We asked some fantastic entrepreneurs and creatives to tell us about their first job in their field. Check out their stories below.

Greg Niewold

Power Planter is a small family owned and run auger company that specializes in home gardener and professional landscaper/maintenance auger manufacturing that started in 1988. I came back to the family business in 2013 after teaching high school agriculture and industrial technologies for 8 years at a local high school. Read more>>

Shaun Lewis

So I originally started my business while I was a personal trainer in New York City at crunch gym. It was nothing serious, I had maybe 5 steady clients that I would have to sneak and train throughout the day when I didn’t have clients at crunch. So imagine me catching multiple subway trains throughout NYC, eating on the way and then returning back to the gym to train clients from crunch, Read more>>

Rose Taylor

Your first employee hire often feels the scariest. What if they fail? What if I fail them? But we can’t do it all and we can’t continue to grow if it’s just us. My first official hire is still with the firm today. I’ve had some failures along the way with staffing, but what I often tell my own clients that are struggling with their first hire is look at your financials – what will it cost you, what are comparable rates, what will this employee do? Read more>>

Jenn Daugherty

I started Vanda Gallery on Facebook as just a place to share my creative endeavors. I had absolutely no intention to make it into a business as my life was full at the time. Between motherhood, more-than-full-time job at a busy doctor’s office, and life in general, I had no time to devote to making my art into anything more than a fun hobby. However, a few years, life events, and new hyperfixations later, I was ready to try it out. Read more>>

Amanda Wowk

When I started Amanda Wowk Creative (AWC) 7.5 years ago, I wanted to strictly write about travel. And for a time, I did. In my portfolio of clients, I wrote and managed the content strategy for several travel tech companies as well as a luxury travel company. I also wrote for a consumer brand’s travel blog. Conventional freelance writing wisdom supports this: Find a niche and make a name for yourself. Read more>>

Melissa Marie

Covid has changed my business model due to the economy changing with inflation and a lot of my clients having to make decisions based off their wants and needs. It’s also made me think about other revenues of income with expanding my business, and looking into easier yet possible ways to make more money. Now I understand when millionaires say that you need at least seven different revenues of income, because you never know when your business will be affected due to an unexpected event in life that’s out of your control. Read more>>

Toyin Okezie-Mba

E-commerce has become very competitive. It’s the basic principle of market analysis; ease of entry into any market correlates with high competition. Platforms like Shopify and other marketplaces have made it easy to launch an online business, digital ads can be purchased for as little as $5, and you can sell on Tiktok or Instagram. Consequently, it has become challenging to get discovered online. Read more>>

Becky Chipera

If I was starting over today, I would trust myself and my knowledge a lot more. When I was a new social media manager, I really struggled giving clients advice. I felt that “this” was their account and if they wanted me to do something, I would – even if I didn’t think it was a great idea. I really learned this lesson with an early client of mine. Read more>>

James Davis

I would definitely capitalize on every opportunity presented to me. It’s been times when I didn’t manage my time and make proper sacrifices to level up. I would put aside a set amount of money every week to go towards whatever it is I’m focusing on, like studio equipment for example or even new clippers. Read more>>

Ash Blodgett

The advice I want to give to all first time filmmakers is to just get out there and make films, and when I say films I mean films. Not YouTube videos. Not social media videos. Actual films. I spent so much of my time in my 20’s trying to be an “influencer” and chasing views, likes, and follows, but at the end of the day the film industry doesn’t really care how many views you have on a YouTube video. Read more>>

Jasmyn Small

When I first started it was definitely a rush process in a way, so all of my customers were family, friends and word of mouth from them. I knew social media would be a huge help in me getting exposure but I was hesitant on how to create content for chocolate. I started just making sure I posted a photo everyday and using specific hashtags to reach my audience. I still only got family members with promotion accounts, it wasn’t going anywhere. Read more>>

David Riddell

I could use this topic along with issues along the way. I’ll highlight and you let me know where to go. Big Frog Custom T shirts is a franchise, still in young stage We opened first one in Asheville, NC (smaller rural area) in 2016. I “inherited” a second one in Durham, NC in 2017, FOUR hours away. It did less in it’s 7th year than Asheville did in first. Read more>>

Eddie Wiewel

When building anything- your mind, a relationship or business, if you want it to last, it’s my belief that is comes from relentless, repetitive action coupled with the right desires and vision. In the case for my business and brand, Eddie Wiewel, Realtor, it started long before I entered the real estate industry. Having been in customer service for nearly a decade coupled with my business degree, I knew real estate was the end-game. Read more>>