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. 

Christian Fanetti, Sr.

At the core, I sell insurance. The longer I spent in this business, the more I realized something important: insurance is not one-size-fits-all. Every company has a different appetite. Some are great for one type of client and not a fit for another. One carrier may love a certain kind of home, business, driver, or risk, while another wants nothing to do with it. Read More>>

Phillip Hodge

The idea for Thuggizzle Reads To Kids came from a combination of my life experiences, my passion for helping children, and my belief that education can change lives. Growing up, I spent time in foster care and emergency shelters. I know firsthand what it’s like to face challenges and uncertainty as a child. Read More>>

Jon Miksis

For most of my adult life, my identity was built on staying in motion. I started a travel blog, Global Viewpoint, back in 2017 and grew it into a platform reaching hundreds of thousands of readers a month. I’ve been to 73 countries. On paper, I’d built exactly the thing I set out to build. Read More>>

Makeva Armant

The idea behind Immersed Global didn’t start with a business plan. It started with a teacher. As a freshman in high school, I was placed in Honors French because I was part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Most of my friends were taking Spanish, and I was frustrated that I didn’t get to choose. Read More>>

Natasha Aquin

The idea for Arvo came from a deeper recognition that something in modern life is not working. So many people are moving through their days in survival mode. Building, parenting, performing, achieving, consuming, responding, producing. Life has become full, but not always meaningful. Connected, but often lonely. Productive, but deeply dysregulated. I could feel this in myself. Read More>>

Cory McCaskey

Before I’m Gone™ was created from real life. It wasn’t created in a boardroom or from a market trend. This was built from from life changing events and loss. From watching people we love go through some of the hardest moments imaginable. Over the past several years, both of us experienced situations that completely changed the way we looked at life, family, and preparation. Read More>>

Roxana Gomez

WAPA Handmade was born from a desire to create meaningful opportunities for women in Colombia while preserving the beauty of traditional craftsmanship. In 2018, I was actively involved with the Colombian Student Association while pursuing my graduate studies in Texas. As part of our community initiatives, we organized donation campaigns to support underserved communities in Colombia. Read More>>

SAYE GBALAZEH

I had the idea in 2016 and I put it on paper after doing nerf battles in the house and yard. 2017 I did a Team building event at one of Baltimore City schools and the kids loved it. They posted it on their social media pages and people started asking if I did parties. Read More>>

Jaiden Sky

Living the dream. As a kid, I grew up exposed to tattoo culture. Tattoos never held a negative association in our household. My parents had them, and they were friends with artists. I remember sitting in the shop after school while my dad got tattooed. I discovered my love of art later in high school, but looking back, I think it was always there. Read More>>

Rachel Brooks

The idea for The Confident Woman® didn’t come to me because I was sitting down trying to create a business. It came from my life. Read More>>

Rob Gutteridge

$6,000 and a good idea… As both an artist and an educator, it is the case that art found me, rather than me having found my art. I knew from about the age of 5 that I wanted to be an artist who draws and paints. Read More>>

Zert Essential

The idea came in a dark Kampala room, 2018. I had 8,000 shillings ($2), a broken laptop charger, and thirty-seven job rejections. I was eating rice and beans. I cried that night — not from weakness, but exhaustion. Then I asked: What do I actually have? A laptop. A cheap camera. A degree in engineering. A love for stories. I looked around. Read More>>

Amy Lynn

The ideas for my platforms didn’t come from a business plan they came from real life, faith, and the belief that the internet should work for people, not against them. Annika’s Work From Home began with a simple conviction: if I’m paying for the internet, it should help pay for itself. Read More>>

Kristy Kim

The idea for TomoCredit was born from one of the most frustrating periods of my life. I immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when I was 11 years old. I worked hard, studied hard at UC Berkeley, landed my dream job in investment banking in San Francisco, and thought I was doing everything right. Then reality hit. Read More>>

Theresa POLLEY

In 2003 I was struggling. My mom died, I was laid off from a job I loved and I lost a good friend for reasons I still don’t understand. I felt lost. I needed a safe space, a community where I could be myself without fear of being judged or having to act or dress a certain way. Read More>>

Andrei Tone

The idea for Tone Films started with a simple frustration: I kept meeting incredible business owners with powerful stories, and those stories were being told in flat, forgettable video that didn’t do them justice. I’m originally from Romania, and storytelling has always been how I make sense of the world. The first time I picked up a camera, it clicked. Read More>>

Ilia Castro

The idea for sazón + scent came to me during a drive with my husband. The familiar scent of the summer in the barrio drifted into the car, and he paused, struck by how instantly it brought on a wave of nostalgia. I felt it too, that quiet but powerful way a smell can transport you back. Read More>>

Navia McArn

I wanted to be a fashion designer growing up . Since first grade Ive collected several sketch books , sewing machines & Fashion text books . Shopping every-weekend with the ladies of my family & watching tv shows like project runway and America’s next Top model influenced me heavily . I also started a jewelry line in the 5th grade called Fantistic5 . Read More>>

Natacha Barthelemy

I didn’t wake up one day and say, “Let me start a business.” I got pushed into it by life—and pulled into it by purpose. I’m Haitian, born and raised in Haiti, and I immigrated to the U.S. Read More>>

Tiffany Jones

White Oaks Preserve has been around since 2004. It was run by my father in law and husband. They focused on hunting and fishing back then. After my husband moved away for college and my father in laws leg got crushed by a tree, the preserve halted for a few years. Read More>>

Victoria Philips

The idea for Give to Africa didn’t come from a boardroom or a business plan. It came from a moment of honest observation.** I was completing my master’s degree, and I kept noticing something that didn’t sit right with me. When I looked at the African nonprofit sector compared to the U.S. nonprofit sector, there was a structural gap that nobody was really talking about. Read More>>

Tevaughn Small

My journey into entertainment started completely by accident. At the time, I was in university pursuing my accounting degree, working on our final year major project. For anyone who knew me back then, I was probably the last person you would have expected to end up in entertainment. Read More>>

Tracey Davis

I did not set out to be a marketer. I set out to work with animals. I have a BS in Wildlife Biology and a minor in Zoology, both from Colorado State University. Read More>>

Claudio de la Rosa

Our business story is a little bit long to tell. There are a lot of pages and a lot of juice to squeeze. Read More>>

Jack Del Soldato

This business was born from something I lived on both sides of the glass. I played professional hockey in Switzerland’s National League (their version of NHL), and as a goalie, every mistake is magnified. I had to figure out the mental game on my own, through trial and error. Nobody handed me a roadmap. Read More>>

Graci Tubbs

Operation: Military Matters began in November 2015 as a gifted class project for 9-year-old fourth grader Graci Tubbs, who is now 20 years old and a college sophomore. The inspiration came after Graci attended her school’s Veterans Day assembly. Listening to veterans share stories about their service and sacrifices left a lasting impression on her. Read More>>

Miriam Balbuena

I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty industry, and the idea of being able to create something beautiful with my own hands felt incredible to me. When I first started doing nails, I almost gave up. Even something as simple as applying polish correctly wasn’t easy, and there were many moments when I questioned myself. Read More>>

Deanna Minneman

I became a Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP) after my second child was born with special needs and some health issues at birth. My husband and I wanted to learn about natural ways we could support him so we both took the classes and became certified, not knowing where it would lead us. Read More>>

Gustavo Schmidt

Back when I was living in San Diego, a good friend who ran a popular surf school reached out with an unusual request. He wanted a classic VW Bus to take his students on unforgettable day trips from San Clemente up the coast to Trestles. Read More>>

Greg Knight

For most of my life, I’ve been drawn to adventures and new challenges. I’ve always had a running bucket list of things I wanted to experience—surf trips, sailing adventures, kayaking expeditions, traveling to new places, and pushing myself outside my comfort zone. One item that stayed on that list for years was creating my own album of original music. Read More>>

Elisabeth Anumele

AdaFlow Foundation was born from both my personal experiences and what I witnessed as an educator. For years, I struggled with fibroids and heavy menstrual cycles. I understand the physical discomfort, emotional stress, and financial burden that can come with managing menstrual health.  Read More>>

Haben Girmay

I always had a love for skincare, makeup and science ! As I child I was very artistic and creative I love to paint and draw ,and loved science ! I never imagined that today I would be able to do the things I love as a career. I also never even thought about being a business owner. Read More>>

Olga &Sergio Eremin

OLGIO — ART YOU CAN WEAR Art that lives, moves, and can be worn OLGIO is a silk art scarf brand born at the intersection of art, emotion, and craftsmanship. Each scarf begins as an artistic idea — a feeling, a symbol, a quiet story captured through color, movement, and light. Read More>>

Donna Werking

In the mid-2000s we were all beginning to use social media as a way to network. While in the late 2000s, metro areas were establishing ways to leverage social media for their companies, our region was still a decade behind so I began to educate myself in this new platform for business. I leveraged social media in launching new ideas. Read More>>

Monica Marder

I’ve always been someone who moves. Growing up in Chicago, staying active wasn’t just something I did. It was part of who I was. When I moved to New York City, that didn’t change, but my relationship with fitness did. I tried everything the city had to offer. Boutique studios, gym memberships, group classes. And I kept running into the same frustration. Read More>> 

Julie McCormick

I don’t think there was one specific moment where I woke up and decided to start a mobile bar business. The story really starts when I turned 21 and visited Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco. Up until then, a drink was just a drink. Walking into that space completely changed how I viewed cocktails. Read More>>

Benny Cole

The creation of Kulture Prints derived from coming back to Saint Louis for my grandmothers memorial service . I stepped into a shirt printing establishment and felt that the customer service i received was Mediocre. While mourning it triggered the entrepreneurial elements within me to start my own company. Read More>>

Patrick Arnzen

I’ve wanted to fly airplanes for as long as I can remember. My dad got me interested in aviation really young, and once that bug bites you, it’s hard to shake. I started flying as a teenager, and became an airline pilot as a young adult. At one point I was making so little as an airline pilot that I qualified for food stamps. Read More>>

Kimira Reddy

After losing my parents at a young age, I was raised by my 95-year-old grandmother in South Africa. When I moved to Canada to pursue my MFA in Design at the University of British Columbia, she remained on the exact opposite side of the globe. Read More>>

Chef Ky Archinard

Just Good flavor Company was created for my family first. After a few very important family member were diagnosed with Cancer, Diabetes and High Cholesterol, I decided to clean up our food. The amount of toxins that we were consuming was alarming. We ate out a lot, wasn’t conscious of our sodium and didn’t read food labels. Read More>>

Deanna Blakely

It was 2020. I was in the Army and Covid had slowed everything down. I’ve always been a creator — since childhood I was writing books, poems, creating recipes, always making something. With all that time on my hands I started making teas and tinctures to build my immune system and began sharing them with fellow soldiers. Seeing their response lit something up in me. Read More>>

Gerald Washington

I came up worth the idea when i was 16 years old admiring Marc Ecko of Complex Mag. After having my first job I decided I wanted to work for myself and wanted it to involve things that interested me like music and fashion. It wasn’t until i was a sophomore at University that I realized my endeavor of being a blogger/publisher was worthwhile. Read More>>

Antonio Gomez

Halo Bloom was born from years of personal experience and a genuine desire to make hair care feel both effective and intentional. As a model, my hair became one of my most recognizable features, but keeping it healthy wasn’t always easy. I spent years experimenting with oils, treatments, and products, mixing and testing combinations because I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Read More>>

Manal Hussein

I originally started baking for fun and for family and friends. Being Lebanese, food is our love language and desserts is my weapon of choice. I would post baked items on social media and slowly people would ask me to make something for them and I would. I still remember my first paid for order to this day. Read More>>

Lisa McClanahan

I didn’t sit down one day and decide to start a business. That’s not how this happened. Greater Grounds was born out of a season of my life falling apart — and out of an honest question I couldn’t keep avoiding: Is this really all there is? Read More>>

Jose Arce

Growing up with a speech impediment, I was always hyper-aware of my voice and whether people were actually listening to me or taking me seriously. That stayed with me for a long time. So when I got into music spaces, I noticed how many people, especially women, queer people, and marginalized creatives, were shrinking themselves just to survive in rooms. Read More>>

Trevon Allen

The idea for G2 Fitness really came from a combination of personal passion, service, and seeing a gap in the community. Fitness has always been a major part of my life, not just from the standpoint of looking better or performing better, but from the standpoint of discipline, confidence, resilience, and leadership. Read More>>

Kuanita Murphy, PhD.

The idea for *Small Town Strategy: A Leadership Playbook for Rural Communities* was born from more than two decades of living, working, and leading in rural America. For over 26 years, I have served as a nonprofit executive in southwest Georgia, working alongside educators, elected officials, healthcare providers, faith leaders, business owners, volunteers, and everyday citizens who care deeply about their communities. Read More>>