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.

Kayla Tellington

I actually think the way I created KayTell’s Sweets is hilarious. Especially since I am now a high school teacher outside of baking. I started my business senior year of high school while attending Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Even though your senior you’re bombarded with being with speeches about life really getting started and how much Poly was the perfect place to have prepared us, all I could think about was how real it was going to get. Read more>>

Kelly Lydick

I had wanted to be self-employed for quite some time. I started working in the Publishing industry during graduate school, and began gaining knowledge in that field. I knew it would be a somewhat long road to realize the vision that I had. Read more>>

Amber Austin-Briggs

I began AC Briggs Consulting as a passion project. Folks continuously asked me to do their resumes, guide them through their cover letters, and facilitate mock interviews. These consultations turned into coaching sessions, then becoming an organization for professional development. I realized not many people looked like me in my line of work, and that a lot of my clients – mainly Black professionals – didn’t have adequate professional development opportunities or access. The mission evolved into: To increase the number of Black professionals in upper management and executive leadership positions through special programming, coaching, and strategic consulting . Read more>>

Maya Camara

I actually graduate and work in the Hospitality and food and beverage industry for all my adult life starting my career at the Hilton hotel in Paris for 10 years prior to moving to the United States. Read more>>

Marci Scott-Andes

Some of the main steps that I needed an order to launch my business was basically an idea. With the idea came from being locked up and Covid. I knew that I wanted to continue helping people in the field of health and fitness trainer. I just didn’t know how to go about doing it after a good little while I realize that I could take my business online and that’s what I did one of my very first clients came to me because I started promoting myself on social media as being the go to. When my first client came to me, he simply said that he had tried everything that he before, and with no results, and was really interested in in my programs. From there, I’ll set him up with a program that allowed him to work with me the program itself was an app that had all the exercises in it, as well as a nutrition app, so that I could give him the nutritional guidelines that he needed. I hired a business coach that helped me expand my online business since I didn’t know what I was doing. And they helped me immensely getting the right information out to the right type of clientele that I was looking to help. Since starting my business I have helped hundreds of men lose 20 to 60 pounds, learn how to eat better, and gain more energy throughout the day. Which enables them to spend more time with their family and kids. Read more>>

Elhom Karbassi

I grew up thrifting and browsing so many antique malls with me mom, her sisters, and my grandma. Anytime we were all together that’s all we did! I also grew up with a immigrant dad from Iran who put a lot of stock and care into appearances and giving off the look of wealth, even if the wealth wasn’t there. This combination led to me getting a very unique but I like to think great sense of style and an eye for design, forgot to mention my mom is also an artist. Read more>>

 Brian Ollison Kym Pressley

The journey of creating The Kingdom of Kuru was an exciting and challenging one. It all started with a simple idea of creating a game with two adorable characters, Kiros and Kara, that would capture the hearts of casual gamers. However, we soon realized that this idea had the potential to be more than just a game. We believed that by building a brand around The Kingdom of Kuru, it could be transformed into a multi-medium success and a timeless story, appreciated by many. Read more>>

David Heymann

Oh man, where to start. My brother and I were initially very interested in building a treehouse resort in the Blue Ridge, GA area. To start off, this was just one of those things we dreamed about, but in reality, would likely never happen. Read more>>

Dave & Ashley

Dave and I had both worked live production for over a decade. We and others became great friends through the years of collaborating with conference events, short films and corporate videos. As we continued in the field of multimedia in our respected skillsets we began to have people ask us individually if we did freelance, in the end we combined our forces and started to help others create their vision through media. We are now a year into this joinery forming Black Rabbit Media LLC. Read more>>

Bret Kissinger

Since a young age, I’ve wanted to be a writer. The blank page has never been a daunting, insurmountable obstacle. It’s always been unlimited possibilities. There is considerable work just writing a first draft of a book. But taking it from a rough draft to a publishable book is a long process. It requires patience and diligence. Each round of edit requires a different tool. At the start, it may be a chainsaw or machete where you hack away at unimportant things. The more edits you do, the more precise the tool required. When writing historical fiction, it is important that facts remain facts. I don’t think you should change history to fit your story. Your story should be woven into the facts. Facts are the bricks—unchanging and unmoving. Fiction is the mortar—something malleable. Read more>>

Natalia Martínez Rivera

The idea for Hapteam originated from my desire to assist small businesses and startups in launching successfully and achieving sustainable growth and revenue. During my thesis research, I made a significant discovery: 29% of startups fail due to poor team management, while another 22% struggle with executing their marketing strategies effectively. While conducting my research, I also stumbled upon fascinating data from the World Bank. It revealed that a staggering 46.4% of the global workforce is self-employed, and the number of freelancers worldwide is estimated to be 1.57 billion out of a total workforce of 3.38 billion. Read more>>

Candi Eduardo

First, I always tell people you have to think beyond yourself. We tend to think too small, but when we get customers that in our mind you weren’t expecting, we become overwhelmed way too fast. Another area for improvement is that we tend to doubt our capabilities and what we can do. Here is a step-by-step of what I do. I write the vision and make it plain. Believe in that vision that it is possible to accomplish. Then I write out my goals. What do I want to achieve in the next 90 days? After that, I look to see where I am and make adjustments. Another thing is it doesn’t matter how many people are doing what you love. They can’t do it the way you do it. For instance, I know there are many Life Coaches, but no one can get through to a client like I can. I can tell you the problem and the solution to your situation, and after our sessions for at least a year, you shouldn’t need to see another coach or come back for a while, if at all. I built my business confidently, knowing clients are out there for me and my coaching styles. Whatever business you are in, it’s plenty of people in this world for your business to thrive—reaching out to the right people to help you and get you a mentor that helps a lot to keep you accountable. Read more>>

Devin Jaffe

I founded Nature’s Educators actually my senior year in college! After doing 4 years of interning with 2 incredible wildlife rehabbers/educators….I fell in love with wildlife education. One of my internship directors told me I should consider getting my own education license and that she would help me…..and I did! When I applied for my federal licenses, the regulations were very different than they are today. I had to have letters of recommendation not only from my trainers, but also from hosts that would be willing to “hire” me to do programming once I was permitted. Not only that, but my home town at that time did not allow the keeping of birds of prey…state and federal license or not! I worked for 6 months to change the city codes to be able to include those of us with licenses to house “exotic” animals in city limits. Success! With the help of my parents, I built my first facilities and got inspected to be able to house my first ambassadors: a Great Horned Owl and a Red-Tailed Hawk! I still have my Red-Tailed Hawk, Ares! The first few years were stressful trying to get my name out there and prove that my programs were worth it. Plus, I worked a full time job on top of this! I needed to figure out a way to grow Nature’s Ed while still being able to bring in paychecks from other jobs. I worked for the Bureau of Land Management for 3 years loving it and trying to save money up. Long story short, I changed careers, moved to Denver, and began to grow Nat Ed on my days off. I brought in a phenomenal board and volunteer team as well as college interns. After 7 years of working full time and saving funds, I was able to pull a paycheck, quit my day job, and concentrate on Nat Ed growth! Read more>>

 Candace Spears

Floor23 digital started as a marketing business. I knew I need to have a clear business that could solve a need (and at this point I had decided I was leaving in corporate within 12 months so leaned on the skills I had to make fast traction) so I leaned into that idea had the website up, offer figured out in a couple weeks. Got to work on some cold email outreach, landed first client in 30 days. I was targeting real estate agents at the time. Read more>>

Madeline Ott

Just like many great bars + restaurants our concept started around our kitchen table after a night of service. The bones were there and development came next. Luckily we have a handful of great mentors around us to ask questions. The hardest step (I imagine for many entrepreneurs) was finding financing. Luckily there are so many resources out there for start ups + business owners. It took a lot of “no’s” and long nights up to creatively problem solve this issue. While I won’t get into the inner workings of our financing journey I will say, ask questions + don’t give up. There is a way, and it will show itself. Read more>>

Natalie Rankin

One day at an unfulfilling day job I was doing some online shopping and saw cute stickers for sale. I loved to draw, and was trying to get better at digital illustration, so I wanted to try making my own. Read more>>

Alayna Keeling