One of the most under-the-radar benefits of entrepreneurship is its ability to build fortitude and make the entrepreneur a more formidable person. Challenges – particularly the crazy, unexpected ones that take on a life of their own – build character and confidence. And the unexpected surprises to the upside, the crazy good moments offer a high that’s hard to reproduce elsewhere. The charm and the challenge of entrepreneurship is dealing with the crazy things that happen and so we’ve asked some fantastic business owners and leaders to share some of their stories with us below.

Melanie Miller

We signed our building lease in April of 2022, and had a goal to open within 6 months. That is an aggressive timeline for the brewing industry, and we had to push HARD to make all the pieces align. Ordering our brewing equipment was one of the biggest undertakings: in summer 2022, we were purchasing equipment in the midst of a stainless steel shortage AND a nationwide shipping crisis. Seaports were backed up for weeks, courier trucks were in short supply, it was a mess from end to end. We were determined to not let our target opening date be affected, so we worked closely with suppliers during the ordering process to ensure that the items we were ordering were in stock, and already on land in the United States. Once ordered, we were relentless with ensuring that our items were shipped as expected, and worked directly with the courier as they transported them across the country. Read more>>

Yolanda Borras

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti. Just a few days later, on that Saturday, we had a family concert planned where children and visiting artists were set to perform. These family concerts were designed to bring families together in a safe and enjoyable space to experience music. Read more>>

Ed Dentzel

The craziest thing for me so far in hosting Unfound for 7 years has been testifying–twice–in a murder trial in Greeley, CO. How did this happen? Read more>>

Elisa Christine

While in the early stages of starting the business, I received a phone call to be interviewed for a possible election, to participate in the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League Designer Show House. It was the second month of starting a business, and here I am being invited for an interview. When it comes to participating in a Show House, the designer forefronts the funds, time, and designs for charity. Read more>>

Jill Hass

It’s all kind of a crazy, hair brain story really. I had been a work-at-home mom, child care provider, animal lover, creative, type- B, outdoors enthusiast, free spirit for as long as I can remember. I was nearing the BIG 4-O and my dad had a grand idea. “Jill, how about we import Italian leather handbags and sell them in the US?” You see, dad traveled to Italy each year for work and had fallen in love with their AH-MAZING leather goods. I mean really, can you blame him? “Ummm, great idea dad! EXCEPT, I’m no Spring chicken anymore and have NO clue how to import anything. (Unless, you count the vanilla I brought back from vacation that one time. HA! )” I decided life is too short and well, that grand idea led from one thing to another, tons of research, fretting and stewing, excitement and a short while later BAM….Olita was born! No, Olita is not an Italian word. It’s a combination of my kids’ names. Olivia + Tayton = Olita! Awww, isn’t that sweet! :) Read more>>

Michael Lester

Coming from a waiter position where every tip depended on my ability to make rent and pay my bills, my first thought upon getting my real estate license was, “Larger tips that just take longer.” So, all I wanted to do is make more commission checks—and this reflected on how I composed myself in my fake-it-’til-you-make-it attitude. Let’s be honest, every real estate agent is faking it when they first get licensed…you have no idea what you’re doing at this point. Read more>>

Amy Palma

That’s a tie. I’ve had police called to calm family drama at a 5 star resort, my own labor contractions, brides fainting, bodyguards and father of the brides hitting on my staff. Twenty years in the wedding industry I have seen it all. Fortunately I grew up in my own crazy familia and have a high tolerance for insanity. Read more>>

Angela Lowell-Schade

In 2011 had a facebook business page for Something Blue. At that time followers were “fans” I had accumulated about 2000 fans and one day I woke up to over 43k fans overnight! After doing some investigating I realized that Facebook had decided to merge Facebook business pages with the same name and apparently had merged my Something Blue Jewelry page with the Something Blue book by Emily Giffin (who also wrote the book, Something Borrowed which was made into a movie in 2011 with Kate Hudson) Luckily for me the fans of the book page were similar to my target market so I decided to roll with it by making an announcement welcoming all of the new fans, explaining the situation and offering a special coupon code: “NotTheBook” for 25% off. Read more>>