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.
Loren Smith
The idea for my business didn’t come from a single “aha” moment—it came from years of noticing what was missing. I was watching women entrepreneurs and leaders do everything themselves. They were building communities, hosting events, running businesses, and carrying the emotional and logistical load behind the scenes. What they needed wasn’t just another planner or vendor. Read More>>
Pamela Hawley
I’m very blessed that I was able to start early at the age of twelve, after experiencing life-changing poverty on a family vacation. She and her father were in a marketplace and looked down a side cul-de-sac where she saw a whole line of half-clothed, begging, unwashed, starving children. The word UNACCEPTABLE came across her mind and led her to volunteer all over the world. Read More>>
Dr. (hc) Raechelle ‘Rae’ Johnson
The idea emerged after years of watching organizations do everything right on paper while quietly losing what mattered most in practice. I kept seeing leaders pushed to optimize for efficiency—hit the next revenue milestone, streamline processes, cut costs—without ever addressing the human cost of that pressure. On the surface, it worked. Metrics moved. Goals were met. Read More>>
Serenity Magee
The idea for my business came from a season when I felt deeply alone. I loved God and wanted to heal, but I didn’t have a safe space to process heartbreak, faith, and life with other women who understood both the emotional and spiritual side of healing. I started sharing my journaling and healing journey online just to survive. Read More>>
Jennifer Dickenson
I was in business as a co-owner of my law firm for several year before creating a new business. The law firm was very successful and was the largest female owned real estate law firm in the southeast and likely the whole east coast. Read More>>
Brandi Robbins
StrongHER Minds was born from a gap I lived in. When I think about how this idea came to life, I always go back to who I was as a teenager. I wasn’t a “bad kid,” but I was a confused one. Read More>>
Roderick Jackson
Rugs by Rod started with a simple goal: I wanted a custom rug for my photo studio. At the time, I was seeing a rise in custom rug makers and reached out to have one made, but I quickly realized that for the cost of a single rug, I could buy all the equipment and learn to make it myself. Read More>>
Aricia Mayorga
It started pretty organically. I’ve always been drawn to fashion as a form of self-expression, but I noticed that people around me would constantly ask for advice what to wear for events, how to put outfits together, how to feel confident in their clothes. Over time, I realized I wasn’t just giving style tips; I was helping people see themselves differently. Read More>>
Timothy Gipson
We were on vacation in Charleston and saw a tea bag for The Charleston Tea Plantation, Americas only Tea Garden. So we decided that we needed to go and see it. We learned that it was just a type of camellia and the growing and soil conditions were like what we had back home. So, we decided to think about it. Read More>>
Amie Davies
One day on a beach in Malibu, my colleague and friend, Maria DelCorso, and I sat watching surfers while talking about some of the struggles our individual clients were facing. Among those struggles, there seemed to be a common thread. So many clients were treading water because they were doing all they could just to keep up with their workload. Read More>>
Bonnie Low-Kramen
Nothing about my career was planned. Now, in 2026, I own my Executive Assistant training company and I have traveled to 14 countries speaking and teaching my Be the Ultimate Assistant workshops. I have trained the team at the British Parliament and at the Wharton School. I am the author of two books and I was invited to deliver a TEDx talk in 2022. Read More>>
Maxine Cesar
The journey to starting my business as a style and image consultant is deeply divine, and I truly believe it was meant to unfold this way. It began in 2021 when I stepped into my first pageant, something I had been yearning to do as a gift to myself after graduating nursing school. Read More>>
Gary Parker
I was in the business of selling wine direct to consumers through in home wine tastings and education. It was a 100% commission job. I sold a lot of wine to my customers, who told me they would buy even more if they had a place to store the wine properly. I researched wine storage facilities in San Diego and found there were none whatsoever. Read More>>
Ali Haji
The idea for YogaZama came from wanting people to experience yoga differently. I am a trauma therapist, and my work centers on trauma recovery through a nervous system lens. Most of what people struggle with, whether it shows up as anxiety, burnout, or chronic stress, is rooted in how their nervous system has learned to respond to the world. Read More>>
Susan Coleman
In response to your question, here is a small segment from my new book, COLLABORATIVE HARDBALL: USING THE POWER OF A NEW NEGOTIATION AS WOMEN TO CHANGE THE WORLD. This is a memory from about 1968. ‘My childhood home on Long Island was right next door to the private and very elite Rockaway Hunting Club (RHC). Read More>>
Tasha Nicole
Born and raised in New Orleans, my journey is one of resilience and determination. As the third of five children, I was born chronically ill, resuscitated at birth, and given little hope for survival by doctors. Despite these early hardships, I faced life head-on. As a teen mom during my senior year of high school, I graduated with both full and partial scholarships. Read More>>
Dainty D.
The idea for the podcast, Reminiscence in Chords – Music + Memory, came to me in a very ordinary moment, which feels fitting given how universal the concept is. In March of 2025, I was having dinner with a friend and we found ourselves talking about old school music versus new school music, how, despite everything new being released, we still gravitated toward older songs. Read More>>
Carl Hart
Since the beginning of 2020, I have been reading and hearing about the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ taking place all across the world. I came to realize that it is a real thing happening after witnessing and observing some of the wealthiest and powerful people in the world bequeath their empires to the children or successors. Read More>>
Kelsie Cruz
As a bilingual school psychologist serving the New York City public school system, I encounter children whose potential far exceeds the support they can access. In elementary schools, speech delays are common, yet help often comes too late. I watched students wait months for evaluations, continue learning without the tools they needed, and slowly fall further behind. Read More>>
Victoria Stephenson
I came up with 4Kurves during one of the most difficult seasons of my life. Although I had always been interested in fitness, I never fully committed to my journey. During that time, I needed an outlet — something to help me protect my mental peace and lift my spirit. Read More>>
Marjorie Willis
I’ve been in the corporate arena for over 30 years. Coming out of college, I wasn’t sure what my career was going to be. I happened to be in the right place at the right time when the refinance market hit in 1991 and I picked up Mortgage Lending as my trade (had nothing to do with my college degree by the way). Read More>>
Danielle Stinnett
Originally Kentucky Creatives came from a repetitive nag and unforeseen opportunity. At the time, the pandemic lockdown was just recently over. At the time I was the Creative Director of my digital marketing company with my 12+ years of multimedia experience leading a team of 5 women from across 4 countries. Read More>>
Enjolina Collins
The idea came directly from the work itself. I spent years inside dental offices handling billing, operations, and insurance follow-ups, and I kept seeing the same problems repeat themselves, delayed claims, missed revenue, overworked front desks, and systems that didn’t talk to each other. Read More>>
Jeff Brown
IntelliHost came from my own experience as an Airbnb host combined with my background in eCommerce data analytics. I’d always been interested in real estate and entrepreneurship, so I started saving up for my first investment property and ultimately bought one in Joshua Tree, California for under $200K and started hosting. Read More>>
Nicole Borsuk
I always liked helping friends and family pick out clothes, and I was good at it. I worked at the gap in college and my first job out of college was opening Bloomingdale’s in Atlanta. When found a corporate marketing job, I was offered a job as a floater at Bloomies. I worked a minimum 10 hours a month and worked everywhere on the store. Read More>>
Dezirae Sepesi
Dezirable Tanz was born from frustration — and honestly, a lot of disappointment with what tanning looked like at the time. Before starting my business in 2018, the options felt extremely limited: tanning beds that damaged your skin long-term, or spray booths that were unpredictable, streaky, smelled awful, and barely lasted. I remember thinking, there has to be something better than this. Read More>>
Janice & Alison Voth & Columbus
We both worked at the same veterinary clinic for years when Alison had the idea for a harness designed to keep dogs safer. During our time there, we saw countless dogs come through the clinic with injuries from dog-on-dog attacks, and even more serious encounters with coyotes, raccoons, and other wildlife. Read More>>
Chuck and Sally Alberding
I have loved animals all my life and spent my spare time growing up researching and learning about all kinds from around the world. As an adult, I continued by volunteering for years for zoos, museums, and rescues, including a tiger rescue. Volunteering led to side job opportunities that provided even more detailed knowledge and training. Read More>>
Meagan Getz
Starting this business was actually a happy little accident 😅 I started with creating my own website for my photography business. I ALWAYS diy-ed my own website- never even bought a template. Well, I learned more about what makes a website convert, and once I realized the psychology behind it, I became absolutely ✨obsessed✨ and had to dive deep. Read More>>
Katie Thompson
I actually had a few smaller blogs throughout my middle school-early college years. However, after following several bloggers whose content I continue to adore and admire, I knew I wanted to start a blog and maintain it for the long run. At the time that The Pink Chickadee was founded, I was a Junior in college on just about every committee on campus. Read More>>
Clare Lopez
I have been working professionally as a performer for over twenty years – and I have been teaching and coaching actors for over a decade. Before I launched The WholeHearted Actor, I had been working as a coach and Director of Education for another acting studio in central Florida. Never in my wildest dreams had I had any ambition to start my own company. Read More>>
Janine Kline
I worked at and managed another bridal boutique for a combination of about 10 years and there were some great things about that store – and also some not great things. I didn’t appreciate some of the operating procedures that were clearly not the customer-centric attitude I wanted to have in my own store. Read More>>
Neil Ayton
Mountary Framing started as an online framing business. I was young working at a San Francisco tech company and keen to get back to my own business. This was in the era of Uber for everything and we wanted to make custom framing easier. We started with black and white frames and shipping frames to customers with simple instructions on how to insert the artwork. Read More>>
Joey Himelfarb
So, continuing on from my origin story, now I am deep into following up DPYK with a book dedicated to helping not only those who are not working, but those who are gainfully employed but are looking for THEIR next dream job. Enter my next epiphany: I love telling stories. Not just mine, but other’s as well. Hmm? Selling. Teaching. Sharing. Writing. Read More>>
Nicole Larson
I worked in restaurants my entire life, and every time I needed a Band-Aid, the first aid box was empty. I slipped, cut myself, burned myself—and that became normal, which is actually the problem. As I moved through college and the hospitality industry, I realized businesses weren’t ignoring safety on purpose. They just didn’t understand their responsibility or the real risks. Read More>>
Audrey Mongrain
My business stems from my personal struggles with health and fitness as a women and dancer, and also what I continuously see overall. Being a young dancer growing up, we face many struggles on what is it that we should eat, and what is it that we should train, in order to feel and look our best. Read More>>
Brian Zenmon
How I came up with the idea is when I was kid. There was a local car wash by my house and I use to go there and ask customers do they need help washing their cars. From that I always fell in love with a clean car especially when it was nice car like bmw , jaguar , Range Rover etc. Read More>>
Jason Brown
In 2008, I wasn’t happy with my job at the time, so I started to think about branching out on my own and not even starting a ‘PR Firm’, rather was thinking I could be a good solo practitioner helping small businesses with their PR needs. Providing a cost effective approach similar to what a big agency could provide. Read More>>
Solomon Roberson
I did not come up with the idea for my business in a single “aha” moment. It developed over years of observation, failure, experimentation, and pattern recognition. I grew up entrepreneurial. My mom had that instinct, and I inherited it. As a kid, I sold candy. As an adult, I started multiple businesses that didn’t work. Read More>>
Rizwana
Thank you for asking! The concept of The SOL Foundation stemmed from a passion to support education and environmental initiatives. As Executive Director, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that targeted support can have on communities and ecosystems. We’re proud to be a registered 501c3 nonprofit in Illinois, USA, working globally to promote education and environmental sustainability 🌎. Read More>>
Adassa Ramirez
MicMas ReMiX was born during a very transitional season of my life… emotionally, personally, and creatively. In 2016, while living in the Bronx I had just become a new mom. Motherhood has a way of slowing you down and making you more intentional, and for me that showed up in how closely I started paying attention to ingredients. Read More>>