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.

Israel Harris

I am proud to be a Hispanic, Latino, Jewish American with Indigenous, Mayan heritage. I grew up in a predominately white, affluent area, and didn’t think much of looking or being different growing up. I’ll admit, it was not always easy being a male dancer around my male-identifying classmates or friends, but I don’t recall many instances of overt racism or antisemitism. Once I moved to New York, Read more>>

Lauren Sweeney

DeliverZero began as a restaurant delivery marketplace. Customers who wanted to order food in reusable packaging searched their address on our site or app, then placed the order through our site. Restaurants would receive those orders through a tablet we provided them with. Read more>>

Angelina Salgado

The most unexpected thing to happen in my life was the unexpected death of my infant daughter Aurora on September 24, 2020. The second most unexpected thing in my life was learning that our one healthy, viable embryo (from doing In-Vitro Fertilization, or IVF) had split and that I was pregnant with twins. Read more>>

Rob and Sarah Meyers

The most frequent issue that catches us off guard is actually our own ideas for product improvement. We started slowly and gave ourselves plenty of time for research, development and experimentation. It wasn’t until we were confident in what we were making and proud of the results that we opened up to the public. Read more>>

Tanya Chauhan

Being a full time dancer, I have experienced many unexpected problems/issues in my creative journey To address some of the major unexpected issues, I would put light on- . 1) Very early in my dance career I got body shamed which led to a serious eating disorder. 2) Injuries are the most sad part about our journey. Read more>>

Neshanta Larry

One of the most unexpected experiences in my business was The beginning of the pandemic which began in 2020. This enabled me from moving forward with my hands on interaction with my customers and my pop up events which decreased my sales and my overall everyday agenda due to there being no contact. Read more>>

Nicole Blessing

I do a great deal of voice work from home. I’ve narrated 120 audio books, voiced a YouTube Channel, E-Learning Solutions, commercials, and apps. During the pandemic, the FAA Next Gen program decided to put a flight path, illegally and without warning, over our house. It made it next to impossible to work. It went from little to no airplane noise, Read more>>