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.

Dawn Skeete

One of the most surprising experiences I had as a business owner was when a fellow business owner, a white woman from my community, walked into my restaurant and said, “Dawn, how can I, a white businesswoman, help you, a Black businesswoman?” Read more>>

Allisha Minor-Gaines

I remember meeting with a couple who was struggling with issues surrounding being honest about their sexuality. Neither one of them had disclosed to the other their sexual history let alone what their preferences were due to fear of rejection. Read more>>

Emilie Procsal

As a child, I wanted to be a psychologist. Someone who helped people on a daily basis. Deep in my veins ran a love for art that pushed me into the field of creation and far away from my dreams of helping people. Read more>>

Connie Ruel

Which one should we talk about? In the restaurant business, craziness happens daily. So much so, I wrote the book, “Passions of a Restaurateur” about a few of the incidents. Read more>>