In our view, far too many ideas die at the imagination stage. It’s not because people are lazy, we think the primary reason is because many people don’t know where or how to start. So, we connected with some sharp and generous entrepreneurs who’ve agreed to share their stories of how they went from idea to execution.

Mandi Neuhardt

In order to explain how I launched my business, I need to rewind a bit and explain how I began working within the beauty industry. At first, harnessing my passion for all things hair and makeup came as more of a fun, part time hobby. My only clients were booked via word of mouth, as I did not publicly advertise. As time went on, I began to become busier and busier, needing the help of additional artists. That is when I realized this hobby of mine needed to become an official business. Read more>>

Leya Abdulla

The journey of owning a small business bakery initially started with an idea. My initial idea for having this bakery was to cater to those who wanted personalized gifts for any occasion they were celebrating. Although it seems like a simple idea, there were many steps I had to follow to get my business onto its two feet. The very first step I had to take was to find a name for my business, something that would stand out from the rest, this process took some time. I also had to find a logo to brand my business which was another difficult task, however, I liked the creative aspect of making it my own logo. I initially started small with only having cupcakes and chocolate-covered strawberries on my menu. Read more>>

Ashley Brown

I was a college athlete. With that being said, we weren’t allowed to have jobs, but I still had bills to pay so I had to find a way to make ends meet. I was in the Radio, Television, Film pathway and I absolutely fell in love with my documentary story telling class. I wanted to know how could I do that for the rest of my life and bring joy to people. I picked up photography as a hobby at that point and I was using it to make some extra money on the side. Read more>>

Courtney Cole

During Covid 2020 we were laid off at a high-end Medspa just temporarily. This time really gave me the opportunity to marinate on the idea of starting my own business. I started painting during the quarantine and realized that was another extension of my passions. I ultimately wanted to have a Studio where I could incorporate everything that I do. Looking back, it was a big risk but it could not have all come together more perfectly. Read more>>

Jasmin Machell

Unknowingly, I have always been a wardrobe stylist. When I was in middle school, my mom and I would plan out the first month of outfits for school and take polaroid pictures of each look. I can remember spending hours with my friends putting outfits together for basketball games, parties and cookouts throughout high school. During my Senior year summer, we would shop at Goodwill and Plato’s Closet before going to any party, never wanting to repeat an outfit.  Read more>>

Rebecca Schulman

I had been doing some soul searching as to how to best support my clients. As a professional bodyworker and massage educator with over 15 years experience, I felt like I had hit my peak in some ways. I was asking myself if I should go back to school for psychotherapy, chiropractic, or acupuncture to enhance my knowledge and better serve my community. But staring down the barrel of another 5+ years of education before practice was daunting to say the least. During this time of searching my cousin opened the first place with sensory deprivation tanks in Santa Cruz, Sage Float Spa. Read more>>

Janelle Harris

Being in the marketing and management field successfully for over 18 years, Janelle demonstrates dedication and passion for all industries such as medical, entertainment, fashion, media, press, and film. Knowing what it takes when production is moving at a minimum makes her among the elite, especially for success. She has helped a plethora of doctors, lawyers, Grammy award winners, producers, artists, and certified nurses to find successful jobs in the medical industry and the entertainment business. It’s no stranger to her being accustomed to research and development for the best solutions when it takes place to help professionals find their niche. Read more>>

Alexis Perry

I came up with the idea of The Bash Pad from an already existing business, called The Lip Bash. The Lip Bash is centered around my cosmetic line, Einnaf Cosmetics. The Bash Pad came about one day in the car from wanting to get more in the service based arena within my entrepreneurial journey, but still keep it product based. So with The Bash Pad, I wanted it to be fun, comfortable, welcoming and allow customers to feel as though this space, The Bash Pad is their own. Outside of the customer(s), I always think about how I can help others in my process of creating something for the world. So I decided with this business venture The Bash Pad, I’ll collaborate with other product based entrepreneurs to help them gain more exposure and generate more income. Read more>>

Christina Dinglasan

The idea of becoming a Permanent makeup artist was easy. The commitment to investing in myself was the difficult part. I believe, when you are accustomed to a 9-5 job and are not familiar with entrepreneurship, you are much more hesitant and not in the correct headspace to take those kinds of risks. Several years ago, I had the idea of becoming a PMU artist but thought of too many “What if” situations. What if it doesn’t work out? What if I don’t get any clients? I was too comfortable with my day job, that the risk of it not working out as a PMU artist was not worth it. Fast forward to 2019, I was laid off from my job and had nothing to lose. I invested in a course, and it’s been continuous growth since then. Read more>>

Ryan Copeland

I’ve always had a passion to go beyond just working with my session clients, in the studio. I often found myself wanting to assist in the process of developing the artists, wanting to know the artists’ well-being, and bringing the best out of the artists. I’ve always admired Berry Gordy and his innovative rise of Motown. From there, I saw myself moving in that space and helping the rise and development of some amazing talent. Read more>>

Jenny Trejo

In March of 2020, I was up for a promotion at my company to officially move into Corporate Event Planner. I had been working in this role in addition to my other role for about 6 months but March was my official transfer time. I had been hired at this company 2 years prior with the intention of moving into Corporate Event Planner and my other role was transitional to help me better understand their service. Well, we all know what happened in March 2020 and the promotion obviously didn’t occur. By the summer, I was moving so far away from an event planning role and the job was not fulfilling me, only causing me bucketloads of stress. Read more>>

Brigette Dean

I had been making a hair potion for my friends and family for a long time, a mixture of organic essential oils that I loved. We noticed that it worked for everyone in my life, even my husband Zack’s beard. Plus, the oils I used were multi-beneficial, benefitting both hair and skin, while delivering some aromatherapy benefits on top of that. Lavender and Rosemary and Peppermint, it was like a mini spa in every mist. We started calling it Hair Magic because it worked for so many things, even as a natural bug repellant funnily enough, or for soothing for sun burns, and so much more. Read more>>

Sloan Echavarria

During Covid Edward (my husband) and I were working at a local beauty school. I watched as the Latin community struggled to respond to the changing demands in beauty academia. They couldn’t offer online classes because the teachers weren’t comfortable using computers. The textbooks and curriculums were subpar in comparison to our white counterparts. Many schools chose to put classes on halt until we were able to re-open rather than find innovative ways to continue teaching their students through technology. Read more>>

Dr. Tommy Watson

I grew up homeless with drug-addicted parents who were arrested 121 times by the time I finished high school as an All-American football player. Despite those odds, I went on to play Big Ten football and obtain 4 degrees, including my doctrate. For many years, I was embarrassed and pained by my story. After college, I decided to write a book about my story in 1999 and published the award-winning book, A Face of Courage, in 2008. The process of writing the book helped me to heal and help others as well. Years later, after resigning from my job as a school principal to become an entrepreneur, I decided I wanted to do a movie about my story. Read more>>

Carlos McCants

In the heart of a global pandemic in March of 2020, I came up with the idea of launching a streetwear clothing brand. I remember like it was yesterday when I started the process of trying to figure out where to start. The first thing I did was create a business plan and a vision for my brand. I was in San Antonio, TX at my father in law’s house when I created the business plan. With Covid-19 shutting down most businesses, I had all the time in the world to do as much research as possible. I had a friend who told me about Alibaba which is the world’s leading B2B cross-border marketplace which allows people to source products from global suppliers strictly from your cell phone or computer. I had no idea who it worked or if it was even legit. Read more>>

Jaclyn and Yasmin Gerakios and Greene

Both of us had no background studies in business so it has been quite a learning experience for us on the operational side of things! It was challenging at first learning how to design and source our products. We had to figure out how to get in contact with manufacturers, what type of design file to send them, and what specifications were needed for each product type. To make it easier on ourselves we didn’t branch into additional product types until we had a good handle on creating pins. We definitely made many mistakes initially and still do whenever designing a new type of product. Read more>>

Julie Damian

In the summer of 2017 my family moved to a new neighborhood. We were used to living within walking distance of the school the boys attended, which also had a playground, track, and walking trails. Our new neighborhood gave us a quieter street and larger yard, but no near by play space. We missed that. In March 2018, my middle son died very unexpectedly in a horrible accident. After his death, I wanted to build a playground in his honor near our new home. The Playful Child was born through my desire to honor my son Kade and create a place filled with love, laughter, and life as a gift to our community. Read more>>

DANYELLE CLARK

A very good friend of mine, who is also like a brother, Brandon Smith, started an Artist Development company in Detroit, MI and hired me as his first vocal trainer. My time there was short, being that I ended up moving to Atlanta, GA. I was so amazed at how he started building his company and he never missing a beat in doing so. It is now one of the most popular artist development companies in Detroit, MI. I knew then that I wanted to do the same and have my own company. Transitioning to this was not easy, being that I started as an artist. I don’t know if I really wanted to be an artist. Read more>>

Juanita Sierra.

During the last couple of design school years and while working for high-end design studios, I was able to learn from very talented designers, meet good and bad contractors, and develop relationships with vendors that for the most part, I still keep in contact with today. While in school and working for these design studios, I was able to work on small projects on my own. even though it was not easy to stay on top of everything while keeping my responsibilities at my job, I have been very selective of the teams I use for my projects and this has allowed me to oversee and complete projects as specified. Read more>>

Stephen and Leah Soule

We’ve been married for 13 years and together for 17, and coffee has always been a part of our relationship–drinking, brewing, and home roasting. When Stephen decided to retire from Metro Nashville Police Department, Leah asked what he wanted to do instead, and Stephen said he’d like to give a roastery a shot. He wrote a business plan and purchased our first Sonofresco air roaster from Craig’s List in August 2020. Since then, we’ve purchased 2 additional air roasters and a drum roaster to maintain our small/micro batch quality and freshness while meeting demand for our product. Read more>>

Tierre Partee

My company Vision Pushers LLC is an independent, design and management based agency with a focus in script writing and film production. I started the company because I had a passion for entrepreneurship and I wanted to implement everything learned from school. Then I watched a YouTube video on how to register the business with the state of Georgia. Completed that then created a EIN# for the business, which is like a business social security. Next I created a website highlighting all the services offered. What I had to figure out is that I once you start a business it doesn’t stop there. You have to market your business daily and provide quality service. Read more>>

J.chefé

Currently I’m in the process of writing my own cookbook/cocktail book! It’s been a great idea for years now that I’m putting into execution as we speak. I want people to taste my creations even if I’m not directly in front of them or easily accessible. my hope is that I help those who can’t cook or know how to make a drink to become much better at it. maybe even spark an idea in them as well in whatever their dream may be. For the who are experienced this would further help them to try new things that maybe they haven’t before! I’m self-publishing my book which I found in this industry is not at all the popular thing to do. Read more>>

Deberah Williams

I create A Fresh Start, LLC in 2007 when I was terminated from a former Mortgage company by telling me that I was to honest and I do not need to tell the clients everything, such as their closing dates, or if their credit scores were not ready for them to purchase a home at that time. So, when I was terminated on February 7, 2007, it changed my life. I was obtaining my MBA at the time and I was speaking to a Represenative about my account, and the Rep. could tell in my voice that something wasn’t right. They proceeded to ask me what was going on and I told them about my termination. Read more>>