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.
Faith Harris
I am a mother of three, so I’m always looking for a diy! I am a true creative at heart, I can spend hours looking up trends. Researching what is in demand but is hardly being provided/supplied. Whenever there is a celebration in my family, I am always the go to for planning and decor! My goal is to bring joy to someone’s special day by adding my creative, yet personal touches. Read more>>
Brenda and Chuck Marshall N/A
Ten years ago….in a distant galaxy…far, far, away. No really, it was ten years ago that we started our journey with Life In Michigan. Read more>>
Samantha Kindred
My business partner Kaleigh and I have worked together since 2013 and wanted to start something of our own. Originally we were shooting for a coffee shop because that’s what we were both doing at the time and we LOVE coffee, but there are quite a few local shops already and the start up costs were too much for us at the time. Read more>>
Aisha Ndiaye
Becoming a business owner was not the original goal for us. When we learned of the New York City plastic bag ban taking effect in March of 2020 we were excited that such a large and influential city was taking an important step in becoming more sustainable and environmentally conscious. Read more>>
Jocelyn Spraggins
The idea of me actually pursuing DJing came from me always being in charge of the music at any family event or party, and my uncle who is a DJ also played part in my push to becoming one. I knew I would succeed in this field because of my personality, my love for all music, & how well of a people person I am. Still to this day I’m still the same energetic person just with more knowledge of DJing under my belt. Read more>>
Oluwatosin Bello
I’m Tosin, owner of Tosin’s Cakery located in Baltimore, Maryland. Baking has always been something I admired while growing up, but I never got the chance to learn or bake for fun as a child. Not only baking but I found that I was more intrigued by the decorating aspect. I never once thought to give it a try because I just assumed I was not creative or artistic. Read more>>
Sarah Jackson
During the pandemic, I sat at home with both my kids, struggling to figure out things for them to do while also working a full-time job. I started surfing the internet and found a bunch of virtual activities and crafts for us to do. I documented them on my personal Instagram and Facebook, which led some of my mom friends to encourage me to create a Facebook Group dedicated to kid-friendly happenings around DC, Maryland and Virginia. Read more>>
Adrianna Miller
I wanted to be a Registered Nurse (RN) due to my extensive medical and educational background and even currently enrolled taking classes for nursing but I knew deep down I’ve always wanted to be a successful entrepreneur! Read more>>
Farra Saintflavin
The idea of opening a driving school actually came from my late father. He previously owned the driving school. After his passing , a lot of people urged me to keep the business in the community. I was a little discouraged at first due to the amount of headache my father left behind but hearing several words of encouragement helped give me the push I needed. Read more>>
LaToia Burkley
It’s spring time in Atlanta, GA 2014 and I’m taking my daily dose of antihistamine, decongestant and squeezing the last of the Visine into my eyes to get rid of the redness. I’m working off of about 3 1/2 hours of GOOD sleep and I’m prepared to put in another day’s worth of long commute, overwork, after-hours dinners with co-workers and bosses (which becomes an extension of office work), late night email reading/replying, cold pizza and Red Bull to get projects finished well into the midnight hour. Read more>>
Darnell Woodfork
With prior experience cutting hair at a barbershop when i was 17 years old. I came up with the idea of working for myself after growing tired of working as a mechanic at Toyota. Sitting on my tool box on a slow day i would scroll through social media and come across barbers posting haircuts and other services. I figured i could do the same, but since i was still employed as a mechanic i figured working after work and going to peoples houses would be better. I knew it would work family and friends and strangers would always compliment my haircuts that i would do on my own hair. Read more>>
Tameika Kyle
I came up with the idea of starting my online business with my husband. My children wanted more of me and my job was not allowing me to do so. I hated the fact I couldn’t be there for my children. I cried to husband about my job he told me to quit, but I knew I couldn’t just quit and do nothing. My brain won’t allow me I always had to have something of my own. He told me to write a list of things I was good at get to researching. I ended up with starting a online clothing store Read more>>
Noëlle Whitley
When we adopted our first rescue pup Maya in summer 2016, I knew I wanted to spoil her and give her the best of everything, including buying her cute accessories! I envisioned putting her in stylish bandanas, using prints and colors in palettes I love, something sweet but sophisticated. Read more>>
Alexa McNeal
A little background info on me, I went to school for apparel Merchandising and had been a manager for multiple Free People retail locations until age 25. I had previously tried starting my own personal styling business and felt like It wasn’t exactly the right move for me, but I knew I wanted my own business involving fashion. Read more>>
Erin Kraus
As a once avid coffee drinker…yes I said coffee, I never could have imagined my life without a 4+ cup a day indulgence. Coffee was my jumper cables in the busy grind of food service work. Read more>>
Mendy Brakensiek
A couple of years ago, our two oldest daughters got married 5 weeks apart along with two of our nieces (who are also sisters) who also got married within the same year. We had 4 weddings and showers within 6 months and I was in charge of the planning and decorating for all of them!! Read more>>
Shannah Mills
I first started my business creating random crochet items and other crafts with no real niche or direction. I have always been a cat lady and one day I saw a pattern for a crochet cat crown and decided I needed to make one. I thought it would be a good post on Instagram if nothing else. Soon a friend requested one for her cat and then I had requests for Halloween cat hats. I decided to start selling them and with the help of a couple of large Halloween focused Instagram accounts I was getting quite a few orders. Read more>>
Mariana & Adriana Noyola
In 2020 I, Mariana Noyola, created a balloon garland for my best friends birthday. That day her husband told me ” you know people do this for a living, you could make some money off of this”. It was like a light bulb went off in my head! I love throwing parties and I love making decorations! After a few days debating this idea in my head I decided I wanted to start a balloon decorating business but not alone. My sister, Adriana, also loved working with balloons and I knew this was something we could do together. Read more>>
Chelsea Brown
As I navigated the nonprofit and fundraising sector, I noticed the disparity in funding for Black-led nonprofits and the lack of diversity in the nonprofit leadership roles. In 2016, I created “The Chelsea Brown Scholarship,” a scholarship designed to support individuals of color pursuing my alma mater, Winthrop University. With my philanthropy experience, I knew the information and resources needed to easily to participate in philanthropy as a donor or philanthropist –and quickly realized that many people of color may not be privy to the same information. Read more>>
Tiffany Score
The idea for my business has been a slow evolution. I started as a devoted dog owner to an easy and friendly amazing dog. When I left the military and moved with my husband overseas, our dog had a really difficult time adjusting. I started to work with a trainer over Zoom conferencing on ways we can best support and help him to adjust. Read more>>
Chika Okere
Growing up in Africa gives one a different perspective when it comes to value for money and the importance of saving money. I have always tried my best to maximize the value of every dollar denomination that I receive, and as such, I had to bear the burden of managing countless amounts of coins when I tried to use them for purchases. This burden of carrying large amounts of loose change when needed for purchases led me to the idea for Koinage. Koinage app gives cash users the opportunity to receive and carry loose change electronically with immediate access for commerce. Read more>>
Brittany Boggs
I had always been interested in photography, and I took many graphic design and marketing classes during college that allowed me to explore this interest. Once I had my own children and wanted to document every moment of their lives, this interest really became a passion. Read more>>
William Glass
Growing up I had multiple members of my family file bankruptcy, saw my parents relationship fall apart due to financial stress, and saw how not getting this one thing right impacts our relationships, happiness, and own sense of self-worth. Read more>>
Alexis Walker
I started Esthetics school in January of 2020. At this point in time in my life, I was working 2 jobs and sleeping on my mothers couch with my 3 year old. I always wanted more for myself. So I started to make a few adjustments to my life. I had just switched career paths, pre-medicine to the study of skin Esthetics. Read more>>
Tameka Anderson
I’ve worked in the children and family industry for over two decades. I have done everything from the nanny, after-school leader, summer camp director, Sunday school leader, specialty foster parent, youth facilitator, and court-appointed special advocate for youth in foster care. So it’s safe to say I have a little experience in the industry. I got involved in the child and family industry due to my traumatic childhood and my wanting to ensure no child would have to endure the trauma I did. Read more>>
Chrystle Cadet
The idea actually came from my best friend. She was planning a party for her mother and wanted candied apples for her treat table. She reached out to me and gave details on what she needed, even though she was well aware that I had no experience in the area. I was actually terrified at the thought and didn’t want to do it, but I knew she would not let up on her request. Read more>>
Andre Johnson ( DreDayTv)
Hi my name is Andre Johnson. I am a comedian and owner of a famous brand called DreDayTv. I came up with name DreDayTv because my name is Andre and the content that I drop outside of stand up is similar to what you may see on Tv. With the way social media is going it is essentially like tv if you pay attention to advertisements and other things that you may see on television. But the reason I came up with DreDayTv and decided to pursue comedy is to make people laugh. Read more>>
Torri Parmley
I came up with the idea of starting a balloon business, from decorating my entire wall with balloons for my daughter’s second baby shower. I took bags of white balloons and covered my entire living wall. This wall was 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall. All the guests that attended were amazed at the balloon wall because I embedded string lights for a special effect at night. Read more>>
Annie Bee
I have struggles with alopecia for years and went through countless treatments that just didn’t fulfil my desired results. At the time I decided to stop my steroid treatment and go natural I was taking nightly topical steroids along with 50 monthly injections. I was loosing hair so rapidly that even with this treatment I was still wearing wigs. Read more>>
Ruth Domber
When I was 16 and in high school my optometrist needed a receptionist. In those days it was very common for teenagers to have jobs after school.. Over the years I would increase my skill set and go to the next optical job and learn as much as I could. By the end of a few years, and a few different positions within optical industry I had learned a profession. Read more>>
Vanessa Peralta-Mitchell
My mom would nudge me when I had to speak on her behalf. Spanish is her first language and as a first generation, I witnessed both her strength and her vulnerability as her bridge to the English-speaking world. This made me pretty shy but through sports I found my confidence and through running I found my voice. It would be many years later as a Certified Run Coach that I started to feel a nudge again but this time I was speaking up for an entire community … Women of Color in run leadership…the voices unheard much like my mom’s. Read more>>
Alexandra Mizgorski
I had my daughter in September of 2020; from that day forward, things were never the same for me. I had spent a large portion of my life searching for something, never fully knowing what it was I was looking for. I struggled with depression, anxiety, uncertainty in my career choice and my self worth. Once I had my daughter it was as if a switch was turned on inside of me. Suddenly, I knew what I was put on this earth to do. Read more>>
Tiffany Lane
I was fighting a federal case where I was about to be sentenced and a pastor spoke to me and said you will be Off Da Hook and I didn’t think much of it but because of my indictment I was so focused on trying to stay strong for everyone around me and then I had to go full throttle with a business venture while I was on the streets fighting for my life so I began to listen closely to dreams then God spoke it you will be well known around the world OFF DA HOOK! this is where I got it from and I have been Off Da Hook ever since. Read more>>
Tierra Anderson
As a kid I always knew that I wanted to have multiple businesses and Dream By Her was just the one to start with! I laugh sometimes at how during childhood play dates with my cousins and friends I would always play as if I was an owner of a boutique and salon. I am so happy to finally be doing the things I truly enjoy and to be able to have a business out of something I love! Read more>>
Dymond Cannon
Growing up as a female-coded child, access to beautification was something seen as integral to your development. From hair styling to levels of makeup usage, the world as we knew it had differing levels of navigation, that were reliant on how much beauty you could achieve in a set amount of time. Read more>>
Laura Clark
Growing up everyone always asks you what you want to be when you grow up, and while I would answer Veterinarian or Radiologist, I truly had my heart set on being a tour manager. That’s right, a tour manager for bands. Read more>>
Wendy Swart Grossman
I never really had a BIG PLAN for my career and life. I am just making stuff up as I go along. Opportunities emerge. And since I am a person who is comfortable with risk and who thrives in the zone where excitement meets fear, I often dive in headfirst. Read more>>
Josh Sedgwick
For a long time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do as a career. It wasn’t until I became a young adult that I realized I wanted to pursue Podcasting. But to backtrack, it was sometime during my freshman year of high school that I suddenly grew an obsession with reading and self-education. Read more>>
Ani Ifiktchyan
I was 7 weeks pregnant with my second child when I decided to sit for my board exam. I was nervous, but I knew this was goal for myself to become licensed and start a private practice. I am business minded with a nurturing soul. It also helps to have a life partner who believes in you. The week I passed my licensure exam I began looking for office space. Read more>>
Ryan Taylor
In high school, I became deeply unhappy with my life even when on the outside it appeared that I was achieving success. My mindset back then was very competitive. At some point, I realized that there was a lot more to happiness than just winning. I knew I was missing something important, and so I began an in-depth exploration of the world of personal growth. Read more>>
Katie Santos
My highest goal is to share the value and importance of movement with as many people as I can. After 20 years as a studio owner with two partners, we made the decision to close our business. I now focus full-time on HR and business consulting. While I don’t run a studio anymore, I’m loving helping our industry become more relevant and profitable. Read more>>
Karen Pickering
I worked for a Customs Broker in the 80’s and 90’s doing billing and customs clearances for freight coming into the US from Canada. I worked with a programmer who was writing software to tie our brokerage firm in with US Customs for ACH clearance. I loved working with computers and decided to start a company newsletter. Read more>>