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.

Rayn Nachreiner.

In 2019 I was admitted into an inpatient facility for my struggles with my Mental Health. I was going from job to job, I never felt like I had “security”. I truly felt like I had no real purpose in life. I ended up getting the help that I needed. The beginning of 202 rolls around and I am gifted a beginner Sony camera for Christmas. I started to play around with it, taking pictures of objects/nature and people. Read more>>

Elizabeth Winfrey

So I went to college to get a degree in Graphic Design because I loved anything creative and wanted to be able to use that wherever and however I could. Fast forward to college, internships, and my first job at a marketing / t-shirt printing company. While working at my marketing job, my (future) mother-in-law and boutique owner Val, reached out to me and asked if I wanted to design t-shirts for her boutique. Read more>>

Deonte Holden

Originally, I wanted to write a book on my experience being a collegiate athlete. During the pandemic in 2020, I decided to use my story to create a business that could help athletes in various ways. Law of Athlete™ was founded on April 1, 2020, at 1:06 pm. The name Law of Athlete was inspired by a poem entitled ‘The Law of the Jungle’ by Rudyard Kipling. Read more>>

Scott Strum

Strum Around started out as a open jam session at parks, coffee shops, bars, etc in central Ohio. In 2018 we opened our first diy spot in Sandusky Ohio. Covid brought all live music to a halt so we changed gears and started a live streaming studio in vermilion Ohio. After only a year we grew and had to find a new location which we currently are located back in Sandusky within walking distance of Lake Erie, downtown Sandusky and Cedar Point Amusement Park. Read more>>

Ashley Cummings

Hi, my name is Ashley Cummings and I am an Oncology Registered Nurse in NYC. My business, Natural Ash started from my experiences as a nurse. My patients are treated with chemotherapy and oftentimes are left with dry and brittle skin. Many of the patients I care for begin to see changes in their skin as a side effect of chemotherapy. The changes range from mild dryness to more severe skin conditions. Read more>>

Caitie Bradley Shea

To be 100% candid, the decision to launch Outspoken was made during a night of copious wine consumption and three friends (who were also colleagues) sitting by a fire, bitching about work. The IDEA to launch Outspoken had been brewing for some time and was born out of frustrations in our industry, and the realization that we had three women, with VERY distinctive and diverse expertise who happen to make up the perfect TRIFECTA of talent needed to launch our specific business. Read more>>

Alyx Coble-Frakes.

In 2018 I started my health coaching company. It was a wild ride, and often pretty hard. A mentor of mine recommended that I track my sales conversions, and when I did this- I saw that I had the highest sales conversions during my ovulation phase. I had learned about cycle syncing by then (changing what we eat or how we exercise for the four phases of the cycle) but I hadn’t heard people talking about it for the world of work. Read more>>

Heather Krout

I graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications and a minor in English. I have always loved to write. I once thought I wanted to be a television news reporter after college, but quickly realized that “being willing to relocate” were not words I would use to describe myself. Read more>>

Demetrius Short.

My non-profit organization was birthed from a very troubling and dark place in my life, BUT I leaned on my faith in God and strong will to overcome and inspire others to never give up on their dreams! While pursuing my undergraduate degree from Fisk University in the early 90’s, I witnessed first-hand the barriers that led to an increase in college student dropout rates. I didn’t have a scholarship or transportation, and occasionally found myself with little food – sleeping between the dorm director’s office and the couch of a friend. Read more>> 

Moon Coelho

The Summer Moon is a star born out of friendship and the love of yoga and the outdoors. We are two women whose paths crossed during a yoga paddleboard training. Summer who was leading the course and me, Moon who was taking it at the time. We both grew up in rural towns in different parts of California with families that nurtured our love of the outdoors. We were kindred from the get. Read more>>

Lindsay Schultz.

I have loved books my entire life. Reading has been my escape sometimes. I love how books can take you on an adventure and teach you new things. I have always wanted to share my passion for reading with people. I came up with the idea of owning my own bookstore when I was about 15 years old. I have this notebook that has every idea I have ever had about my bookstore in it and someday I am gonna frame it. Read more>>

Kathy Fields

It all started in high school, back where I am from in South America, where I took a couple of jewelry making classes. There is where I found my love for designing and creating jewelry pieces. During and after high school, I began making simple pieces for personal use. I moved to the United States to better my English and become more fluent in a second language. I began showcasing my work in a couple of craft fairs in the St Louis area. Read more>>

Tuval Baruch

Woodworking was always a hobby, and when we moved into our new home I had built some of our furniture. It was fun, and we always got compliments on the stuff that I had built, but I just figured that people were being polite. After a few years of trial and error, and seeing others succeed, I decided to give it a shot since I had just quit my job in the oil and gas industry. It took off and the rest was history. Read more>>

Melissa Ledezma

I have always loved the arts. Growing up, I was a performer so it only made sense that as an adult I ended up the art institute’s Miami international university of art and design. A university that has gained traction because of its fashion school. So you can imagine what people would wear to campus. Students were always dressed up in one way or another. I however, didn’t like waking up early to attend class and I am one of those people that dress how they feel, so naturally I was in sweats, loungewear, or what some call, athleisure. Read more>>

Kristy Printup

I’ve always loved home fragrances and relaxing with a good book. I began pondering the idea of starting my own candle business. Who doesn’t love candles? This is a billion dollar industry and I wanted my seat at this huge table. Read more>>

Ajia Allen.

Digalyne was launched in January 2020 just before the pandemic hit. Oddly, the pandemic was an opportunity to leverage the growth of digital for my own business, while maximizing the interest in digital entrepreneurship. The opportunity was there, but achieving the vision of what I set out to do looked different than with what most were familiar. A skill, turned into a hobby to help friends and family, then an aha moment for a side hustle, and finally an incorporated digital business. Read more>>

Venaé Owens

I was born a creative. As a kid, I embraced my freedom of creativity through the arts. My mother and father played a huge role in my life and they always encouraged me to be myself. They embraced my passion for the arts and encouraged me to express myself freely. I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. However, my mother served as a director for many years in Mary Kay. As I watched her, subconsciously I memorized all her business tactics without realizing. She became one of my greatest business inspirations. Read more>>

Michael Norado

a few years ago my wife and i were walking through a store and we sat in one of these zero gravity massage chairs for the first time, we instantly fell in love with the way we felt . at the time we only had one buisness wich was a barbershop . but just couldnt seem connect the 2 together . barbershop is loud and massage buisness is relaxing. so we put it off for about 2 years and thats when a space became available next to our shop. Read more>>

Jessica Armstrong.

As I have been on my own journey of healing, I have found that seeking out the right people to help me along the way has been an integral part for me becoming the person I had always been, but did not know how to unlock. So, I knew I wanted to be this for others. I now own a successful real estate Transaction Coordinator business, TCCREATED which I created to provide quality service to real estate agents as well as careers for women who needed to work from home, have an empowering working environment as well as something they could have for themselves. Read more>>

Jenna Boyter.

I am in the process of opening a tattoo studio that also has a craft beer bar inside of it. My husband and I have both always worked in the service industry, and have always dreamed of opening our own businesses. It wasn’t until I was looking to open a larger studio that we realized it would be super cool to combine our interests and serve craft beer inside the studio. Read more>>

Ed Akers

There are several circumunstances surrounding the formation of Local 636. I have been a self employed business owner (insurance agent) for the last 10 years, which has been a truly great and rewarding career. Being an insurance agent, there are so many rules and so many things you can’t do. Recently I’ve had the urge to do something creative and outside of the box. My college degree is in broadcast journalism, and I’ve always wanted to be involved with television or radio, either on air or in production. Read more>>

Dr. Whitney Cronin, ND

After graduation from ND school I tried working for/with a couple other individuals for a few months and several things became very clear. 1) I needed to work on my own. I had managed a chiropractic office for a couple years prior to returning to school so the business part was easy for me – clearly where others struggled and often offer scammy programs in an attempt to keep the money coming in, These people had no little to no people skills, empathy nor did they really connect with patients. Read more>>

Gillian Trask

I knew that I wanted to start my own jewelry line, and be my own boss. Thankfully, SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design, allowed me to tailor my Masters study around building this business. Midway through my husband and I got pregnant with Gabriella. Read more>>

Dennard Wright

Wright Water Works was established July of 2022 in my very own front yard. After my late dad blessed me with a pressure washer over 5 years ago, about a year or so before his passing, I had little to no knowledge of what all a pressure washer was capable of. I eventually used it once or twice a year to clean my rear patio. In late Spring of 2022, my machine sprung a major leak in the pump, and I just had to get it repaired, though the cost was higher than expected, because it had sentimental value. Read more>>

Christine Castellani

Bette is a coastal lifestyle brand with Southern California roots founded by us – two Encinitas local moms, Chris Castellani & Hillary Boyd. We make colorful, easy-to-wear beach cover ups, caftans and accessories. Every style is designed to make you feel care-free, confident and glamorous. Our love of the beach and the casual coastal lifestyle brought us together back in 2016 when we met in a kindergarten classroom as our first-borns were starting school. Read more>>

Naomi Oyegoke

The idea to start selling vegan food came to me about three years ago shortly after losing my father. I would always laugh thinking about how he called my meals “rabbit food.” Needless to say, he wasn’t vegan, but he was always pleasantly surprised at how tasty my vegan foods were and was so supportive of my decision to be vegan. I started the business, originally under the name Rooted Soul Food, dedicating the brand to my father and his mother. It was, and very much still is, a passion project. Read more>>

Fredrick Spikes

Well when the pandemic first hit my family and I was all at home attempting to find things to do while separated from everything and everyone we knew. I had countless new film/video equipment lying around our home; so I took something that my wife would always preach to me about not doing…was utilizing the equipment and not just let it collect dust. Read more>>

Fransheska Alvarez

If you had told me 3 years ago that I’d be the proud owner of a small business, I would have probably laughed. Yet, fast forward to present day and our brick and mortar just celebrated its first year. Tierra Botanics started in the midst of a pandemic, as an online business under the name “Happy Mail Botanics”. We began by offering mystery cutting boxes of our personal indoor plants. Which in the plant world, is a common way to grow your tropical collection without breaking the bank. We got our start on social media. Read more>>

Nashwa Hassanaly

I was born in Madagascar surrounded by artisans by beautiful arts and crafts always around me, bags, hats, pouches, jewelleries etc I was always fascinated by the how women in particular use this ancestral weaving raffia technique to come up with new designs, new shapes, new colors! I went away to pursue my career and as I looked back I felt like I was leaving my home behind me and I really wanted to expose this art that had grown with. Read more>>

Liliana Rivera Baiman.

I was born in a small village in mountains of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It was right in the middle of the silver mining desert and what is know as la Huasteca Potosina. Imagine a quiet town of just 250 people with an abundance of skilled labor and artesian talent. The women in our village would make beautiful decorative wax displays for holidays and celebrations in honor of our Patron Saint, San Jose. As well as everyday candles for the village to use for light. This was of course prior to electricity or even running water. Read more>>

Jacquelyn Vaz

My story started back in 2012, my mother became very ill and I was her caretaker. She knew my love and passion for fashion was real. She would say the sky is the limit and you can do all things through Christ. Sadly, my Angel passed on March 9, 2013. From that day on, I said I would do what I love. My good friend Monica and I both had the same vision of having a mobile boutique which we bought together and named it Twisted Vintage (my mother came up with the name) we worked at it as much as we could, however that came to an end in late 2015. Read more>>

Pride Painting: Barry McWilliams & Marsden Dvorak

We came up with the idea for Pride Painting upon noticing several things in our community — the first being the need for queer owned and operated trade businesses. While there are folks in the LGBTQ+ community that do indeed work in the trades, we felt that putting our values and identities on the forefront was very important to us. Read more>>

Tiffany Hixson.

When my business partner Chelsea McGrew and I met each other in the Spring of 2021, we quickly bonded over our love of crystals and how they helped us navigate our day to day life. While we both love our day jobs, we wanted to build something to call our own. We had joked many times about opening a crystal shop; a dream we have both had for a long time. Read more>>

Jorge Gutierrez.

I had received the gift of a woven bracelet in the design of the Colombian flag from my eldest daughter. I wore it all the time, because of who gave it to me and because I am a proud Colombian. So it was on my wrist on a trip to the pet store, where I went to buy a collar for my new puppy. Back in the car, I held the new collar in my hand and saw the bracelt and collar next to each other. At that moment, I wished I could have bought a collar to match my bracelet. Read more>>

Joel Clark

The way I cam up with my business idea was actually from a sermon I preached during June of 2020. It was during the pandemic & in the sermon I had the phrase “I Live In Expectation.” As I thought on it over the weeks, I thought it would actually be an extension of ministry at the church that I pastor, but later on I felt led to put the phrase on a T-Shirt. So I got connected with a screen printing business and got shirts printed up. Read more>>

Kentrell Martin

Growing up I had a Deaf brother. I was very protective of my brother because I saw the way that people looked at him. Fast forward to adulthood. My brother who is Deaf had a daughter who is hearing. One day while watching cartoons, I thought, it would be pretty cool if there was a cartoon that incorporated American Sign Language. Read more>>