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.

Alexus Nolan

The Juice Box Co. originally started as an accessory subscription boutique and lifestyle brand in 2018. It was an idea that was birthed as a resolution to a fashion waste problem that I noticed and felt like I was a huge contributor to. In 2017, instead of buying a new fast fashion piece for every event, I started to gravitate toward staple pieces and incorporated accessories to help extend the life of my wardrobe and maintain a fresh look. I always got compliments on my outfits, despite rotating combinations of only a few key pieces and gave credit to the accessories. Read more>>

Lindsey Dukes

Ok, so this really starts long before the idea actually came about. 6 years ago, I left my corporate job, my marriage, my friends, my house and all of my stuff and decided to start traveling the world. I knew there had to be deeper purpose to life. Through a series of insanely synchronistic events, in 2017 I ended up landing a job working for the company I initially traveled with the year prior (a company that changed my life) and over the next 3.5 years I designed and led culturally immersive, adventure based trips around the world. During these travels, I stumbled across opportunities to deep dive down the spiritual path, learning from various healers, teachers and shamans all across the globe. Read more>>

Brittany Bygrave

I started Butter’d with my own skin journey in mind. I’ve had acne, eczema, and hyperpigmentation as early as 14 years old. Dealing with how different my skin is, in multiple contexts, diminished my self-esteem. I used to hide behind makeup, clothing and more just to feel accepted. Read more>>

Krystle Saulsberry

Krystle Clear Assistance was established to address the administrative needs of business and nonprofit owners. These executives are busy growing their businesses and organizations so they need someone to help free up their time with regards to administrative tasks such as scheduling/calendar management, email management, social media management, etc. Read more>>

Kelley Bell

As a daughter of God, wife, mother, and educator, I experienced the challenges of operating in all those roles, finding the right balance, and feeling effective in those roles while also learning to enjoy life. So I started a journey with God, counseling, reading books, and being intentional in doing the work to find the right balance needed. Learning how to be heroic as a woman, be empowered in all of my roles and responsibilities, and be resilient to the challenges that come with living life. As I noticed I began to get a handle on everything, I realized it is possible to do everything on my plate with excellence! Read more>>

Maggie Dellemann-Zadina

Living on an island in Alaska has always thrown in it’s unique benefits and challenges, so when health issues came up for me – it was more realistic for me to first try and address the situation myself, if could do so safely, before seeking help from through medical services here. I’ve never been very good at taking OTC medication, so plant=based remedies were a natural path for me to explore. When I got a cyst on my foot, I discovered essential oils for healing and started using them for health and wellness for myself, and also started blending for others upon request and for gifts. Read more>>

Roderick Williams

I came up with this product line because I didn’t like the way other beard products smelled and many of the products I used left my skin dry after applying. During the R&D process for the brand I reached out to several different vendors to find the perfect product that I felt everyone els will love just as much as I did. I get this product would work because many others were going through the same issues I was having., I felt I was solving a problem not only for myself but men worldwide. Read more>>

Lisa Lane

I came up with the idea for the Rinseroo while I was standing in my shower. It was literally an “ah-ha” moment. I was at the Jersey shore with my extended family. There were 15 of us in all plus 4 dogs staying in this beach house. I found that I was filling a bucket over and over to clean the shower walls and bathe the dogs. It was messy and time consuming and I found myself spending more time in my bathroom cleaning than on the beach! I thought, “There has got to be a better way!” I thought to myself, whoever can come up with a quick and easy way to attach a hose to a shower will have a real problem solving invention on their hands. Then I thought…Why not me? Read more>>

Micah Blair

This Idea came from going to comic cons and conventions and seeing black people having a great time living out there childhood and fandoms. But also too let them know that there are not the only ones in this community and they do not have to feel alone. we give a safe space for People of color to be nerdy and be true to themselves, But the main reason this was created was to stop the racism in the nerd community, bullying, and attacking Black cosplayers. Read more>>

Kapreta Johnson

Brown Suga Vegan came about from a craving for vegan donuts. Awaking one morning in the summer of 2020 desiring but unable to find a vegan donut, Dr. Kapreta began experimenting with recipes to satisfy her craving. From this, she realized that delicious vegan desserts were limited in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As a result, she began recreating family recipes using vegan ingredients. After a while, family and friends began to inquire about purchasing these delectable desserts and thus, Brown Suga Vegan was born. Read more>>

Kendra Weathersby

I started my business last year when one of my old coworkers and friend from a previous job reached out to me about her banana pudding craving. She said she remembers when I made some and brought it to one of our company pot lucks and said how good it was and that she would even pay me to make it! When she told me she was willing to pay for my banana pudding I had the bright idea to see if anyone else would be interested and to my surprise many people were. I started researching if there were any businesses who strictly sold banana pudding and come to find out there were none in the Sacramento area so I decided to become the first! Read more>>

Uyi Abraham

It’s Uyi Abraham here, CEO and Founder of Vonza. I came to america with $100 and suitcase of clothes. With over 20 years as a creator, I was frustrated with the complexity and time required to simply create and sell online. The old way consisted of subscriptions to multiple software and trying to duct-tape them together to run your business. This process was stressful, time and money consuming. Read more>>

Shemika Dunbar

I would’ve never imagined one random day having a craving for cheesecake while on a diet would completely change my life. If anyone told me that I would not only be a baker, but a successful baker, I’d probably give them the side eye. I wasn’t always in the kitchen trying different recipes because I really wanted to bake. I didn’t have the desire to bake for the holidays or watch tons of baking shows to get inspiration. I baked a batch of boxed brownies and burned them! That was it! I didn’t attempt to try and get better at it. I just let it go. Until one day, I got so desperate for a sweet treat while on the Keto Diet and I baked a cheesecake with stevia and almond flour crust. Read more>>

Rachel Samson

The idea of sharing my fun foodie finds dates way back for me, even before the Instagram era. I never thought it would be a job, a career really, and I regret not pursuing it earlier. In 2017 when my friends finally convinced me I needed a separate dedicated space for my food photography, I came up with @stickaforkinme. Even then it was just a lighthearted hobby. However it came at a time when I was transitioning from 13 years of construction management and allowed me to really make it a passion project. The idea of a full-time creator wasn’t as common at that point, and it certainly wasn’t paying my bills at the beginning. Read more>>

SPUD! Brooklyn

The idea started way before I knew it. It’s rooted with the love of music. At the age 13 I wrote my first song. That form of expression felt so empowering I just knew I would be in the business of sound somehow. Music was my love. A year later I lost my mother to a heart attack (1994), and the year after that I landed in prison on a life sentence (1995). Life I as i knew it was turned upside down. With depression, sadness and loneliness all I had was music. I spent 13 years in prison and music was the core to my sanity. When got out the world was a completely new place. Technology has took off. Finding a job was impossible with a record so I settled working at a laundrymat in Far Rockaway, Queens New York. I made only 120 dollars week. Read more>>

Madison Marchegiano

In March of 2010 when I was 12, Colt, a family friend of mine passed away from a completely preventable accident. He drowned at a relative’s house while they were babysitting him. There was no fence around the pool. Five years after Colt’s death, I felt like I had to do something. I finally got the courage to reach out to his parents asking if I could start a nonprofit in his honor to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family. Deep down, I knew it was going to be too hard for them, which is why I chose to take on this mission. Children should never go before their parents and that’s what made me want to fight even harder. Read more>>

Tazia Allen

I started my business back in 2010 after losing my hair from a bad relaxer. I wanted to find a way to grow my hair back quickly but I kept running into products that were full of chemicals and would cause scalp abrasions, or were too harsh on my hair. I also had a young daughter whose texture of hair was vastly different than mine. So I had to figure out something that would work for both of us! Read more>>

Edie Ann Goodwin

It was February of 2017. I took my mother in for her yearly mammogram. I was sitting in the waiting room when the technician came out to ask the receptionist to get in touch with my mom’s Dr because they needed to do another scan. I could tell something was wrong. I couldn’t hold back the tears. She had had ductile breast cancer back in 1999/2000, but it was caught early and she only needed surgery. Back then, Drs didn’t know it could show up years later in the opposite breast. We were devastated! I had played around with making an itch cream for my mother while she was going through chemotherapy. Read more>>

Lindsay Thompson

I’ve always been a dreamer and doer- usually to a fault. There’s always an idea (a thousand) swirling through my brain at any given moment and my hyper focus and lack of a need for much sleep keep me going. After college I went into management at a massive retailer. I was a workaholic who loved my job and I was good at it; however, after having my first child, I knew I couldn’t continue on that career path and raise him the way I wanted to. I quit my job and was immediately pregnant with my second child. Quitting my job was incredibly hard. Read more>>

Ericka Leigh

It starts with an emotion, from a death, a wish, a prayer, or perhaps a reaction from again asking permission to let go. The story waiting to be sewn together at my fingertips is personal – an event that changed me and gave me new glasses with which to view the world. My creative process begins with the story I want to tell about different fabrics and the journeys of their life, which is synonymous with the tattered and woven roads we’ve all found ourself on at one point or another. With each stitch, I strive to connect the dots and transform that anger, heartbreak, glee, fear, or breath into an actionable takeaway. Read more>>

Ashton Joe

The bulk of my story begins during the pandemic. I was at a place in life where I didn’t really know my big picture. At the time, I was a freelance photographer/filmmaker, and I didn’t necessarily know if it was what I wanted to do for the next ten years. Staying in isolation allowed me the time to reflect, and boy, it was a messy process. I also decided to start a YouTube channel at the time, so you could say I was starting to actually dabble myself into growing a personal brand, besides just sharing my favorite photos and films online. My hope was to start building something that I could be proud of in ten years. I wanted to make a deeper impact than what was currently happening with one-off gigs. Read more>>

Stacy McFarlane

My entire life I’ve been interested in animals, so much in fact, that I decided to pursue a career as a veterinarian. I attended Cornell University to pursue a Bachelors in Animal Science and during my time there I took a business class that inspired me to set a goal for myself to one day own my own business. As my education continued I moved to the Carribean, it was there that I noticed that the island I was living in was a home to many homeless dogs. Not only were these dogs living on the streets but it was obvious they were malnourished. Dogs were being fed table scraps, and the animal shelters were full to capacity. During my veterinary nutritional courses, I had an epiphany, I wanted to create nutritional treats for these dogs! Read more>>

Lexy Stevens

To set the scene, I was working a 9-5 job at a corporate grocery broker customer service role. I was so unhappy, unfulfilled, and not to mention underpaid. I was doing the work of a team lead, but getting paid for base customer service work. I’m the type of person who always is on top of their work, so near the end of the day I always have downtime, this worked to my advantage, I would spend that time writing in my notebook all of the business ideas, content ideas, design ideas, you name it. Read more>>

David Leib

Back in early 2015, I was brainstorming ideas for a new project. After a few minutes of thought an idea that I had conceived years before had re-emerged, a sand shoe. The genesis of the idea can be traced back to my playing days as a collegiate football player. One area of training that I used included sand training. As anyone who has trained or worked-out in the sand can tell you, wearing any standard pair of sneakers in the sand will quickly include clumps of sand inside of them. I was amazed that no brand had made a shoe specifically designed for sand use; Read more>>

Barbara Geller

I can remember as early as a 6-year-old, traditionally we would have dinner with our grandparents several times a week until my grandmother, Lillian, (who we affectionately called Grandmoo) passed away. Grandmoo made sure we had a green salad, served on an ice-cold plate that consisted of celery, carrots, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce (yes, iceberg lettuce, I truly think that’s all that was available back then) with every meal. The dressing was always Grandmoo’s special dressing. I LOVED it even as a young child. This dressing recipe has been in our family now for over 60 years. It is now, our family tradition. Read more>>

Karimah Sloan

I came up with the idea of starting Generous Kare by just simply the love and passion I had to take care of others. In high school I had the chance to obtain my Certified Nursing Assistant license. So while I attended college, I worked at several nursing Homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and different agencies to earn money. As a child my father instilled the importance of being a entrepreneur and working for yourself to me and my siblings. Growing up my father set an example for us. My father was and still is very much a big influence for us becoming entrepreneurs. Read more>>

 Jasmin Leger Kish

I started The Creole Peach as an outlet to express my creativity. I also wanted something that my husband and I could do together as well. I was bored with the monotony of my daily life; I went to work and went home. There was nothing exciting drawing my interest so I began to search. One of my girlfriends started her own blog a couple of years before mine and she suggested I start one. I have always loved fashion and style so it made perfect sense to start my own blog. I’m not necessarily looking for success, I just want to have fun and be creative. Read more>>

James Jackson

Flame Candle Company started in 2018 when I was helping book an artisan market and we couldn’t find a candle maker to book for the market. I had been making candles for friends and family for a few years before 2018 but never thought about making it into a small business. However, I took this as a sign as an opportunity to share my love for creating intentional aromatherapy candles. I partnered up with a great friend, did some research, and created Flame Candle Company. Read more>>

Alyssa Cook

I came up with the idea of a stamp shop after a series of (unplanned) events. I’ve always had a big love for giving and receiving handwritten cards for birthdays, holidays, etc. (I keep every single card!). So while I was studying for my bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, my mom gifted me card-making and scrapbooking supplies as a birthday gift. I started making my handmade cards with the supplies and opened up an Etsy shop where I listed a few of them. However, the shop was short-lived, as I kept focused on school. Read more>>

Alanna Gray

I moved to San Diego with my husband in the end of 2015. We had decided to live and work with my sister and brother in law on their vegetable farm. We learned how to prepare soil, grow, harvest, and package veggies for a weekly CSA. I very much enjoyed early mornings, working with the land, and being able to have my very young daughter with me while I worked. We continued with the CSA model for 2 more years but were getting burnt out on the labor intensive, longer hours, and how intense annual vegetables are on the land. I was also expecting another child and my sister was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. We chose to put the CSA on hold, while we figured out a different direction for the farm. Read more>>

Dr. Marcia Credle

I was running late for work and as I was entering the building, I spoke to a colleague and asked how she was doing. I really expected her to say that she was doing fine. However, she said, “I’m not doing well.” Even though I was running late, I knew I had to stop and talk to her. We talked and discussed ways I might be able to help her. After we talked, we also prayed together and I asked her if I could send some words of encouragement via email to her later. She said yes, and I started sending her encouragement 2-3 times a week. Read more>>

Patrice Griffin

Being a survivor of child abuse I knew I wanted to do something impactful, to help children that are in similar situations that I had experienced. I wanted the children that I would come in contact with to feel safe-loved and also heard. I then wanted to educate adults on how to protect their children from predators by recognizing the signs of grooming, behaviors and just to bring awareness as a whole. I decided that the best course of action would be to start a nonprofit and write a memoir about my life. I knew in my heart that this was part of my purpose.. Read more>>

Joshua Brown

Well we really are sugar heads, always looking for a good treat, I’m always looking for a new milkshakes cause it’s one of my favorite desserts but where we live in Brunswick you can’t really get a milkshake anywhere so one day we just decided to make our own but not just a milkshake a shake that has everything you want in a dessert all in one place. We decided to make Shake It Up Milkshakes Bar a mobile food truck that will go around and Shake It Up with everyone in our community. Read more>>

Katiana Morisseau

The idea started off as any other hustle. To make money doing something you love. I enjoy playing dress up which is kind of funny because I am such a homebody and don’t really go anywhere but when I do I try to make the best of it. When I first started it was coming up with a name that was hardest as well as finding wholesale suppliers & vendors. The name you see today wasn’t the original. I felt this idea would work and connect with people as fashion is a BIG thing in this world and has been for quite awhile. Each country you visit or different backgrounds of people you see something different. Read more>>