Going from idea to execution isn’t easy. Part of the difficulty is that often there is no playbook to follow and while we can’t offer a playbook either, we wanted to create a space where aspiring entrepreneurs could read the stories of how some very smart, very thoughtful entrepreneurs form the community got started.

Lady Ace

Firstly, I always had a creative side but I NEVER took graphic design serious. I used to make my own flyers or do little graphics for people for cheap in high school. 2022 is when I really decided that it’s time to perfect my craft! Once I became a felon, I realized why not make money from the comfort of my own home than struggle to find a job and work on somebody else timing. Read more>>

Kiersten Searles

Like most businesses, Searles & Company all started with an idea. I had recently left a workplace that wasn’t benefiting my needs anymore. After a couple of months of reflection, I realized that event planning was the next direction I wanted to go into my career, but because of the post-pandemic economy, finding an event planning job was nearly impossible. Read more>>

Doneta Dawson

As an artist I recorded my first project in 2011 and released that project in 2013. I had a concept and wrote organically as inspired. I recorded songs in the studio and put the project together. After releasing my first project and learning about the music industry I decided to become an independent artist and learned about distribution and more. Read more>>

Erik Sacony

I had the idea while living in the city and teaming up with The Grey Lodge in Northeast Philly. Michael (Scoats) Scotese gave me my first gallery and showcase at his bar there and to my surprise, it was a great success. Read more>>

Jasmine Guerrero

I started my business in Okinawa, Japan while my husband was stationed overseas. It was out first time moving to another country and we did so weeks after our wedding. Trying to adapt to a whole new environment was hard for me since I had never been away from family before. My husband was established in his work, made friends, and traveled. Read more>>

Joshua Gaffney

How did I begin on my photography journey? Honestly it all started with a conversation with me and my wife as we were headed into town from home. My wife turned to me and said, “we should start a business.” From that moment we begun to brainstorm business ideas and came up with photography. We came home and found a business plan template and wrote out our photography business plan. Read more>>

Crystal Brown

Going from idea to execution for me looked more like idea to resolution to execution. There’s a common theme across so many areas of my life. That theme is I didn’t always dream of doing it or want to do it when the idea came up. Read more>>

Emily Moore

I was lucky enough to step into business with a partner and an already established business. My boss (owner of the studio at the time) called me into the office for a meeting and I was sure I had done or said something wrong and was so beyond nervous. She took me completely off guard when I realized she was asking me to step into business with her and become a co-owner of Peacebank Yoga studio. Read more>>

Floryn Ajuzie

Perfected By Faith was birthed in my mind in the year 2018, but because I didn’t have enough courage or understanding of what it meant to be an entrepreneur, and what it would take to run a business. Read more>>

Cinque Singleton

Hey! I got you covered. Here’s how I turned my experience into a community to help others: Let me share with you the inspiring journey of how it went from an idea to execution for the ‘Bruh I Need You Foundation’ – a platform aimed at helping young men and men break free from past hurt, trauma, and other challenges. Read more>>

Tammy Davis

It all started back in 2004 while I was working at a roofing company in a job I HATED for people that I hated and my life was miserable. Then one summer day Hurricane Charley came to Florida and almost wiped out Pt. Charlotte & Punta Gorda and destroyed so many roofs. Read more>>

Whitney Robinson

I’ve always been the type of mom that came up with the cutest ideas/themes for my kids birthday party’s. Me and my best friend would spend hours making cake pops, chocolate covered pretzels, and other fun treats for their events. So, I’m July of 2020 (a very scary time for most) I was one of the million people just trying to navigate my new world. Read more>>

Raquel Goldman

Norte54 started as pastry box delivery during the pandemic. Prior to launching in September 2020 I had been working at Nopa, a San Francisco restaurant, in pastry. Covid shut down the restaurant in March 2020 so I went home and focused on being with my kids and helping them navigate zoom school and adjusting to the new normal. Read more>>

JASON SORIA

I started by just diving into it. When I was 15 I had a Canon T2i. An entry level DSLR Camera. I loved the camera and I would use it any chance I could. One day during the Covid era I grabbed my camera, went to my friends baseball game, and started to shoot some pictures. After that game I realized I liked sports photography. Read more>>

Stacey Band

As a young child, I always wanted to be a teacher and after numerous years of education and related professional experiences, I entered by own Montessori classroom as an intern, ready to take on the challenge – set up an entire classroom for 30 students, ages 2 1/2-6 years old, from scratch in less than 2 weeks, and trained my team of teachers! Challenging, yes, but possible, ABSOLUTELY! Read more>>

Tia Bowers

One day I was driving in my car praying and just began worshipping God. As I was talking to God I began to say regardless of what I am going through I will worship you regardless, rather good or bad I will worship you regardless. I began to think to myself regardless of what I am going through God is still good and it doesn’t change His status. Read more>>

Gianni Girtman

I started in corporate sales, first as a recruiter and later as an account manager for one of the largest telecom companies in the US. I quickly learned my way through the company and sales psychology of people and business to the best of my ability. Read more>>

Dianna Gunn

In 2018 I started a Twitter chat using the hashtag #WeeknightWriters. This was a space where writers could gather every Thursday to talk about writing-related subjects, with each week based on a different theme. I eventually created a Discord server where writers could have accountability check-ins and discuss writing all week long, but I wasn’t thinking about it as a business yet. It was simply a community space where writers could support each other, and everything was free. Read more>>

Rachel Greenwell

I can recall having a feeling on my heart that I was meant to do something BIG – but I didn’t know what. I launched a YouTube channel and made a website based on my childhood nickname Rock-L, because frankly I didn’t know what I was doing or who I was supposed to be. I just knew I needed a platform and space for God to work through me. Read more>>

Madison O’Brien

When I first started MadBeans, I could barely sew. I had made a few pieces of very unflattering clothing, hemmed another few items, and made one of the worst looking hats anyone had ever seen. Friends of mine knew I had “taken up” sewing, and asked if I could make the retro four-point beanies that MadBeans is now known for. I tried (and absolutely failed) on my first few attempts, but eventually came up with something that resembled headwear. Read more>>

Steve Tripp

Honestly, opening my own facility was never the plan… After college, I trained briefly at a small training studio that was located over 90 minutes from where I was living at the time. 3 am wake ups, work at 5, home by 3. A few weeks later I was hired at a Boston Sports Club where I worked the night shift 2-10. So for 6 months that was my life. Read more>>

Brandon Lawler

This story starts in 2018 and not with a brick-and-mortar bar. I lost my job as a car salesman in early 2018 and was unemployed for the first time in my life. I’d always wanted to work for myself, but never could figure out what I wanted to do. During my time unemployed, I’d pick up odd jobs to make some cash, and one of those jobs was helping my mother-in-law move stuff for a wedding to a local venue, The Library Ballroom. Read more>>

Alan Block

When I first started baking sourdough bread and bagels, I posted pictures on Instagram as I learned. After a few months, I had a person reach out and ask how they could buy my bread. It never occurred to me that someone would want to buy bread from me. That was six years ago. I now bake at least two days per week and make over a dozen loaves and several dozen bagels. Read more>>

Lindsey Carter

The idea for Meeple-a-thon was born in 2017 as a small and intimate fundraiser for Hillcrest Platte County’s Youth Housing Program. Platte County had approached Hillcrest with the concern that many more youths were becoming a part of the houseless community and wanted to know if Hillcrest could help support them and give them a good start. Read more>>

Ally Bowen

What was once a dream and just an idea in my head became reality as I moved forward in faith! Each new step was a bit scary, first thing I had to do was believe it was possible. Opening my own business has been a beautiful journey of learning how to let go and pivot when things don’t go the way I wanted them to and to recognize that what unfolded in the end is more beautiful than what I ever pictured in the beginning. Read more>>

Aaron Doolittle

I think any good storyteller knows (consciously or not) to include three things: a piece of themselves, some kind of inventiveness, and a familiar structure. If I’m making a film (or collaborating) I look for something that is important to me. This is where the theme comes from. If I am working with a contemporary I look to find something that they’re passionate about. Read more>>

Kellie Craport

In a way, my business was something that started a little bit unintentionally. Years before I had even thought of creating a business, I had actually been a kindergarten teacher, which is what I went to college for. Read more>>

Wendy Kushel

The idea came from trying a sugar body scrub for the first time. Blown away by how amazing the coconut oil and sugar felt on my body. From there I decided to take steps everyday to move forward and create my business. The first thing I did was source the packaging which was me going to Walmart and finding a cool glass jar with a clamp lid. Read more>>

Jackson Droze Warren

When I graduated from The University of South Carolina, I moved back to Charleston with no job and one weekly bar gig. I never thought my dream could become my full time job, until I realized what effort was needed to do this. Read more>>