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.

Jakia Myles

Some may not know, I started Pretty Women Hustle several years ago and actually released about 5 Issues. The demand and the support just wasn’t where I felt it should be at the time and I felt defeated and gave up. Fast forward about 6 Years later, I had my daughter and instantly felt inspired to relaunch my dream. I never wanted to be the parent to encourage their children to go after their dreams while I sit there and give up on mine. Read more>>

John Bombay

Having already started on my feature filmmaking journey with my company, I was seeking a way to generate a new income stream, and refine my filmmaking skills. West America is now producing acting reels and other video services for a combination of clients in Canada and Los Angeles. Read more>>

Ali Wigart

A few years back I went on a hiking trip with my mom to central Mexico. We packed lightly in carry-ons but upon checking in were informed that even the smallest suitcases had to get checked on the small passenger plane. You guessed it, our luggage didn’t make it. Upon worrying about how we’d get underwear, my mom pulls out a crumpled up lace thong in a plastic ziplock bag from her purse. LIGHTBULB. Read more>>

Alex Martucci

Well, it all began with a serendipitous opportunity that presented itself while I was in Barcelona in September 2020. A friend of mine asked me to accompany him to take delivery of his new yacht, and what was initially planned as a short trip turned into an eye-opening experience that set the wheels in motion for my business. Read more>>

Alia Adel

Hi, Thanks for having me! The hardest part is definitely executing and bringing an idea to life. I bought the domain The Styled Stories in 2018, I knew I wanted to start a business with it but the idea wasn’t exactly there yet. I knew I wanted to do something that would be equally rewarding and creative. I wasn’t ready to leave the fashion industry yet and take that risk on my own. Read more>>

Clarissa Hurst

I was attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn when I discovered what toothgems were. I learned how to apply them on myself, and eventually people were asking where I got them done/how they can get some too! I already had some clients but it was mainly a side gig. Then covid hit. Unemployment did effect me, and I was laid off from my painting job –where I was monogramming luxury suitcases at AWAY travel. Read more>>

Monnie DaDoll

I started by hearing ‘moment 4 life’ by Nicki Minaj in 2021 while going through the toughest time of my life. I heard the bar “clap for the heavy weight champs, me, but I couldn’t do it all alone, we”…..that bar caught my attention so much because I’m a team player. I’ll roll my sleeves up and play any roll needed to keep the ball moving! Read more>>

Tatiana Zaytseva

Art is an intrinsic part of who I am—it flows through my very being. Creating art is my way of expressing my true self, and it has become an undeniable passion in my life. I’ve come to realize that you don’t need a formal art background to be an artist. Once I understood this, everything changed for me. Art has allowed me to love and appreciate myself, and it fills me with immense pride. Throughout my life, I always had an interest in art and its history. Read more>>

Michael Brunett

My new major product idea was just a few months ago when I was at the gym and noticed the floor littered with water bottles, phones and keys. It hit me that I needed to create a solution to put all of these onto one device. For people who want to shoot video, carry their phone to listen to music, or whatever, this puts it all together, plus the floors are gross so it keeps your things off of it. Having a background and degree in media production, I decided this would be awesome as monopod quick setup for video for all kinds of situations. Read more>>

Stacii Floyd

II productions and Brainstorming Epilepsy Festival are always in growth. When you are passionate about what you do, you excepted that your purpose is never ending. The steps I took were first: staying focused and pushing negativity out my circle. Secondly: surrounding myself around people of like mind who believed in my vision. We worked extensively to create a blueprint that was tailored for these businesses. Read more>>

Tamari Simms

I love telling this story! I was at home scrolling on TikTok after landing my first ever tech sales job. I remember seeing people complain about how hard it is to break into the industry, and how there seemed to be a lot of gatekeepers who wouldn’t share insider secrets. So naturally, I decided to become the person who would spill all the details. I started my stan.store and immediately started sharing tips, tricks, and even my own personal story about my journey into tech sales and people LOVED it. Read more>>

Smittty

I’ve always been told if you want it right, do it yourself. So that’s what I did. I was in high school when the idea came to me. I don’t really know where the name Wezwop came from, I just thought it came off the tongue nicely, made you want to say it 5-10 times. I guess the official start was when I purchased a used embroidery machine and made the first Wezwop tee shirt on a random shirt in my closet, way before the TV Logo. For about 2 years Wezwop was nothing but a white tee in the closet, a ski mask, and two music videos. Read more>>

Ron Jeffries

This process hasn’t been an easy one. It’s filled with ups and downs and requires a certain level of grit. I started styling unofficially by doing proms.. I styled my brother’s proms. I had no clue what I was doing but I knew I had an eye. Everyone would tell me you should become a stylist, go into business. But I thought to myself how does one survive or live off of just doing that. I thought it was impossible, but I was wrong. Read more>>

Frankie Flores

Gallery or bust…! Never question your decision when your gut says it’s the right chioce. The idea of owning and operating an art gallery came by not by choice but by necessity. I currently live in an amazing area, update New York a town called Saratoga Springs home to the oldest equine thoroughbred track in the nation. Read more>>

Jasmine Meade

Appcycled, as a brand, was really born by accident. I had a friend getting married, and wanted to gift her a special personalized jacket, but didn’t want to use all new materials. I’ve always been on the environmentally conscious side, so reducing waste when I’m making things is important to me. The first jacket got a lot of love, so I took on a few more commissions. Read more>>

Sammuel & Kelly St. Fleur

Kelly started by making cakes for our family’s birthdays and other parties. Soon after, friends and a few friends of friends began reaching out to Kelly to start making cakes for them as well. From there, things began to grow more and more. This was unexpected, as we never really planned on growing this little venture to be bigger than a few cakes here or there for our family and close friends. Read more>>

Adell Kirkwood III

Kookin’ Cousins started as a “out the trunk” food business.. Our first clients were local barber and beauty shops in the area. Smoother Image was the first Barber/Beauty Shop that opened their doors for us. Then we were accepted by other shops like Sportsmen, Chocolate City and Leenaj Beauty and Barber. This was our first test at not only seeing how people liked our food but it was our first test at running a food business. Read more>>

Magely Martinez

Just like any business, it started with high hopes with no path. Little did I know doing makeup wasn’t just going to be like a regular job, where I show up to work then leave. It started with the love of creating stories with makeup- just like big shows like Daredevil. I never knew there was a whole business side to it! I began by looking for gigs by word of mouth and asking around any creative how they charge and why, but of course every creative charges differently. Read more>>

Tayna (Ty) Rendlich-Texidor

After building my career as an in person personal trainer with a mostly 1:1. client base I started researching other options in which I could reach more people and decrease my time spent on the floor. I started building a remote side to my business about 6 months prior to Covid with the goal of being able to be solely remote in 2 years. Once covid hit I was able to seamlessly transition all of my in person clients to remote. Read more>>

Shigh Burns

I started ShighClassBawdy Essentials in my mothers kitchen during the pandemic. I like other Americans were out of work and confined to our homes. YouTube became my teacher, as well as joining groups on Facebook in search of how to make soap. Finding out the natural and organic ingredients to add. I decided to make my soap especially for women and their sacred place, the Yoni. I began to research Yoni steaming, and invested in an online course to learn more about the different herbs and botanicals to create effective and healing concoctions for Yoni steams. Read more>>

Raven Coppage

I started creating and making candles in January 2019. The idea actually came from my daughter and a gift she received. So next I got online Youtube specifically, and researched candle making videos and content. I had seen the creators were using candle making kits. I then later ordered a candle making kit that came with 24 jars and all of the required supplies. Read more>>

Sharonski Hayes

I started my business Master Mixologist of Atlanta by being a first time server at Dugans of Ponce sports bar in 2018 it was my first time in the hospitality industry but someone in my life use to tell me that I would always make a great bartender from hosting parties back in Orlando. I took it as a joke until I move to Atlanta and started working at Dugans and completely fell in love with the industry the fun, excitement, meeting new people, networking the overall experience. Read more>>

Racael Monroe

Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana (a small city), I knew I wanted more than the normal! 13 years ago I literally heard God say go!! I didn’t know anyone in Houston and all of my family were very close and located in Shreveport. Raised with my grandfather the pastor of our home church and I was the musician, moving stung a bit, but I heard God’s voice clearly! Obedience is always better than SACRIFICE! Read more>>

Stephanie Rabinowitz

Many of us have ideas. Some more complex, some very simple. What’s the difference? Actually, nothing if we move forward with our ideas and dreams. No matter what it is, there is no right or wrong way to jot them down. It boils down to one thing… what and will we do anything with it? Your answer should be a great indication to what the outcome may be. Read more>>

Chantel Marie

Black Moon Beauty Co. stemmed from a little 110 sq ft private suite known as “Black Moon Studio”. I spent 4 years of my career in the private studio with a plan for something bigger….much bigger. 2,967 sq ft to be exact BIGGER. During those 4 years I experienced what was the most challenging part of my career thus far both personally as well as professionally…… A pandemic. Read more>>

Matt Mangiameli

My wife is actually the first entrepreneur between the two of us. She runs an Etsy page called Evergreen Pressed Plants which she started when she was working at the Missouri Department of Conservation. She had eventually began to appear at events with a pop-up booth so she could talk to people and explain her process and it was quite successful. Read more>>

Meera Sharma

I had always wanted to host my own show and over the years I had built up a good amount of experience having reviewed films for BBC radio, starring in film campaigns for brands such as Nokia, and covering UK music events all whilst at university. However, as my twenties went by I ended up going down a different path. Read more>>

Sharon Randolph

In 2019, I had the idea to start a business that would offer alternative and holistic education services and resources to our local community. I had always been passionate about health and wellness, and I wanted to create a space where people could learn about and explore different ways to improve their well-being. Read more>>

Jamie Cegelski-Gaebe

I have two answers as it involves both companies. Priority Wine Pass came into mind while I was volunteering at the Twitter booth at the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival in November of 2011. I came across several people who worked at wineries or who owned wineries and all of them were struggling as it was the financial crisis. Read more>>

Brian Gallagher

Gallagher Stump Removal was started by my father as a side job to make additional money for our family in 1988. Over the course of 30 years, the business evolved from doing a handful of direct to consumer projects for homeowners on the weekends to working directly with tree removal and landscaping companies as a full time career. However, despite the increased work volume it was always a single person job rather than a multi layered organization. When he was nearing retirement, Read more>>