HR and I was getting jobs that was not paying what I thought I deserved so I started just not caring and end of getting fired from my last job. I ended up moving from Columbia to Charlotte with just my 401 cash out and got to Charlotte thinking things would get better as far as opportunities and it didn’t! I was also receiving unemployment as well and it ran out and I still didn’t have a job/career. Read more>>

Debbie Lundberg

Since being able to present powerfully in written and verbal communication, with all audience sizes, is a confidence-builder that can assist everyone in successful endeavors personally and professionally, it was exciting to take my experience from the automotive industry and combine it with the facilitation and coaching passion gained from adjunctly teaching a world-renowned course for 10 of the 14 years in corporate to create an organization to provide opportunities for individuals and organizations to engage in personal and professional growth, so the business Presenting Powerfully was launched. Read more>>

Chris & Amy Brown

It all begin by complete accident. We are both members of the Beachbody fitness community and have always been interested in health and fitness. With this business the concept began as some friends who are also part of this health and wellness company mentioned they were looking for an apparel company to make custom gear. They could t find anyone that was willing to make on demand pieces. It was always minimums needed. This is where the idea came. Read more>>

Micah & Caleb Moss

Once we began dating we both explored the world of photography together as a creative outlet. After we were married with our first child on the way we decided to take our business to the next level — allowing us to leave something to our children. We loved the idea of our children (and potentially extending to other family members) having the option to work for a family-owned company. Read more>>

Vanessa Castillo

The idea for The Rich Girl Mindset came to fruition organically, I came up with the idea before I came up with the name, even. See, this story stems back to a past version of myself, that would have never imagined this version of myself. See, my whole life, growing up, I was the quiet, observant, shy, timid type. I didn’t really speak unless spoken to. I didn’t raise my hand in class to speak up about my ideas or questions, and I surely didn’t open up conversations with people I didn’t know. As I said, I was an observer. Loved to watch and listen, but somehow, my natural energy always attracted people to me. Read more>>

Dutchez Collins

MENTAL HEALTH is something that we as people don’t like to talk about, so I wanted to do something to help spread awareness. Somy wife and I came up with the “NO XQCZ” brand, pronounced No Excuses. There is a bible verse Jeremiah 29:11 ( I know the plans that I have for you), that we live by because without god where wold we be? How NO XQCZ came about: I am a retired Army Veteran who has deployed 8 times, attempted suicide, and battle with PTSD and Depression on a regular basis, my wife is a Police Officer who also struggles with PTSD and Depression. Read more>>

Elaine Diamond Bailey

I came up with my idea with writing my book doing the most critical crazy time in our lives the pandemic in 2020 my kids and I had already started on the book back in 2018 but just never had the time to finish it or really put the effort into it I was comfortable and too comfortable in the pandemic made me realize that Read more>>

Latasha McAlpine

When it comes to shoes it started as an obsession I had as a child. No matter where I went I was always drawn to shoes but especially kid shoes lol. I was fascinated by how small they were and how their design often slightly varied from the adult design because there just wasn’t enough room to implement the full design on such a small model. I seriously thought like that as a kid. Fast forward many years and as I felt a pull toward designing and sewing shoes, I started with kid shoes. I stumbled across all these handmade shoes on ETSY and decided I would give it a try. Read more>>