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.

Laura Greenleaf

I had the idea 10 years prior to open a wedding venue. We’ve (my husband and I) always been entrepreneurs and business owners so the idea wasn’t far reaching. Years after having the idea, my husband and I attended a “barn” venue wedding for a friend of ours and suddenly we were on the same page. We got right to work making my vision a reality. We scoured for land to purchase and began designing the venue ourselves. I have an interior design degree and my husband has a mechanical engineering background. Read more>>

Alexis Karis

just weeks before the wedding and she still wasn’t sure if her dad was going to give a toast or not. (He feared public speaking), so as the weeks turned into days, and days turned into hours, the bride still was not certain her dad was going to give a toast. Then the day comes, and it’s flying by. We’re sticking to the timeline and everything is running so smoothly. We begin to wrap up dinner and I’m walking around gathering everyone who is giving a toast. Maid of honor, check. Read more>>

Mohammed Gandhi

December is usually when we are not that busy. We offer essentials that folks buy for themselves. We sell NEED items, not WANT stuff. So it makes sense that we are not the preferred place to come visit during the gifting season. December of 2021 was unusually quiet. Read more>>

Sophia Stewart Adams

So So Good Cooking participated in its first “summer festival”. This was an outdoor event and we had to provide everything including electricity ourselves. This was the first time having an on-site inspection conducted by the Tarrant County Health Department. They checked EVERYTHING. This was also the first time using a generator and that was a struggle within itself. It took 3 hours to get the generator working. Within that time frame my husband decided to rent an additional generator. Read more>>

Jamie Hess

Opening in the middle of a Global Pandemic is surely the hardest move I’ve have to make in my two decades of being in the Hospitality Business. It wasn’t by choice but necessity as we were done construction of our Beach Food Restaurant and waiting for our permits to open (and paying rent at the time) when were delayed months by all the shutdowns. When we did eventually open in May of 2020 we failed miserably. Read more>>

Steph Wharton

Absolutely! For context—like many other entrepreneurs—I used to struggle a lot with comparison and self-doubt. Although every now and then old thoughts creep back up, there’s one particular instance in my business that completely changed the way I see things. Read more>>