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.

Devin Keopraphay

The most unexpected piece of my business was realizing as I shared my culture and pov I was slowly advocating for third-culture kids under the AAPI umbrella, immigrants, dreamers, restaurantours, entrepreneurs and further. I thought cooking, meant one thing ‘to feed hungry patrons’. But as time lead on I realized I was slowly building a bridge, connecting cultures, stories, and most of all people. Read more>>

Eddie Middleton

I have quite a few crazy stories, positive and negative. But I’d rather bring positive stories into this world rather than negative. My business phone rang, and I thought that it could be a spam call considering most of them are these days. I remember because it was midday and I was at Walmart or something getting my car fixed. Read more>>

Stacey Donahue

My daughter and I were at an outdoor market this year, when a customer came up to the booth and was looking at the display of treats. While he was looking at the bags and all the flavors I was telling him a little about Pawsome Snacks and what makes them special. When I finished, I asked him if he had any questions… Read more>>

Kenetra Saintilaire

From Broken Beginnings to a Fleurishing Vision As a business owner, every day feels like turning the page of a story you didn’t quite finish writing. You can plan, dream, and prepare—but you’ll never truly know what waits on the next page. Read more>>

Arielle Haughee

Book marketing is always tricky. A strategy that worked for one book won’t work for another, and the market is always changing so you constantly have to adapt your approach. To make things even more difficult, a recent study by the University of Florida (my alma mater) and University College London found that over the last 20 years, daily reading for pleasure has dropped 40%. In addition, an estimated three million titles were published in the US alone last year. That means authors and publishers are fighting for a shrinking audience in an over-saturated market. Standing out becomes key. Read more>>