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.

Jordan Reese

Climbing has always been more than just a sport to me. It is where I found challenge, flow, and even love. I met my now husband at the crag in Denver, and in 2020, during our annual 4th of July climbing adventure, he proposed at the top of a 400-foot route. That moment sealed climbing into the story of our lives. Read More>>

Shay Sullivan

I started Sixpack skateboards in 2017. It had been an idea of mine for years before but was something I was always anxious to do. The questions of would people support, is there enough money in it, or if the passion of running some would ever dwindle, were always in my head. Read More>>

Regina Renda

It all started with bad customer service and a box of cheap merch that felt like an afterthought. I remember opening it and thinking, This is the best we can do? This is supposed to represent someone’s brand? The whole experience felt transactional and totally disconnected from the culture it was meant to celebrate. That moment planted the seed. Read More>>

Lauren McGurrin

I worked in restaurants for many years in New York City in the back of house. I had a reasonably successful run, including being part of three high-profile restaurant openings and working at the Michelin level. By mid-2018, the lifestyle of the late nights with alcohol really started to wear on me. Read More>>

Ash Miller

Some might question why I selected this question – as I am not the one who came up with the idea at all. The Cupcake Girls became a nonprofit back in 2011 and I had no idea who they were. I wouldn’t even hear about them until 2023 – 12 years later. Read More>>

Tanesha Deane

It wasn’t a lightning bolt moment. It was my friends’ exhaustion that sparked the idea. I watched them do it all—juggling the 9-to-5 that paid the bills while pouring every ounce of energy into their own businesses after hours. And then came the events: the product launches, the retreats, the gatherings meant to celebrate their milestones and build their communities. Read More>>

Grant Perryman

I have been an avid reader since I can remember. I would visit my local library every Saturday and check out seven to ten books. The following Thursday, the library bookmobile would stop in my area, where I would return all the books and check out three more until Saturday. Read More>>

Christopher Staff

My story and dreams started when I was about 12. My first real haircut came from a barbershop in Little Rock, AR where I was born and raised. They had magazines you could read and the first one I read had the coolest barbershop in it! That’s when my dreams started and I knew that was my calling! Read More>>

Videep Agarwal

Around the world, young people often don’t get a say in big decisions or research, or when they do, it is pure tokenism. That’s why we started The World in Pages, a youth-led political science journal, which addresses this gap by amplifying marginalized voices and positioning youth at the heart of global media, policymaking and academic research. Read More>>

Tinglung Chang

The development of this French Press began with a deep exploration of the MacKenzie Childs design language, especially the hand painted check pattern that has defined the brand for more than thirty five years. Working closely with our artisans allowed me to understand how subtle variations in brushwork, color transitions, and rhythmic repetition give the brand its unmistakable visual identity. Read More>>

Alejandro Rodriguez

This was initially used as a pseudonym for projects that we didn’t want our name attached to. Little music videos or photoshoots that were maybe problematic or lower quality. Directed by TRASH or Shot by TRASH. It felt funny and removed but still something I could see being an extension of my artistic pursuits. Read More>>

EvaSara Luna

My business partner Enrique and I began contemplating business ideas together in late 2019 after years of our own, independent brain storming. We both knew we wanted to grow food as a business, since we coincidently both come from generations of corn farmers from Mexico. He dreamed of an indoor basil farm while I was more into growing herbs like chamomile and catnip. Read More>>

Daniel Odom

When I was 10 years old I made Big & Tall Records™ as a joke. What began as a childhood jest has evolved into the cornerstone of my professional life. I conceived Big & Tall Records™—a name initially penned as a simple, irreverent joke. Armed with a cheap PC microphone and an unstoppable curiosity, I began a journey of self-teaching. Read More>>

John Maiella

After many years of working in the Casino industry, in 2006 I experienced an unexpected job loss and drastic reduction in income. Just several weeks before the loss, a friend of mine convinced me to partner with him on the purchase of a commercial power washing / window cleaning business. Read More>>

Brandon Wetzstein

The idea came from multiple angles converging at once. The first was my exposure to the LEGO Serious Play method years earlier in a previous role. It didn’t blow me away initially, but it planted something powerful in my brain. People genuinely love LEGO bricks, and this was a surprisingly effective way to get people talking. Read More>>

SHENIQUA WILLIAMS

In July 2025 while riding past the old FATZ cafe off of Southport Rd. I casually mentioned to my boyfriend how I wished we had a gaming cafe here (in Spartanburg). His response ‘I don’t know what that is, explain.’ lol. Read More>>

Arel Moodie

There are tons of events that book speakers that happen every day. There are tons of speakers. But how speakers get connected to opportunities is really a black box. We wanted to help solve that problem. I experienced that personally as a professional speaker for the last 19 years and as someone who has booked speakers I knew intimately how hard it all was. Read More>>

Troy Barnes

I still remember the smell of vanilla, lemon, coconut, rum, and butter filling my grandmother Gracie McCluney Barnes’s knotty pine wood lined little kitchen in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. I was eight, maybe nine, standing on a step-stool so I could reach the counter, my hands dusted with flour while she guided me through her legendary five-flavor pound cake. Read More>>

Beverly Fisher

I was writing a list of names when I came up with Studio light | space for my art and design firm. It seemed to encapsulate everything that I love when curating an exhibition or designing a space. Read More>>

Lena Gibson

I came up with the idea for my latest book, Racing Towards Destiny: A Sports Romance, from several ideas converging. My book is told in dual point of view, and each person had a separate inspiration for their plot line and character arc. Anna had a terrible day and left everything behind to move to Spain to pursue her dream as a writer. Read More>>

Carolina Ramirez

I am an Industrial Designer. I had been working as a designer and marketing professional for about 15 years, as a freelancer as well as an employee at for-profit and non-profit organizations. During those years I got involved with several projects connected with education, and I got a bit closer to that field of work. Read More>>

Lisa Ann Johnson

During a difficult life transition, I published a devotional called ‘#Note2Self: Everyday Encouragement for Queens.’ From that devotional came ‘The Crownselor,’ (one who encourages Queens — women in leadership — because they need encouragement, too!). As I pressed through those tough times, I continued encouraging others through my writing, dance and flag ministry, God’s Word, and, more recently, greeting cards. Read More>>

Sara Sutton

At first, I had no intentions or aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur, let alone a business owner: All I wanted to do was to take photographs. Since childhood, I’ve always had a “good eye” for seeing patterns or shapes, able to find beauty even in the most mundane and commonplace of objects. Read More>>

Morgane Cole

Back in 2020 when the pandemic was going on my daughters father passed from a rare aggressive lung cancer that no one ever knew he had. My daughter and I lives flipped upside down. At just 2 years old she had to grasp and live with the fact that her dad was no longer here. Read More>>

Mai Wedaatalla

The true root of my business is my daughter. After becoming a mom, something shifted in me. I’ve always been creative and had an eye for making things feel special, but motherhood brought that desire to the surface in a much deeper way. Growing up, my own mother—an immigrant who faced many struggles—always made sure our birthdays were celebrated. Read More>>

Dr. Angel Jones

As with most people, our personal and professional experiences lead us to our business models. I didn’t originally set out to create a relationship mentoring program. I set out to help people individually as well as support the healing of their marriages. Read More>>

Playfessionals

Playfessionals was born out of a moment of realization—one of those small, everyday observations that slowly grows into something you can’t ignore. At the time, we were attending networking events regularly, doing what many professionals do: exchanging business cards, shaking hands, and engaging in conversations that were often polite, productive… but rarely personal. We noticed a pattern. People showed up out of obligation, not excitement. Read More>>