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.

Angie Gleason

My business partner had the idea of a shopping tour back in 2019 that included transportation. I knew right away I wanted to focus on the local boutiques that not everyone knows, as well as a couple that are celebrity owned & well known. On top of that, the type and feel of the transportation was extremely important; and I wasn’t going to launch until it was right. Read more>>

Rosanna St. John

I’ve always managed people and money. I’ve held GM positions and grown multiple multimillion dollar operations, by focusing on team members. Bookkeeping and compliance have always been the foundation of my work life. I’ve managed 50+ commission based employees, please, trust that I understand the importance of policy and procedure! In 2020, my employer of 6 years terminated my position. Like so many people, the pandemic left me unemployed. Read more>>

Sherrie Ortiz

Like many entrepreneurs, the the idea for this business was held on the back burner for many years. My Mother had frequently taken group tours as a means to travel as a widow and I thought I sounded like a great business idea. Read more>>

Trell Martin.

Starting in 2012 I set out to offer graphic designing as job and retire the title hobby. Working doing graphic designing and going to college full time with a job was challenging, but by being in school I manage to meet and network with a lot of influential people. Fast forward to 2017 I started expanding my services with offering photography. Once I learned the craft enough to charge for it I started charging by doing simply things such as events for family and free stuff around the community. Read more>>

Celena Riley

Starting my business was a daunting experience. I started almost 2 years ago after I quit my job at a local pet store. I knew working a 9-5 was NOT for me. It greatly affected my mental health and was hard to manage alongside being a full-time student. I had been freelancing since highschool, so I already had a little bit of experience in the field. I’m studying photography at SCAD. I figured if I was going to graduate and dive head-first into the industry, I might as well start my journey now. Read more>>

Erica Cogan

I first had the idea to start my business when my teaching position was transitioned from full time to part time. Pottery has been a passion of mine since college, but the demands of a full time teaching job prevented me from being able to devote much time to it once I started my career. Having my position made part-time was really a blessing, because it freed up time and energy that I could put towards honing my skills and getting my business launched. Read more>>

Venecia Loper

Going from Idea to Execution Read more>>

Alex Mancini

I had a really half-baked idea in my mind that I wanted to do something creative that involved making things and selling them, and I wanted to have my own business. This was a messy period of time where my wife and I were both coming up with various different products, thinking that we were going to sell them all under one business (she already had a side craft business on Etsy). Once we started playing around with things, I quickly realized that I wanted to make things for the queer community. Read more>>

Brit Brennan.

Our origin story is one of my favorite to tell.. it involved a fire pit, a bottle of good Italian wine, and some of the brightest minds in the business. Read more>>

DaraJoy Jaworowicz

The story of how I got into the indie polish making world is an unexpected one, although it’s something I wish had come to me much earlier than it did. It all began with a love of indie polish and a good friend who encouraged me to follow my artistic passions. Read more>>

Emily Wahl

I always knew I wanted to be a Graphic Designer with a focus on Catholicism and Catholic organizations. My intuition, prayer, and many practical things pointed that direction. However, I had no idea where to start! When I graduated college, I had no interest in being a freelancer and I thought church related organizations were out of my reach. After quite some time, I began landing Catholic and non-profit related projects here and there. Read more>>

Ashley & Kate Porter-Collins

Business Plan. If there is one essential tool that will open doors for you, it’s having a solidly researched and outlined plan with realistic timelines and goals. Writing a good plan requires you to have a very clear vision of what your business will look like, how it will operate, what it will sell and most importantly it’s mission, or it’s “why.” We needed to collect market data, figure out trends, costs, distributors, vendors and ultimately realistic potential profit margins. Read more>>

Bianca Milan.

I’ve always had a passion for makeup and skincare and I wanted to share my love for beauty with others. I wanted to take my passion for beauty and translate it in a way that is accessible to all. I found social media as the best medium. I am a creative person and I use social media as one of the ways to express myself. Read more>>

Danielle Nowak

It was 2020 and I had became very depressed. I needed something tht would bring me joy! So I decided to combine my two passions- business and art. I had seen a lot of people make polymer clay earrings online and I thought I should try that! So I started testing making it and I got better and better. At first I thought I was just going to sell to friends and family but I just kept having more and more ideas of what to make the earrings look like. So I decided to get a trade name ( I already had an LLC) and a vendors license to sell at shows. Read more>>

Elaine Vinikoor

In the Mid 1980’s my mother, Nina, and I had the idea to start Elana, a high-end clothing brand. I started with a basic home knitting machine and wanted to create unique designs for dresses, suits and more. In May of 1987 we took my first designs to a trade show at the Javistz Center in New York City. At the first show we had several orders placed, and an overall positive reaction. After the show, we used our personal savings and invested into professional machines, a boiler, presses and more to fulfil the orders taken from the show. On September, 11th 1987 we officially created Elana Collection Inc. Read more>>

Tami Schwerin

I’ve always gone with my gut instinct and actually never created a business plan. This is not advisable, but that is the way I’ve created projects and businesses. My husband, brother-in-law and myself purchased a very strange property in our small town of 3000 in North Carolina. The property had been deserted for a decade and we were starting a biodiesel business (making fuel from french fry grease). Read more>>

Brian Judon

I always had the idea of starting a business however, never new what direction I wanted to go in. The idea for Tech Next Door came in the middle of the night, more like 2am in the morning. I was looking at the cover of Entrepreneur magazine and saw a title that said Smart Home Is The Future! At the time I was studying Networking in IT and mounting TV’s here and there for family and friends. I blew it off and eventually fell asleep. Read more>>

Janice Ingram.

When I decided to launch my business, it came from determination and an urge to do what was needed of me. I initially started by speaking to a mentor of mine and consulting with her about how to go about getting the skills I needed to pursue becoming a doula. I was given a pathway of learning to kick start my journey, and within that pathway I decided to research all that would entail me in finding all the information that I thought I might know, but not really know enough to build a business. Read more>>

Destiny Mitchell.

I was a Business Management student and working at a retail clothing store as a store manager in our local mall for five years until the store went out of business. When that occurred, I thought to myself “I can start my own online boutique and make my own money” I had all of the necessary skills and drive to make it happen! The first step in executing was applying what I had learned in my business classes and what i learned from experience! Read more>>

Tegan Smith-Cowan.

Baking for me started years ago… bringing into fruition started in 2019. I have a creative spirit by nature and baking for me served as another outlet to follow that passion. Through flour, extracts, and eggs I became addicted to the processes, the science, the lows of a bad bake and highs of what happens when you follow the exact directions and when you decide to change a recipe for it to become your own and it comes out amazing! While I was often told that this definitely could be a successful business for me it wasn’t until the pandemic hit when I decided to pursue this as a career. Read more>>

Lillian Jackson

Brown Skin Brunchin’ was founded because I moved across the country and left my friends and family on the east coast. I moved out to the West coast chasing a career in Human Resources. I quickly realized that as an adult you need friends and professionally you need allies. To meet new people, I started going to brunch events in the area. There, I was able to connect with others in a more casual environment that was much more fun than a traditional networking event. Read more>>

Suzanne Hinnefeld & Brittney Braemer.

We became best friends in college and always dreamed of opening a cute shop! We graduated and after a year Brittney was feeling very unhappy at her design agency job. She was dreaming of starting something of her own and Suzy was wrapping up a seasonal job! Brittney got in touch with Suzy and said “Hey, I’m going to start a business designing and making stationery while freelancing on the side. Do you want to join me?”. Read more>>

Mealyann Saing

When I was 15 years old I was introduced to the ancient art of fortune telling that survived the Khmer Rouge Genocide. During this War, the Khmer Rouge killed doctors, teachers, political leaders, and anyone who was educated or tried to carry on the Cambodian traditions. Many people who were gifted or skilled had to hide their knowledge to survive. Read more>>

Jalen Miller

In college, I began music production as a hobby. It was a way to free my mind and be creative outside of school and collegiate basketball. It wasn’t until my friend and ,now business partner, Solo recognized my talent and pushed me to get my art out there. My family was very supportive and my love and passion for music production grew. I invest in more equipment and dove into more videos and books about the craft. Read more>>

Ava Attallah

Pink’d by Attallah started only as a means to keep some type of money in pocket while in college in order to pay for tuition, books, and everyday life. I honestly never planned on taking the business further until I realized how much money I could make in the beauty industry. Shortly after this realization, I started to market my business on Instagram the best way I knew how at the time. Read more>>

Alexandra Schrecengost

My focus for more than a decade has been on community-building tied into events marketing. I fell in love with wine during my career in food and wine publicity, and worked my way up to an executive position. During the pandemic, I realized I could connect the dots to offer virtual events in a way and to audiences who needed them. With virtual wine tasting events hosted by sommeliers, I could offer gigs to hospitality professionals that were furloughed. Read more>>

Paradise Bradford.

It all started in a prison cell. After being away from my children for 3 years I lost myself and had to rely solely on my own thoughts and emotions. I started to wonder how I got here? But I didn’t feel alone, I felt like there was no way I was the only one feeling this way. I did a soul search, and decided I had a lot of barriers I faced alone and if I had someone or somewhere I could have turned to that truly cared, I wouldn’t be where I was at the moment. Read more>>

Ayanna Henry

Global Jet Girl, began in 2018 as an online handle, that I used to connect with clients and industry professionals on social media. Since then, Global Jet Girl has grown into a lifestyle travel brand and line of essentials. Read more>>

Kate Fusilier

It was so fast when I transitioned from idea to execution. I had been wearing bandanas all the time from Covid that they had become a style staple of mine. I had gotten inspired to add some bling and possibly sell them. I had kind of forgotten about it and then walked into a boutique that had crystal fringe hats, jackets, etc and I immediately thought, “omg I’m onto something!” So I went to the owner and told her I had been making them (which I hadn’t nor had any supplies) and I asked would they sell somewhere like this. Read more>>

Tyrone Williamson

It’s started off as an Idea back in March of 2020, Pandemic time around the world, lock downs & stay at home orders. With nothing really to do me & my partner came up with the idea of getting equipment to start our own clothing brand. Starting out with a vinyl cutter & small heat press, only doing clothing for our children and a few close friends. Read more>>

Cynthia Pong, JD.

[this is long so def edit for brevity etc as you see fit!] Read more>>

Valerie J. Lewis Coleman

I fell in love with writing books when my sixth-grade teacher read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton to the class. I raced home to pen a novel. I lost interest a few pages in, but the flame had been ignited. A year later, when my mother asked what I wanted to add to the family time capsule, I said, “I am going to write a book.” Read more>>

Brandy Cooper

I have been traveling outside the United States with my family since I was around 12 years old. When I was younger, we did a lot of trips to the mountains, beaches, different states and different amusement parks. As we got older, my parents started taking us with them to different countries. There my love for travel immensely grew. It grew so much that major in college was International Business. I just had the urge to see the world. A lot of people would ask me about travel so one day I decided to start an Instagram about traveling. Read more>>

Alicia Rounds.

The process of going from idea to execution, for me, was getting over the fear of starting and getting over the fear of what other people would think, trying to be perfect, and comparing myself to others. I got the idea to become a social media influencer in 2013 just from watching YouTube videos of other beauty influencers. I had no idea how passionate I was about content creation until I seen it. I remember saying “God, I want to do this. I want to be an influencer”. For 3 years I carried around a notebook with tons of video ideas I wanted to record and would practice in the mirror lol. Read more>>