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.

Amy Peterson

In 2013 I was living in Detroit pursuing my childhood dream of working in baseball, particularly focused on becoming the first female general manager. I had worked my way up to achieving the position of associate counsel for the Detroit Tigers. There were a lot of challenges being a woman in the industry, particularly with my ambitions. At the same time, I was living right next to a well-known women & family shelter in Detroit. Read more>>

Brad Harris

Good Wave is water sports company for adventure families. 
While walking the boardwalk in Pacific Beach, San Diego I saw a billboard ad I couldn’t shake. It was from a well known surf brand using too much skin for a teenager (or anyone), and I started to think bout how the greater water sports industry catered to families. Read More>>

Dominique Alison

When I first started Adore Dom Collection, I wanted every woman to be able to look and feel beautiful, no matter what shape or size. I am motivated from all of the women who has been inspired by my hard work, dedication, and determination. I believe that everyone should be accepted for who they are. I took all of the things that I love and wanted to share them with the world. Always remember to be you and to be beautiful. Continue to reach for the stars. Never give up on your dreams. Failing isn’t an option. This journey of entrepreneurship has been very interesting but I’m here for it all. Read more>>

Caitlyn Masterman

2 years ago my husbad & I moved from upstate NY to North Carolina. Being around family & friends in NY it was very easy to be able to be a full time working mom of two. Making the move so far away put a wrench in our plans & i soon would have to adjust to being a stay at home mom again. I’ve always had a love of baking & with all the soon to be time on my hands i figured i would put that hobby to use. I knew i couldnt go into a work place full time again so what better way to use my time & make money to help support my family than to start my own buisness, doing something i love. Read more>>

Katie Groth

When I first came up with my painting technique I was actually only painting and drawing commissioned pet portraits. I needed a break from it and I wanted to try experimenting with texture. When I first experimented with texture I used oil paint to create a 3D effect with my paintings. Unfortunately oil paint is very pricey and can take weeks to dry. So, I knew I had to try other methods! Read more>>

Wyatt Fann

I grew up like most people I my generation obsessed with YouTube. I started watching professional wrestling in late 2007 but really got into it in 2008. Around the same time is when I started looking up wrestling content on YouTube. I became obsessed with the idea that there was people out there online talking about professional wrestling. Read more>>

Emma Davis

In 2013 I broke my back after a horse trampled me. I was centimeters away from being paralyzed. I went through an emergency spinal fusion surgery and a year long recovery. During that time I had extensive nerve and muscle pain. My brother has a cannabis delivery service, called Flower Market, and suggested I try cannabis to help the aches and pains. It brought me so much relief! The nerve pain used to make me cry, but in a few months it was gone. Cannabis also got me off the opioids prescribed to me. Read more>>

Travis Trull

A decade ago I was living in a struggling community of East Africa. My friends and neighbors had been born into unbelievable challenges, and tragedy struck with remarkable frequency. Without $20 in their pockets to pay for medicine and an I.V. at the local clinic, parents would lose children to dehydration as a result of simple, treatable water-borne illnesses. When margins are so thin, incidents like this knock you down over and over again, and cycles of poverty and frustration repeat themselves. Read more>>

Bryana Williams

I decided to niche this style of photography because I am passionate about self confidence and women empowerment. Being a woman who has experienced insecurity due to weight fluctuation, connecting my worth to my weight, and directly affected by body shaming, I was intentional about creating a safe space for women to tap into their divine feminine power while harnessing their sensual energy in a healthy way. Read more>>

Allie Arpaci

My husband always had his sights on being an entrepreneur. He was constantly dreaming up ideas and doing market research to try to actualize them. He immigrated to the US when he was 30 years old, and we got married pretty quick thereafter and began working corporate jobs; that was my “American Dream.” Read more>>

1.Charles, 2.Maricruz, 3.Miles 1.Biset, 2.Carrillo, 3.Lee

Honestly, we never intended for this to become a business. All three of us cofounders have a tremendous passion for being outdoors and doing activities which are connected to mother nature. We love to surf, wakeboard, snorkel/scuba, go white water rafting pretty much anything in the water. It all started about 5 years ago. We hated mainstream “chemical” sunscreens. Not only because we learned that a lot of the ingredients were not good for our body but also for the reef and ecosystems we loved. At that time, there weren’t many organic alternatives. Read more>>

Jeff Hardwick

I’ve been cooking for many years and have always played around with spices and seasonings trying to create exactly what I was looking for. All of the brisket rubs were too salty for my taste so I created my own. Once friends tried it they really liked it, so I started selling it. It has become so popular in the last seven years, I’m having to get it blended by a large company under a NDA to keep up with the demand. Read more>>

Eron Blue

New Wave originated in 2017 by Eron Blue who is originally from Montgomery, AL. I was always aware of how important mental health was but it wasn’t talked about enough around that time. I’m an influential person and have always been a bright king who drove to excel in every field of endeavor with a few bumps in the road but always seemed to bounce back to my full form. For my peers around me, I sensed that a plethora of friends would not do as well with their mental health and life would put a toll on them. Read more>>

Colin Mustful

I began my writing career as an academic historian. During my Master of Arts program in history, I learned about the critical importance of citations along with all the corresponding rules and standards for using them. After completing my MA program, I couldn’t imagine sharing history without providing detailed citations that could act as a map for readers and future researchers. But it was also shortly after completing my MA program when I realized that fiction has a wider audience, and a more powerful influence on readers, than traditional nonfiction. Read more>>

Elizabeth Emans Dardes

I have a MA in English, BA in English/Writing, and Teaching Certification in Language Arts/English. I love school! I started in advertising – radio and corporate mainly copywriting, p.r., print, video, and special events. I then went to teaching. This was all before the Internet. Read more>>

Lorna Rainey

This is a multi-layered story but I will begin at the beginning. My Mom was one of the Top Models in Brooklyn and my Dad was a Jazz pianist. They were my introduction into the entertainment industry. But it was not my first true calling. I was (and still am) a nerd who loves to read, learn different languages and communicate. So, I really wanted to be a translator at the U.N. Although I spoke English and one other language fluently, I didn’t have the third language which was a requirement.  Read more>>

Dominic Franco

When I first moved to Kansas City in 2020, I was amazed by how active and vibrant the dance community was (and still is). I loved getting to work with dancers from all over but noticed that almost all the dancers I was teaching would reach out about wanting to improve their dance technique. After giving it some though, I realized there was a need and desire for dancers to improve their technical abilities to help further their dance education. At the time, Read more>>

Cathy Jones

Richard Jones , founder has worked in the restaurant business his whole life. His wife Cathy also comes from a long line of restaurant experience as well. Sunday dinners were a staple in the Jones house. Family and friends would come by and make plates and enjoy the company. We had always wanted to open our own restaurant and an opportunity arose and Richard began the process while Cathy still worked . Read more>>

Kristin Summers

I came up with the idea for Back to Self-Care based on my research on self-care trends, generational trauma around self-care passed down, symmetry in common myths culturally around self-care and self-love and intentional purchasing. Ive always known I wanted to make a difference in the world. We cannot change the world because our world is actually made up of billions of worlds for we all live in our world, our own reality which we choose to see the world as a response to events and experiences throughout life. Read more>>

Leila Antakly

I started developing the concept of Ninu Nina back in 2000 before digital and social media had taken off. The idea was, that while I had been working as an Editorial Assistant at Italian Vogue in the NYC office, I met tons of incredible creatives who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and I felt they should be given a platform to discuss their work and creativity. Stylists, make -up artists, set designers, photography assistants, etc. Read more>>

Yolanda Perez

My passion for photography stemmed from a hobby that dates back to as long as I can remember. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to ultimately work for myself and so when I was approached by a model scout and recruited to one of the top modeling agencies in New York, I was very interested to learn the industry from a models point of view. Read more>>

Ivan Nguyen

Boss Tea was first opened in 2019 as a small business in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, our business sales kept growing. The customers loves our drinks so much that they find their way to support us. We always want to expand Boss Tea to different states so that the customers would enjoy our drinks. One day, a customer came to us and asked to open a franchise in Seattle, Washington. Seeing a good potential, We are quickly moving forward to approve the application and location. Read more>>

Ra James

This will be a shortened version of the story, because it is quite long with many details. For some context, when I was 20 years old I began to travel around the world. My first stop was Hong Kong to study abroad. I experienced the vastness of the world living in Southeast Asia for the summer and my inner flame was lit! So, I continued to travel around the world for the next 12 years straight. I traveled to approximately 50 countries on 5 continents, learning, working and sharing time side by side with different traditional cultural elders around the world, from India to Australia, Alaska, Mexico and Hawai’i and Ghana. Read more>>

Chansey Augustine

I would like to say thank you for taking the time to learn more about me, my brand, and commitment to media. My name is Chansey Augustine a sports photographer rooted in New Orleans, yet through persistence and authentic relationships I have garnered opportunities to shoot and distribute content for some of the most talented youth and adult athletes across the country. Read more>>

LaTamara Mitchell

So this all started when my daughter was a newborn, over 5 years ago. I always had a thing for accessories but I noticed when it came to chokers, bracelets, and anklets I would have a hard time finding my size because the fit was always to big or off. I started making my on chokers, bracelets, and anklets. I started to get compliments, from compliments to orders, Then I gave my small business a name.(Ameiachrisaccessories), Read more>>

Isha Johnson

I have always been esoteric, and deeply connected to mystical things. My love of crystals, moon gazing with my father, and my mother’s affinity for plants and herbs have been the driving force behind Motown Mystic. As I become older and more in tune with my own spiritual journey, the inspiration behind Motown Mystic came to me. I made the decision to help Black folks, especially Black femmes tap into the innate magick that they carry and to explore healing exclusively for them and by them. Read more>>

Mavis Stevens

When I was 15, I had an opportunity to participate in the local craft show. After 3 months of crossing t’s and dotting I’s the day finally came. As my Daddy drove through the gate of the grounds, I said to myself “whatever it takes, this is going to be my life”. Sounds profound, yet simple, right? But try telling that to your career councilor in the 11th grade. I think I would have gotten a less puzzling reaction if I said I was going to build a castle on Mars!! Read more>>

Travis Cochran

I came up with the idea for the H.B.U.C. because I went to a country club in Alabama. It wasn’t my first time going but this time I was really privy to a lot of the business conversations taking place. I realized that what was missing from business in the creative / influencer space was a centralized social club. As a talent manager I also was booking a lot of influencers and studio spaces to get certain promotional assets for my clients. It clicked in that country club that a country club for creatives was not only a good idea, Read more>>

Monica McMillan

I come from a lineage of entrepreneurial grandparents and parents and they all had care, they all had creativity and expertise in their zone of genius. When I graduated college from Meredith College in Raleigh North Carolina I was scared to go into Corporate America, I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur so I chose a nanny career. During my college journey I produced many events with my best friend Logan Alphin and they were the vibe of the city – we were able to bring so many entrepreneurs, designers, musicians and creatives across-the-board, all in one space. Read more>> 

Jason Lucero

I’ve always had a love for aesthetic, clothing, fashion, pop culture, & piecing items together. So I always knew starting my own clothing brand is something that i would love to do. Not only that, but I wanted to make sure the brand that i did create represented something bigger than just material. The foundation/base of my brand needed to have a special meaning & message that any single person could relate to. So we look at the name “Uphill Battle,” which took some time to come to. Read more>>

Jhada Williams

My interest in esthetics fell into my lap. I went to my very first lash extensions appointment and fell in love with the results. Since that day I had a thought about learning how to properly install lash extensions. After procrastinating for 2 years I took a leap of faith and asked my lash technician to teach me how to do lashes. I originally thought this would become a fun side hustle outside of my banking career. Two years in I quit my job and the rest was history. Read more>>

Becca Pineda

I came up with Thrifty Wicks after creating candles for my wedding. I wanted to create something that would be useful to our wedding guests long after the wedding. For my wedding, we found a few containers that matched and my (now) husband and I mixed some of our favorite scents to make a custom candles for our guests. After our wedding, we continued to burn our regular candles around our home, the cute & cheap ones that I always bought while running “errands”. It wasn’t until one day, Read more>>

Tamara Mitchell-Davis

I’ve always wanted to write a book since I was a teenager. I would write everything down: journaling, sharing in my diary, creating poetry, writing stories for school projects. Writing became a way of escape for me. As I was getting older, I would see books on the library shelf and always wondered if it was something I could do. It was a dream and something I aspired to do but never knew it was possible because it seemed so far fetched. Read more>>

Micaela Chappelle

Ms. Capri’s Unique Apparel & Gifts was an idea after I became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and attended my first national conference for the sorority. I was amazed at all of the vendors who showcased mostly any item you could think of with the sorority marks. This idea was put on the backburner when I relocated to Michigan in 2010. I still believed it would be a good idea to do what I had seen at those conferences and back home in Chicago where stores for this target market are throughout the city. However, after becoming familiar with my new home in Michigan, I began looking for clothing and items for my sorority to purchase for myself. Read more>>

CARASAI IHENTUGE

YumVillage as an entity was started by my brother Chef Godwin, based in Detroit MI. YumVillage is a unique combination of family roots and life experiences. African raised, but locally MADE. We combine the best local ingredients to meet a surging demand for diverse food options at affordable prices. Mixing traditional African and Caribbean flavors with an American flare you can try our Maafe stew over fresh cut fries, or a jerk chicken. Read more>>

Stormy C. Washington

Since I was in high school family and friends would often ask me to record their voicemail messages because they “liked my voice”. Upon graduating from high school, I pursued and received a degree in Radio/TV/Film from the University of Oklahoma. My favorite classes were the audio production courses. I did not really begin to appreciate my voice/gift until I began working at Walt Disney World as a P.R. Manager. Read more>>

Ben Skvara

Overall, my brother and I always found passion in being creative. Whether it was as an infant or a young adult, we strived to be different. The prime focus of SKEEF, LLC is to bring value to our customers and consumers. The digital age has allowed us to do so. With digital marketing, for brands worldwide, being at an all time high, it has truly made us recognize the emphasis that videography, photography, and digital assets has on successful corporations. This was our chance to disrupt the industry, and be the diverse change to business marketing. Read more>>

Yails Hernandez

Shortly after my family and myself moved to Florida, we went through two or three hurricanes. Some of them had terrible impact in the local communities and the economy in general. While I am not new to hurricanes, I wasn’t familiar with all the efforts to support those in needs. I followed the news about people displaced from their homes and how it will be a long while for them to be at a new and safe location. Read more>>

Marie Kelly

home in charming, historic Milford. Adjusting to small town life was a bit of an adventure for us, but the town was so welcoming and we soon became acquainted with local shop owners and townspeople. I started Milford Kitchen, a free recipe website and, at the time, small-batch catering business. I was getting jobs from local businesses, catering grand openings and business luncheons, and I noticed that so many of the local businesses were owned and operated by women and thought how fantastic! Read more>>

Brian Murray

I was a personal trainer for eight years before opening Motive Training. Time and time again, I noticed that people in the personal training industry were underserved and overcharged, and I wanted to change it from the inside out. So I opened Motive Training in 2019 to provide the highest-level personal training service money can buy. Read more>>

David Rutter

My wife and I started our first business, Arte for Elephants, about seven years ago. We started doing the art festival circuit selling my wildlife photography and her portraits of elephants we’d become acquainted with at various elephant sanctuaries around the world. The goal was to support ourselves and raise money for elephant rescue at the same time. To facilitate this and our artwork, we spent a considerable amount of time in Southeast Asia and Africa. Read more>>

Toia Wallace

The rebirth and re-launch of IamToiaWallace the Brand was in the works for a while. After spending five years helping people build their businesses from the ground up, I knew the time was right to level up. In recent years, I earned many labels like Business Consultant, Solutionist, Idea Bank, and Trainer’s Coach. With multiple successful businesses in my name, I felt it was the right time to move up and give back to the entrepreneurial community by sharing my knowledge and experience with others. Read more>>

Lorena Lorenzo

I come from a communist country and always had a dream of one day having my own business. I started off as an artist and knew I wanted to continue my passion for art, so I made the move from Cuba to Canada quite early in my life. This is where I realized my passion would be tattooing. I knew I would not be successful without having some background knowledge of how an established tattoo studio operated. Read more>>

James Marsh

Southside Kustumz came about during the whole Covid pandemic I figured hey this is the perfect time to use my skills to bring in extra cash since we’re on lockdown everyone’s on the internet buying browsing ect . So I knew this would be a hit especially with all the sneaker heads around the world one thing I’ve always stood by It does not matter how many people are doing the same thing it’s how you present and put your product out with all the designers out my clients could have gone to anyone but they came to me and I’m very appreciative for that my biggest selling point is word of mouth you do a good service people will talk and I learned you have to give free product to get it out there so you have a walking billboard to bring in even more customers Read more>>

Lew Wilson

I went to school for Art and ended up doing Web Design for 15 years. I decided to get back into artwork. So I started with acrylics and along the way got introduced to watercolor which up until that point I had not had much success with. I decided to paint the way I wanted to paint with them. My first piece I did was a street scene of my town’s Main Street. I used exceptionally bright color and expressive style and posted it on social media. Friends started asking for prints and the business took off. Read more>>

Brittany Smith-Tukkinen

Growing up, I knew I was meant to be a business owner, but honing into what that business would be was challenging. After working in the event industry for over eight years, I knew I wanted to own a business that was impactful to the industry. However, the ideas that flew around my mind were endless; a spa owner that catered to brides, a catering company, a wedding planner. I realized that the one common fact of my thoughts was that I wanted to work with brides. I wanted to help brides create their magical day. Read more>>

Michael Ellison

I came up with Double Rim Slim when I was at my lowest point. I was dealing with the lost of my dad and grandma, the pandemic was at its highest point causing me to be out of work and my car got totaled. I felt like my photography career came to standstill and I wanted to switch my focus to a solo project. Besides photography, Basketball is another passion of mine. Basketball played a huge part in helping me deal with everything going on in my life at the time. I already had photos of few basketball hoops and thought what if I expand on photographing basketball courts while telling a story and making my audience feel nostalgia. Read more>>

Sherene D Smith

My business came from a dream from my earlier 20’s. When I transitioned back to 100% Plant based style of eating. My creativity was reenergized for the love of cooking. I started with word of mouth referrals from one customer to another. Then we started supplying for a local vegan cafe. I was kept the spirit of my mother and grandmother in mine. My goal has always to provide Plant based decadent Love in each dish. Read more>>

YaAdam Fye.

FyeN started from our frustration with the lack of African representation in children’s media: the depiction of African characters as only wildlife animals and no princess to call our own. It boils down to giving Africa the voice she deserves, telling our own stories and controlling the perception of Africa and subsequently, Africans. Read more>>

Tellie Simpson

Ok, to start, my fascination for History and collecting has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. I tell the story about collecting coins and listening to my grandfather’s stories consistently because that is truly where my love for the past began. Fast-forward to many years later; I began to pursue a museum career. I invested a lot of time and education in pursuing my museum career. However, it was not until 2020 that I was able to get a break from pouring so much into my job and start pouring into myself. That year was rough for us all, but it was the first time in my life that I was to take a break and figure out what I truly wanted in life. Read more>>

Danielle Curtis

I have always loved to write. Even as a small child, I would find myself writing (doodling) something on any piece of paper I could find. Writing has always been a release for me. It was a way to get confusing thoughts out of my head and gain some type of clarity. As I got older, I began to enjoy the experiences that travel provides and I have love to eat. People always seem to come me for advice and suggestions on where to take their next trip or what new restaurants they should try. Read more>>

Kaila Yim

I came up with the idea to start my own blogging website back in the fall of 2021. I had been writing pretty much my entire life. I process most of what I am thinking and feeling through words. I need to be able to get it out of my head and onto paper, otherwise, I feel stuck mentally. As someone who follows Jesus, I started writing out my prayers when I was 14. It not only helped me to stay focused on what I was praying through but it was a way for me to take all of those stuck thoughts to the Lord in prayer; the best place for them to go. Read more>>