In our view, far too many ideas die at the imagination stage. It’s not because people are lazy, we think the primary reason is because many people don’t know where or how to start. So, we connected with some sharp and generous entrepreneurs who’ve agreed to share their stories of how they went from idea to execution.

Justin Harris

I have always been involved with art and graphic design since high school. I wanted to revisit the dream of being a graphic designer later in life, a passion that never truly died. As I was switching career paths, I wanted to return to what I would genuinely love to wake up and do. Being creative has always been a significant part of my life, so I aimed to make a living out of it. Read more >>

Tatiana Jamilah

I remember hearing a saying that who you admire the most is who, in a way, you wish to be. In high school, I loved watching Tyra Banks on America’s Next Top Model and the clothing people wore. The bright colors and different textures outlined everyone so differently. The love of fashion, coupled with a love of fitness, translated into me wanting to start an inclusive clothing line specializing in athleisure. Read more >>

Noah McQueen

I started this business out of communal necessity. In December 2019, as a Morehouse College graduate full of hope and opportunity at every corner I was excited about the next phase in my life. Then COVID-19 happened, Subsequently, I lost three high-level employment opportunities as the early impacts of the pandemic started to set in. Read more >>

Pat Jamieson

I started my design work out of necessity. I was a recording artist who was running out of money from tour and my deal and needed to fund my life so my artist friends started paying me on the side to help them creative visuals. I hid the fact I did these designs for years because for some reason I was embarassed that as a rapper that got paid professionally I know needed to do this to make ends meet. Read more >>

Arianna Taylor

It all starts with a creative idea or concept for your fashion business. For my business model, I am privileged to work with a lot of exclusive designers and artists. Together we come up with unique clothing and jewelry collections and designs for performers, influencers, and bands.. Each collection is specific to each artist and every design has its own story. Read more>>

Lisa Monday-Gomez

I had been helping other internet stations with promotion and interviews was having fun and wanted to do a live radio show no station would let me contribute for that only podcasts/pre-recorded shows this was in 2009. Since that was not what I wanted I moved forward with a friend to start our own internet station to help bands worldwide be heard. That didn’t work out for me as bands were being pushed aside who deserved airplay. Read more >>

CJ Mack

I’ve always have these conversations with friends that would end in, “you/we should have have a podcast, and this was way before I really got into podcast as a consumer. I would ask friends, “you think people would really listen to me if I started a podcast” and every time their response would be, “I definitely would”. So one day I wrote on Facebook, “I’m thinking about starting a podcast” and one of my now cohost, Jalesa, commented and said something of the sort of “stop thinking and do that ish”. Read more >>

Sarina Siebenaler

As a mom, I began reading to my children very early. Reading aloud to children carries a multitude of long-term benefits. And I longed to try and convince each of them through books that one day they would grow from babies to bookworms. Reading to them ritually gave me the confidence to restart my love of writing. I had always loved art, so I found the idea of creating a book to be the perfect marriage of the two. Read more >>

Bianca Scaglione

As a teenager, I always had interest in making my own videos online, and creating my own online platform. I used to watch so many YouTubers, and the videos they made looked like so much fun. Seeing creators making meaningful connections with people from all around the world through their videos was inspiring. It wasn’t until 2020 that I finally had the chance and the time to play around with content creation for myself. Read more>>

Alicia Sangster

I started looking into careers that I could make my own hours around my husband and kids. I looked into doing lashes, but that didn’t spark my interest. Then I came across waxing! I watched many videos on waxing. My next step was to find out how I could get started. I took a wax class with a highly recommended instructor named Kamesha Rush, owner of Esthi by Kamesha. Read more>>

Kandi Patterson

The idea came to me at the end of the summer of 2020, the last few weeks of July, when the weather is warm and dry and there is so much sunshine. After a busy few weeks of surfing every day, all day, my skin and body felt the after-effects of the daily dose of salt and Vitamin D. I realized I needed to care for myself in a way that I never have before. Read more >>

Alisa Whitner

I was working at least 2-3 jobs at times just to make ends meet and provide for my son, daughter and my mother who was living with me at the time. It was extremely hard. i was working corporate and doing uber /lyft on the side and one day my boss called us into the office at work to lay a group of individuals off. Of course I automatically went into panic mode not knowing how I will provide for my family. Read more >>

Danika Stone

When it comes to starting a project, the simplest approach for me is to remember that finished is better than perfect. There are two parts to this, of course. First, I must get the idea out of my head and onto the page, which can be a daunting task. As a writer, you ask yourself “what if”? Then answer the question, forcing the words out in whatever way you need. Read more >>

Atllas Hopkins

A lot of my professional endeavors have all started off the same, from my philanthropic work to my design career. I first define what the need, purpose and function is. With goals as grandiose as mine with a desire to impact the world as greatly as I envision , I believe that everything I do has to be intentional, well thought out and then calculated. So after initial conception I spend a great amount of time planing and strategizing and once that is established it is simply a matter of doing it and executing what it is designed. Read more >>

Stephanie Thornton Plymale

I first learned about Heritage School of Interior Design (HSID) in 2013. During a period of dissatisfaction with my design job, a colleague mentioned that HSID was available for purchase, which immediately sparked my interest. Read more >>

Soufsyde P

I actually started writing and recording music back in the early 2000s, after my god brother was murdered. The impact of music itself always drove me crazy, but once I lost someone close to me who also wanted to do pursue music it added more fuel to the fire. I reached out to a family member who was in school for music engineering August 2008 for some beats he created, and have not looked back ever since. Read more >>

Delvira Rodrigues

I am a passionate and driven entrepreneur who created and successfully manages a small food business in the Bay Area. Combining my love for culinary arts with an opportunity, I conceptualized and established the small coffee shop in 2017, creating a unique menu that catered to diverse palates. Through effective team management, problem-solving, and a focus on customer satisfaction, I cultivated a warm and inviting atmosphere, transforming my business into a beloved destination for food enthusiasts. Read more >>

Chanel Fernandez

I never meant to be a portrait photographer. Read more >>

Jamie Manzuik

Being an avid luxury handbag collector I stumbled across Season2Consign on instagram one day. I found Monica and Erica doing a live shopping show and was immediately drawn in. These girls knew their stuff and they were wam and inviting. This was such a different experience than going to a website to shop. They interacted with you, they tried bags on for you, showed. Read more >>

Fishman

I’m a writer and the first step to begin a screenplay is being inspired by something I’ve read, seen, heard or sometimes even dreamed about. Once I have the general idea about the story, my creativity literally starts to flow and I begin to form the first thoughts about how to structure the script. After years of writing, I’ve learned that the best way to approach a screenplay is to spend a lot of time on an outline. Read more >>

Kimatni Rawlins

As the multi-national lifestyle firm that blends test drives of the latest cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles around music, fashion, travel, and technology, Automotive Rhythms is an Urban Automotive Experience! I worked for my father’s publication coming out of college and wished to create my own publishing platform. Thus I manifested Automotive Rhythms as the brand that would eventually consist of Internet, print, radio, network TV, and events. Read more >>