We love grabbing drinks with our entrepreneur friends because they always have the craziest stories. Sometimes it’s a big, unexpected win. Other times it’s a problem that came out of nowhere and couldn’t possibly have been foreseen. There is so much to learn from these stories and so we asked some of the brightest entrepreneurs and creatives in the community to share some of those stories below.

Alexis Smith

I think the craziest business story I’ve had is the story of what led me to finally become an entrepreneur. I started working in a spa and doing eyelash extensions when i was 17, the spa i worked at was commission based and for me at 17 having no bills or responsibly making $16 a hour in 2017 was amazing lol. I loved the spa and i loved the clients and the owner everything was amazing. The owner of the spa decided to branch out and get a bigger building and it started out great i was very happy to be included. Also let me mention that i was the most popular lash artist at the facility at the time. Read more>>

Hunter Croan

I own a real estate team called The Lakefront Group. I started as an individual agent in 2006. I started a team in 2017. My business was growing like crazy then in May of 2019 the Lake Dunlap dam failed which immediately lowed that lakes level 12 feet. I live on Lake Dunlap. My boats and everyone else’s boats were now stuck in boat lifts over dry ground. The lake turned back into the Guadalupe River. My team lost millions of dollars worth of contracts with that dam failure. Read more>>

Rosy Muto

I’m in the creative/fashion industry from when I was younger. For starters I was born in the fashion capital of the world Italy. From there my parents migrated to the U.S over half a century ago in an ambitious entrepreneurial pursuit to create their businesses that are now celebrating 45 years of success. Growing up we were taught how important our work ethics were and to stay consistent. After high school I moved to Cherry Hill, NJ and worked 3 jobs as a restaurant manager, visual merchandiser manager and on the side I got paid for consulting on ideas and style. Read more>>

Britt Kilpatrick

SkeleTales Podcast is all about telling true tales of the strange, unusual and paranormal. One such story came to us from a listener, we’ll call her June, who had an experience she just couldn’t explain. This happened shortly after the podcast started about two years ago. June has a 3 year old daughter Elle. Elle had begun talking about her imaginary friend Jada. She said Jada was older than her, had dark skin and loved to have tea parties. Read more>>

Sarah Holloway

Since my art is so inspired by ancestry, healing, spirituality, and my environment- it was wild to realize how connected I was to my film and studio location in Oxford, England. I had just completed my MFA at the Ruskin School of Art, and I was spending a lot of time in coffee shops and ancient churches- constantly applying for jobs, drawing and entering into shows when I could. One day I walked up to the pulpit of University Church and realized I was standing on a Holloway tomb from the 1500s. Read more>>

Sundae Griffin

Being an entrepreneur is crazy within its self, you literally have to believe in yourself and motivate yourself even when no one is looking. even when you are putting in more risks than you are getting rewards. With all of that being said, during the pandemic i took a leap of faith and fulfilled one of my child hood dreams. i opened a lash bar, full of products, with lash booths and an office. it was one of the the best and worst things ive ever done looking back on it. it taught me so much about myself as a person and a business owner. i executed a plan/dream if had since i was a teenager. Read more>>

Bernard Williams

I walked in a store one day feeling down and unease. All of sudden I looked up and spotted a person’s shirt. It read something like trust in God and everything will be ok. I knew right then and then what I wanted to do. I wanted to make people feel what I felt just by reading that shirt. It uplifted me to the point that I knew I could do that. Making shirts that made people say, by coming up with funny, serious and positive sayings that people would love to wear and enjoy. Read more>>

Adrienne Walton

We all have those moments in our business careers where we would rather stay at home instead of attending that meeting that was scheduled months ago or working on that project that is due soon. As a photographer and business owner, I’ve had those moments. I woke up one morning feeling extremely overwhelmed, around 7:00 a.m I receive a text from a new client informing me she is on her way to the location of our photoshoot. Read more>>

Mary Ann Tooker

Don’t Let Anyone Tell You You’re Not Right for Your Dream…. This young girl from a small town in CT was told she was not cut out for the retail world. She was told to think twice about this industry because this woman didn’t feel she had thick enough skin that was needed. This young girl was taken back at that moment, but also knew she was going to prove her wrong. She did!!!! ( it was me) Read more>>

Kathryn E. Nuñez

This is a funny story, and it is related to wanting to take advantage of using artificial intelligence, and in this example, ChatGPT specifically. My agency was hired to work on a project with a specific sports team. We needed to find journalists that were writing about the team members and we had to build a database with all the usual suspects, names, phones, emails, company, etc. I decided it was time to jump into modern times and use ai for work. Read more>>

Marci Huston

My boutique store/bar is located in a house built in 1870. It is old, the floor tilts and slants, but it is super cool. We have a variety of products, including a room dedicated to tarot, saging, etc. We call it our woo woo room. Neither I nor my family or staff have any sort of sense to feel, see or hear other worldly experiences. However, people who come into my store can. Read more>>

Meg Ellis

Well, I am a conscious life coach, with a focus on the power of the mind. I could never not practice what I preach, right? I was in a bit of this loop of trying to control outcomes, versus allowing them to happen. When you coach the Law of Attraction, it’s very important to catch yourself trying to work “your plan” versus allowing the universe’s Master Plan — it’s literally the basis of what I do, but hey, I’m still human and get caught up from time to time. Read more>>