It’s wild out there and the struggle is real. Entrepreneurship is no joke, everyday is a new challenge, a new up, a new down, it never stops. The action, the drama, the energy is addictive and it’s why so many never want to retire from entrepreneurship. We’ve asked some very talented entrepreneurs to share some of those crazy stories with us.

Trynitee Sance

In September of 2022 I was extremely overwhelmed with the upkeep of the team and other things going on in my life. My plan was to take a year off and start back up at the end of 2023. I prayed and told God if I’m doing the wrong thing send a sign. Right when I started writing my letter to parents, the San Antonio Spurs called for us to perform the Half Time Show. It was right on time! Read more>>

Jean Fallacara

The most fatal illusion is the settled point of view! The story you are about to read explains how we spooked a giant: what schools won’t tell you about business strategy, reactivity, and the capacity to evolve quickly. Our story starts in September 2014 with the launch of the Twincore a Ultra Low Temperature freezer designed for conservation of samples and biological specimens at -86C Read more>>

Kendyl Spriggs

Well, there are two stories that immediately come to mind. The first happened while I was shooting a music video for an artist named Odd Mojo in DC. We were right in the middle of filming when a homeless woman hopped in and started performing with the artist. This woman quickly became the star of the scene, so we just rolled with it and made her a part of the music video. The next time I am in DC I plan to find her and show her the video she helped create. Read more>>

EJ Hurley

I recall our first year in business and we were selling preorder plates during the pandemic since everyone was ordered to stay out of the public. We prepared everything in a kitchen about the size of a standard bathroom and made it work. We did not make much starting out, it was alot of humbling days as far as profit- but we believed in our skills and vision and started to see progress. Read more>>

Julita Latimer

It was our first season, 2022 and we were set to begin service in minutes. Suddenly I hear my husband using some choice words in the front part of the the kitchen. I’m in the back and yell what’s up? Out of the blue I’m getting sprayed in the face with the fire surpression stuff and it was happening in the front. Remember we are supposed to start service in minutes, well that didn’t happen because food that was out was ruin so no service. My shock about the situation didn’t last long, next was just laughter and a drink, what else can you do? There was no fire so what happen. Shoddy work in Colorado but Keller in KC hooked us up. Read more>>

Raul Rodriguez

Things were going relatively good in the juice bar, the economy seemed stable, the trending topics were mostly relate to the former president, overall things seem to be moving “right ahead”… Then out of nowhere, boom! Mayor Garcetti interrupts all media programming and declares a state of emergency and shuts down all non essential businesses… all, no exceptions! in a matter of hours the “Stay Home” mandate is implemented. Read more>>

Yolonda Wilder

Well, there have been several occasions, but two stand out the most. The first was at the Durham Armory for a pop-up shop. My table was set to sale strawberry tea and strawberry lemonade. Most people haven’t heard of strawberry tea, but apparently it was a success. Near the end of the day, a friend who was working with me was trying to grab drinks for each customer, when 3-4 women began to lean into the cooler to grab drinks from her and yelling,” I want one. Read more>>

KC Hensley

So early in our business we had literally met and knew where every bottle of our product was. We were only in operation for a couple weeks and had lined up a couple SMALL restaurants, bars and breweries that would carry our michelada mix and had done a couple farmers markets and sold maybe a total of 100 bottles if not far less. We were starting to line up accounts and were speaking with customer service with a company out of Wisconsin. For context we live in Austin. Read more>>

Kristin Mudgett

Here I am with a brand-new client, female, on our first showing tour of 5 homes. She is the daughter of one of my past client’s best family friends. So, they wanted a trusted Realtor to take care of their daughter moving away from home to a new city. We are still at the small talk stage; I am getting a sense of her taste, needs, preferred locations, and just a sense for who she is. In a nutshell, still getting to know one another, so not at a point in the relationship yet where we are relaxed and just chatting like old friends do. Read more>>

Coletta Tubbs

Souled Goods was born out of a desire to amplify the voices of all my amazing friends and family that had businesses, but were struggling to make sales through Facebook or at local fairs. I wanted to give them an easy way to break into eCommerce (national and global sales) without having to dish out the upfront and monthly fees charged by web platforms. The Souled Goods business model operates on wholesale purchasing and marketplace structure, which is listing your beautiful goods for sale, and only paying a percentage of each sale. Read more>>

Tetiana Zverieva

The absolutely craziest thing that has ever happened to me in my time as a business owner, was definitely a negative experience. When I was just starting to look for a space to be able to expand past my 1 person suite, I would go to this esthetician who would do my facials.
One day, was telling her what I was up to, and told her that I was seeking to find a space to accommodate my business. She asked me excitedly, why don’t we go into a space together? Our licensing and permitting would be easy to obtain because we’re similar specialities, and it will overall be cheaper for both of us. Read more>>

Amanda Sweeney-Jones

I made a splash- as they say! National Association of Realtors research that found 75% of Realtors fail within the first year- I knew I must not be one of those. “I have heard my whole life-you have to think outside of the box, be creative, but then some people find me taking it too far!” Is there too far? Too creative? Too honest? Read more>>