Starting a business or creative project is scary for many reasons, but one that is often overlooked is the anxiety related to whether this is really “the one.” To some, this isn’t a valid consideration while to others this is the only consideration. Some argue that what you work on, along with who you work with are the two most pivotal decisions you’ll make and so we’ve asked folks to tell us about how they came up with their ideas and how they knew this idea was the one.

Michael Wilson

Initially, Processology was launched as Max consulting. The goal was to offer general business consulting in any area required by the clients. But we soon realized that the real challenges faced by business leaders were more operational in nature. Managing operations systems, platforms, and automation tools for HR and marketing, while also running the business took a toll on the business performance. Read more>>

Skylar Sorkin

I’ve been dreaming of starting my own podcast for years now. My vision all started in college while I was attending UCSB and I knew that I wanted to make an impact. I grew up performing; whether it was dancing, acting, hosting, or even being a published author by the age of 13, so speaking, leading, and having a voice were always a huge part of my life. Read more>>

Danielle Dietz-LiVolsi

After adopting my son at the age of 3 ½ from Ukraine in 2002, I quickly realized he was having trouble gaining weight and adjusting to a solid diet. He was an extremely picky eater and was not fond of different meat textures and protein. Thinking of ways to provide alternative protein sources, I remembered how I grew up eating Jif peanut butter by the spoonful. This thought then sent me down a path that changed the course of my life. Read more>>

Courtney Besser

Intune Wellness really developed itself during the pandemic. March of 2020 I was furloughed from my long time spa job at Four Seasons Denver. Since the world and my world came to a standstill, I had an extended amount of time for the first time in my life to really think about what I wanted to do. I’ve been a massage therapist/esthetician at my old spa and always worked with private clients outside of work. Read more>>

Marleana Wells

For many years I have worked in the medical field in multiple business sectors. As a MA, I have worked in everything from Cardiology, family practices, urgent care, drug studies, dermatology, and my favorite, phlebotomy (I can stick my eyes closed as long as I can feel the vein). After ten years of experience and being laid off during the pandemic 2020, I decided that I would figure out how to use all my skills in my own business. I worked at a medspa by accident. Read more>>

Samantha Villavicencio

I founded MindfulBrands Creative by the end of 2018, but the idea for it started forming back in 2015. At that time, I had recently graduated from college, and I had gotten familiar with the world of wellness because of some personal matters. Read more>>

Mikaila Jegtvig

Both my business and non profit were built after I found out my dad had lung cancer. I was working a full time job in Fort Collins where I was unable to spend the time I wanted to with my dad. In March, a month after we found out my dad was very sick, he ended up having a stroke. Read more>>

Laurel Roach

Six years ago, I quit my corporate job and purchased an existing personal training studio. At that time I was completely burnt out with my job and thought that I wanted to be relatively “hands off”. Boy was I wrong! I made all kinds of mistakes in the beginning, the greatest mistake being that I was GUESSING who my ideal client was, the problem I was solving and our brand in general. Read more>>

William Turner

12 years ago I was working as a chef at Debordieu Golf Colony in SC, a private island, golf club. I had been cooking professionally for over 10 years at that point and this job was the type of position I loved. I never knew what I would be doing from day to day and really hour to hour. I was a sous chef in the club house, a chef at the beach club, I managed our pizza/burger bar, and was part of our event staff. Read more>>

Jenny Hagg

In 2019, I found myself walking through divorce as a full-time working mom with two toddlers (2 and 3 years old). I knew I had to protect their routine and normalcy as best I could, so that was my sole focus. After they went to bed, I’d get lost on YouTube just to keep my mind busy. I watched endless videos of people doing “van-life” where they convert Sprinter Vans into full-blown studio apartments and travel the world. The YouTube rabbit hole led me from van-life videos, to van conversion videos, to woodworking videos, and ultimately home DIY projects. Read more>>

Leah Thrapp

Flipflops and Adventures was created out of a gap I observed between what the options I saw offered in my job as a travel agent, and the service that I desired to provide and that my clients were requesting. I worked for over a decade as a travel agent and have had a lifelong case of wanderlust that I channeled into a career and then my dream job. Read more>>

Priya Lad

Brave Journey Doula Services was a business idea that came from my passion of nursing and being a mother. I know how three boys and my birth journey for all three of them were completely different. I started my training as. a doula when I was pregnant with my first son. Read more>>

Amanda Hitz

The idea for Bend & Blaze started where I think a lot of business ideas start- I felt something was missing. I saw a large group of people lacking a space or container to connect with one another. Read more>>

Christine Marie Frey

When I was 12 years old, I began experiencing severe mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and bipolar disorder. By the time I was 13 years old, I had not only lost all of my friends and had been hospitalized, but I was also expelled from school due to the stigma that surrounded me. Despite being treated like a burden and a lost cause, I knew I had the ability to make a positive difference in our world. Read more>>

Giovanna Jaspid

The idea came up while working on an interior renovation project. As part of the services I had to choose decorative elements to furnish the space. When it was time to choose the decorative pillows, I hired my mother to sew custom unique pillows using designer fabrics that were specifically chosen to give a unique look. It felt so great to be able to work with my mom and put her sewing skills into my projects. The pillows we had created turned out beautiful and other people/future customers noticed them. Read more>>

Juanita I. Harris

Teaching is rewarding, but teaching is hard. Can I start there? I began my teaching career in 2010 as a second grade teacher. As all of us know, change is inevitable and over the years I was moved to different grade levels, some with my consent, and others without. In my 8th year in my beloved profession, I found myself in a space where I couldn’t do anything right. Even though I was being celebrated in my district, city, and state, I was being continually bullied on my campus. Read more>>

Andrew Robinson

I’m a natural artist. Drawing and creating is what I love to do on my own time. As well as paint and design logos for my brand. So as I sat in class I thought about my future and I wanted to do something that would make me happy and something I would feel comfortable doing for the rest of my life. Read more>>

Lorell Frysh

Was it at 6 months when I was lying on a blanket under an apricot tree in the garden watching the leaves dance against the bright blue sky? Was it the way the light fell across the tree’s sturdy branches highlighting the texture of the trunk, or the flash of color as a bright yellow weaver bird flitted backwards and forwards, grasses in mouth, weaving a perfect teardrop-shaped nest, or when a colorful butterfly took to the wind? Could it have been my potter mother’s love of earth, clay and glaze, Read more>>

Ntana Bantu Key

Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by video and audio technologies that were there to aid a Storytellers imagination. If it were visual effects from CGI. The Color-Correction used to set the mood for a scene or give it a tone. The editorial tricks used for fight scenes or surround sound that makes a creature seem like its in a specific part of your viewing environment. It was all about the Storyteller keeping audiences on their toes. Being magical and wonderful… Read more>>

chris gonzalez

Well life pretty much forced the idea of opening a shop on me. Although I knew that I eventually wanted to open a tattoo shop at the time I had a full time job where I worked at and was tattooing after work on week days and on weekends, Eventually it came to the point where I was losing more money being at that job instead of tattooing and I realized that it was finally time to make the move so I ended up quitting my job and started tattooing full time. Read more>>

Alisa Evers

Early 2021 during Covid, I noticed that my boyfriend loved to eat ice cream almost every night. As a life-long health and fitness nut and organic eater since 1995 I was curious as to why he ate the brands that I did. I pointed out to him that all the brands he ate had all sorts of junk in them like gums, fillers and fake sugars. Read more>>

Natasha Valles

The Conception of GiJaBell’s was born in my heart in 2013, during the time I was planning my eldest daughter’s Quinceanera (Her Sweet 15). I realized that Hays County had no local Shops to purchase any Quinceanera or Evening Wear of any type. During that time I was still working full time in the medical field, administrative mostly. I served in that field for 17.5 years. Read more>>

Artee Kumar

The timing of when I started my business was so perfect because there was a void in the market for my niche. My parents are immigrants that came to the US in the mid 1970’s from India. Our weddings are very different. They are elaborate and involve many different ceremonies which also require specific hair, makeup and styling. Read more>>

Sophia Giraldo

Looking back, the initial idea of being a “Confidence Cultivator” stemmed from my own experience with Betrayal and Abuse. About 7 months after my oldest son was born, I had an experience that really gutted my confidence and affected how I saw myself when I looked in the mirror. Read more>>

Sarah Kiel

The story of my company’s inception started with my husband’s career change as well. When the pandemic hit, life for my husband, Chris and I, changed drastically. He lost his job of 20 years due to heavy downsizing by the company. While he was job searching for the next move, we started thinking about making big life changes. Read more>>

Quadria Freeman

In 2019, I went through a significant loss of a family member that was dear to me, along with losing him I lost my job at the same time. After losing both, I started thinking of different ways to make another source of income. I’ve always been HUGE on making a fashion statement and feeling BOLD and CONFIDENT when I step out the house; so I thought what better way to be stylish than to wear different styles of eye wear and swimsuits. Read more>>

julien RENAUT

There is a lot of coffee shop in Colorado and they all struggled with their bakery supplier so I create a process that give them a lot of flexibility and a very high quality pastry to match their quality coffee. Back then, I already had over 12 years of experience in the industry so I knew that I could create the business model we have now. Read more>>

Michelle Hooper & Kristi McDonald

This fun & lively mom-ish duo met through a women’s networking group and started making the mom magic happen. In their own words, “We’ve learned that what works for moms in their 20s and what works for us are completely different. What we found is that so much of the information out there is geared toward women who are having babies in their 20s and early 30s. And the experience is so different for the rest of us. Our minds, bodies, and spirits are so different. Just think about how much YOU have changed in the last 15-20 years!” Read more>>

Dorsa Vaziri

I’ve been skating since I was a little kid, going to Semoran Skateway and doing laps and dances around the rink while my mom worked from her laptop in the cafe. Fast forward to 2016/2017 when I found my old skates in the garage and started keeping them in the trunk of my car, just in case I ever wanted to roll through a trail or smooth neighborhood. Read more>>

Erin Beacom

Sunburnt Studios is an idea that I found myself drawn to several times while on my journey to figure out what the right path was for me and my career. I found myself dabbling in other industries but nothing fulfilled me the way creating videos did. Time after time, I would always find my way back to creating videos between my other jobs. In 2o20, I finally asked myself: what the hell am I doing? Why am I not just giving everything I’ve got to creating the life and job that I know brings me joy? Read more>>

Jenn D’Eugenio

In 2018 there was a meme going around social media of a 1950s couple, the man holding a record and the woman knitting. The man’s speech bubble talks about the intricate details of the special version of the record he’s holding, to which his wife’s response is that she could care less. This was being relentlessly shared by people saying they could relate in their relationships. Read more>>

Adairius Curry

I came up with the idea for my self-defense business after reading an article about a mother shopping with her three children and being scared to leave the store because she was being followed. I was a new mother myself at the time, and I couldn’t even imagine being in a situation where I know I have to protect myself and my children from a potential predator. I decided to create a company that would make a difference…Read more>>

Shilpa Tiku

In 1990, Kashmiri Pandits witnessed a genocide in India, and were asked to flee Kashmir, convert or die. Away from their homes in Kashmir and living in different parts of the world, Kashmiri Pandits are striving to keep their language and culture alive. After migration from Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits lost touch with their roots and got exposed to different cultures. Read more>>