Coming up with an idea for a business or creative project can feel exhilarating. Inspiration for a new idea can come from so many places and we’ve asked some great folks from the community to share their stories of how they came up with their ideas.

Teresa Brekke

For over 20 years, I worked in cosmetology, pouring my heart into making others feel confident and beautiful. I loved the relationships I built with clients and the creativity of the work—but over time, the physical toll became undeniable. My back began to ache constantly, and with it came a creeping sense of burnout. I knew I couldn’t keep going at that pace forever, and something inside me started to whisper: There’s more. Read more>>

Mary Bowen

The idea for my farm camp started during a season of deep tension—when I was trying to honor my calling as a livestock farmer, homeschool mom, and faithful steward, but struggling to make it all work financially without sacrificing time or values. I was in the pasture checking on our goats, thinking through the logistics of another off-farm job opportunity that would’ve pulled me away from my family again. I remember praying and asking, Lord, is there another way? Read more>>

Britta Wilson

After spending over 13 years working at the San Diego Safari Park, the San Diego Zoo and The Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park, I transitioned into the rescue and sanctuary world. My journey included roles such as Adoption Counselor at San Diego Humane Society, Barn Keeper at Helen Woodward Animal Center, Captive Wildlife Specialist for PETA, and Elephant Caregiver at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Read more>>

Kathi Kerr

I always knew the piano would be my life from a young age. While other kids were playing around, I was playing the piano (much to the annoyance of my sister). I imagined my life as a famous performer (and did perform growing up).. Then, as a broke college student, I decided to teach private piano lessons, telling myself it’s better than flipping burgers. I suddenly realized there was something greater than performing, and my new passion turned to teaching. It felt good to watch someone learn and grow because of my mentoring. So I began pursuing a roster of students. That was before the internet, so I did a lot of foot advertising, hanging up flyers on telephone poles, and teaching at a local music store. Read more>>

Destiny Sweet

Nails have always been a passion for me. I used to spend hours on YouTube watching nail videos, trying to replicate designs and shapes. As I graduated high school I remember not being ready or even wanting to go to college. I kept thinking I wanted to peruse something I was passionate about. I literally dropped out and told my mom I wanted to be a nail tech. I started cosmetology school shortly after. Read more>>

Darkskinned Gatsby

MelaninCon was born out of a real frustration — and a deeper calling. I’ve always found myself in spaces where I felt like I had to choose between showing up as a professional or showing up fully in my culture. I’d attend conferences or events that were either too buttoned up with no representation, or full of culture but lacking structure, opportunity, or the kind of tangible resources our community actually needs to grow. Read more>>

Megan Morris

The idea for Vintage Charm Charlotte came from a very simple, recurring moment: walking into beautiful spaces—homes, offices, boutiques—and noticing that something was missing. There might be stunning furniture, curated art, and intentional lighting, but often the natural element – was either absent, dying, or an afterthought. I’ve always been drawn to the way greenery and florals can transform a space, but I also understood that most people—especially busy professionals and business owners—don’t have the time, patience, or desire to maintain live plants. That disconnect sparked something in me. Read more>>

Judy

I have been in the art gallery business for 20 years and successfully ran and operated Art With Judy Ann , which is also my studio. I did stained glass and had good business also selling fine art, until the materials I used gave me blood lead poisoning. I pivoted into Alcohol inks and have been doing them ever since, including teaching and demonstrating the mediums. This also got me a wonderful commission with the Cure 4 Kids Cancer clinic in Las Vegas. I volenteer my time with the kids and we create works to be later auctioned off at the annual fundraiser gala. I recieved a three year long commission for a large amount of my work to be purchased and on display at the clinic. Read more>>

Alessandra Gibson

To share how Blossom Media came to fruition, we have to go back quite a bit. From 2011 to 2023, my family and I operated an independent non-profit venue on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA. This is where I learned everything I know now – specifically photography. I picked up my first camera, a Canon Rebel T5 in 2015, and got all of my practice photographing every single band we brought to our space (because what better place to practice, right?). I learned the depths of working with low light, motion, color correction and more just through experimentation. Read more>>

Mike Kneuer

The idea for Suburban Protector came from a growing sense that many families and individuals in our communities want to feel more prepared and capable—but they don’t always know where to start. I noticed that while there are plenty of resources out there for self-defense or emergency readiness, most of them feel either too extreme or too impersonal. I wanted to bridge that gap. Read more>>

Eliska Keris

I’ve been creative my whole life. I’ve moved around a lot as a child and I’ve always lived in multiple places at once. I was always hiding out in the library. I preferred to be alone most time. When I was really young my family, classmates, friends, or just random people would ask me to make things for them. It was strange for me the amount of request I would get because I didn’t talk to many people except for a few close friends. Read more>>

Joe Brandi

In 2008, I stood on a dusty path in the slums of Kenya, surrounded by barefoot children who had almost nothing in terms of material goods — and yet radiated joy, laughter, and warmth. I remember looking into their eyes and feeling something shift inside me. Until that moment, the idea of poverty had always been conceptual — statistics in a brochure or headlines in the news. But here, it became personal. Real. Human. Read more>>

Tracy Hammond

In December 2020, my then 6mo son received a teething toy from a friend. This teething toy was made of silicone beads and customized with his name. It really was the sweetest gift. When we arrived back home, I started to research these teethers online and realized that there were no local vendors for this product. As a stay at home mom, I was always looking for ways to earn an income and thus started my own little business selling these customized teethers and pacifier clips. I had also done a great deal of research on these products and read many reviews on their potential safety and if they were a potential choking hazard. Read more>>

Vanessa Oliveira

I created Expo Brazil because I saw a big gap: so many amazing Brazilian-owned businesses in the U.S. doing great work, but with little visibility. I was constantly meeting entrepreneurs who needed more exposure, more connection, and more support to grow in a new country. Read more>>

Laura-Marie Small

Kidcasso was born from my own journey—a journey shaped by challenges, creativity, and the power of mentorship. As a child with a language-based learning disability, school was never easy for me. Traditional methods often left me feeling lost, but I was fortunate to be guided by incredible mentors who helped me discover a new way to learn: one that lived outside the box. They showed me that creativity isn’t just an outlet—it’s a path forward. Read more>>

Caroline Bursinger

We met at a networking event – totally unrelated to weddings – and somehow got to talking about our own wedding experiences. Within minutes, we realized we had both planned micro weddings… and had both run into the exact same frustrations. There was this instant bond – two total strangers who felt like we were speaking the same language for the first time. Read more>>

Marike Anderson

Every year I hold a women’s Winter Solstice retreat. I decided I wanted to create a candle for the event to symbolize the coming of light in the darkness. Though I did not figure out the process in time for the retreat, I found the process of candle making soothing and was intrigued by the art of evoking mood and emotion through scent. Last May I held an art show called GRIEF to share works I painted to process the loss of my husband, Edwin. I made candles with my artworks on them. This was my first time making a large quantity of candles, and I realized it’s something I can do at home that fits in well with my life as a single mom. Read more>>

Noah Griffin

While I officially registered my videography business in 2024, I began learning the craft while working on staff at a vocational non-profit for adults with Special Needs years prior. The organization provided meaningful jobs and opportunities for folks who would normally not be supported properly in the “neurotypical” workforce. The whole heartbeat of the organization was to treat everyone with dignity and genuine respect just by default of being a human. As I began to explore the process of visually capturing the diverse range of individuals I worked alongside, I had to approach filming and editing with a delicate hand. Read more>>

Lee Friedman

The idea for Mango Tree — a go-to resource for family travel planning — started, quite honestly, in a moment of travel planning frustration. I had two small kids and a demanding career as a litigator. I still wanted to travel, but the logistics suddenly felt exhausting. What used to be energizing—researching destinations, mapping out itineraries—started to feel like just another thing on my to-do list. I kept asking myself: Why is it so hard to plan a trip that’s both great for my kids and actually enjoyable for me too? Read more>>

Veronica Harvey

After struggling to find a solution for my son who suffered from Dermatitis, I founded B.C. Body Butter in 2021. My son, Cameron had been experiencing some concerning breakouts that made him very uncomfortable due to the persistent itchiness and discomfort from the rashes. After countless visits to the Dermatologist, Allergen specialist, and being prescribed various topical steroid creams that didn’t work for him, I knew there had to be another way, a healthier way, to help his skin. I began experimenting in my kitchen with all natural butters and essential oils to develop a solution to heal his skin; Read more>>

Etornam Djentuh

The story behind my brand “The Foreiign Way,” took place during barber school in 2020. The meaning behind it is, “Battling through the hate, beating the odds, going against the grain of your adversities to be &/ or create a unique or foreign version of YOUrself that you would’ve never imagined while being DIFFERENT & being FEARLESS. (The extra “i” is intentional to show more of the “different & uniqueness” to the whole saying). This idea of my brand came due to people along my path that didn’t support me and also didn’t believe in the vision I had set for myself. It motivated me to put the haters and the naysayers behind me and focus towards MY goals and MY aspirations because I knew for myself that I would make it happen. Just because they didn’t see my visions doesn’t mean I don’t see my vision for myself. Read more>>

Reggie Owens

My business is photography and videography. In my up bringing I was always the camera man. Every picture or memory my family have of our previous life came from me capturing it. So I knew that if I was to have a business, it would have to be something I love to do and can profit off of. I feel as though my business is very necessary and needed being as though alot of people are good with capturing the moment while living the moment as well. Not only am I capturing the moment, I am doing it at a professional state as well so you can relive that time period vividly. Read more>>

Chandra Sivaraman

It was not a sudden insight, but a gradual realization over many years. Initially, it was just the joy of seeing the world anew through the viewfinder, framing it in myriad ways, emphasizing this and cutting that out, experimenting with composition, light, shadow and texture, telling stories of pockets of nature encountered during post lunch walks on my office break, recording memories of vacations to be replayed later, humoring myself and my family who were the only audience. The camera was like a toy and using it brought back memories of the free spiritedness, the immeasurable lightness of childhood. Then, a little imp came into my life in the form of my daughter. Preserving memories of her childhood became a great motivation to hone my craft, to learn new techniques. Read more>>

Tiffany Freeman

I started Hairdressing Academy in 2011. I noticed that many people were suffering from hair loss and scalp disorders. I wanted to take action. I Invented hair products that protect the scalp and help the hair grow back. I realized that the chemicals were damaging people’s scalps, leading to hair loss and illness. In 2017, I developed a hair-growth oil, that protects the scalp and helps rejuvenate the pores. I began using it on my clients and their hair/scalp became healthier. I was so thrilled that I could help people feel good about themselves. Read more>>

Caitlin Gardner

It looks like I created my business in 3 months – the reality is it took 20 years. I needed to go through tough lessons in business – like getting laid off – and life to be able to find my grit, resilience and take a bet on myself.
I own Blooming Communications, and I’m the “Chief Gardner” helping companies grow using the power of Public Relations, Strategic Communications and Compelling Storytelling. Read more>>

Viktoriia Zolotova

I actually never planned to enter the fashion industry. My background has always been in digital marketing and startup business development. For years, I organized business tours for entrepreneurs — helping them explore new markets, build connections, and refine their go-to-market strategies. These tours were rooted in structure, scale, and systems — very startup-driven thinking. Read more>>

Mary Shim

Music as Medicine began during the early days of the pandemic, when so many of us, especially students, were left suspended in uncertainty. I had just started high school at a medical magnet program for health professions, where I had hoped to spend my time shadowing, volunteering, and learning on clinical rotations. Instead, those opportunities were put to a halt, indefinitely. Read more>>

Hannah Rawiszer, Ph.D.

The journey to creating Helping Hannah Professional Services began with years of experience in operations management and executive assistance. Before venturing out on my own, I worked as an Executive Assistant and Operations Manager at a nonprofit, where I developed a deep understanding of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps organizations running smoothly. Prior to that, I led a department at a local PBS station as the Director of Education and Community Engagement, managing a team and overseeing large projects. Throughout these roles, I saw firsthand how important systems and processes are to success, and I started to realize how many business owners were missing these key components in their operations. Read more>>

Louise Sturcken

My Roomate and I in NYC would edit our closets in our off time in our tiny Lower East Side apartment on Clinton Street. The bathtub was in the kitchen. It was very tiny. A literal tenement apt 5th floor walk up. Fun Fact: I thought our upstairs neighbor was dropping bowling balls on the floor turns out it was Emily Adams Bode a fellow southerner who was carrying her fabric rolls up 6 flights of stairs. Grit. Read more>>

Rebecca Hawkins

My business evolved from a beautiful and completely unplanned fusion of my personal life journey, my passion for integrated trauma informed healing through mindfulness and yoga, and my 30 years of business experience. Read more>>

Nuria Garcia

I moved countries (Spain to the US) and I have been sharing my journey online, then I saw the power of building that presence. The idea of my business came when I started meeting with tech founders. I have been creating content for different businesses for years and saw how powerful that was, that when I started meeting people with ideas that could change the world and why they decided to pursue that I wanted to help them share those with the world. Read more>>

Michael Sohn

After leaving my soul-sucking tech job at the end of 2022, I wanted to do work that was meaningful, but I didn’t know what to do next in my career. I wanted to do build something bigger than myself and give back to other people.

Several years of working remotely, being isolated, and barely leaving the house had negative effects on my mental health and wellbeing. I felt lonely. And I figured there were other people in my neighborhood who might’ve felt the same way. Read more>>