Having to overcome unexpected problems is a hallmark of entrepreneurship. Almost every business owner, artist, maker, and creative we know has had to deal with countless unexpected problems that arise in the journey and so we asked some brilliant folks from the community to share their stories of the unexpected problems they’ve faced along the way.

Gil & Renee Beavers

(Gil) Renée and I are opposites. For example, I like to go to bed early and wake up early; on countless occasions, as I am rising to begin my day, Renée is ending hers and going to bed. Entrepreneurship is one of my wife’s greatest strengths. Read more>>

Hannah Siegmund

We decided to start Different Church in the fall of 2019, which requires a lot of up-front preparation and legal paperwork (such as applying for 501(c)3 status, finding a location to rent to hold Sunday services, etc.). Read more>>

Marisa Mangum

As a creative, I’ve come to realize that one of the hardest things for me is time management. It’s easy to get caught up in the flow of inspiration and creativity and lose track of time. For me, inspiration is not something I can turn on or turn off “on demand”. It requires breathing room and time to make a mess and explore ideas. Read more>>

Kia Renee

To be a member of the Black community running a business right now in the US means to have creativity, resilience, innovation and excellence during times of struggle. One of the major challenges associated with being a Black female business owner is that due to the ongoing racial funding gap we are often at a disadvantage when it comes to access to financial resources. Read more>>

Amanda Young

When I started my creative journey on social media, unbeknownst to me I was struggling with multiple mental illnesses that made it difficult to establish a sustainable and effective routine. Read more>>

Julie Tonks

I opened Hot Yoga Sanford 2/2020. This is right before the pandemic. I repeated wise words of two successful business, “the key to success if consistency.” I stayed consistent with my goals, schedule, and dreams through the pandemic. I made it through without having to close my doors and giving up on Hot Yoga Sanford. Read more>>

Mary Thrailkill

Earlier this year, I was in the middle of upgrading one of the major aspects of my products – paper. My cards and calendars feature bright and colorful illustrations, and I wanted the paper they were printed on to complement them. Read more>>

James Lopez

One of the most unexpected problems I have encountered in my creative process is getting audiences to come to my shows. You would think that this would be easy for someone to do that works in entertainment, but this is the most challenging component of my work. I realized recently that two significant barriers exist to getting people to come to my experiences. Read more>>

April Maddox Showers

Launching a new brand for children is already a challenge. Although the brand is for children, the audience we need to capture are adults who pay for kid things. Sure, kids are great at saying “Mommy, Daddy, Glamma, I want that!” But when they have no idea what you are, that won’t happen. We want to party with kids and celebrate their birthdays and any other special events they’d like to celebrate. Read more>>

Amy Gilbride

When I started my travel blog in 2018, my goal was to share my travels worldwide and help others do the same. After a couple of years of blogging about adventures in Europe, Mexico and Hawaii, my international travels came to a halt when the pandemic started. Read more>>

HP Bloomer

One of the most unexpected issues I have encountered is finding my audience. Having spent 10 years traveling around the country as a Artist In Residence at various craft schools and as a instructor at various colleges I struggled to collect contacts and build a consistent audience. Read more>>

D. Marcell

Naming my price. I wrestled a lot giving my creativity a worth. Like to the point it gave me anxiety. Materials aside, what is my creativity, or creativity in general, worth? For the longest time, I’d just give my paintings away just because I couldn’t assign a value to them. Read more>>

Ana Cuciuc

One of my biggest problems was to set boundaries between my work and my personal life. For the longest time I identified myself with what I did and wasn’t able to detach and rest. I would say yes to almost any client and any budget. That inevitably led to a big burnout, followed by a couple disrespectful clients and one very bad experience with a bride. Read more>>