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.

Makenna Mackey

When covid first hit, like many people I was staying home and was feeling like I needed something to do to keep my mind occupied. One day, I decided to dust off my old camera equipment and start photographing things around my house. I realized that my favorite subjects to capture were my cats. I loved how their beauty showed up on camera, and how much they looked like majestic little lions. At first was just posting their images to my own personal social media accounts, but was encouraged by family and friends to share my work publicly. Read more>>

Jenna Temkin

Highsummer started after an unexpected resignation from teaching in October of 2020. After finding myself in a situation where I was not being protected by my Teacher’s Union or Human Resources, I stepped away from a career that I intended to continue for much longer. It left me feeling sad and confused. In the past, I have always turned to art to help me process big feelings, and this time was no different. Having always been attracted to vintage jewelry, prisms, sun catchers and the like, I started making light catchers because they made me feel better than the grief I was experiencing after I resigned. Read more>>

Delmeshia Busby

I have always loved every spectrum of art. I thought about photography for about 10 years but never pushed my self to just Do it. Once I got married I would make small comment about getting a camera. But, never just went to get one. It was not until my husband bought me a small camera and from there I was like ok I got the camera let me do a few free shoots, than I said ok let me charge $75 for a shoot and the price slowly started to grow due to me continuing to better my self. Read more>>

Demetrics Gibbs

How Did I come up with iPub Publishing Company. It was when I started in college back in 2019. I began to have dreams about 4 eagles. The number 4 has been very significant in my life. I began to seek God like never before. I felt the urgency to be obedient to what he had been telling me to do. As the visions and the dreams intensified. I begin to write. It started off as poetry. God told me to write the book. Iwas little hesitant because I had never written a book before. Read more>>

LaTezeon Humphrey-Balentine

My passion has always been to support our youth in any way possible. If I had to give myself a title outside of being an educator, I would say I am a student advocate. Seeing them succeed is a part of my daily Why. I have always wanted to be a business owner and I knew I wanted it to involved education, students, and success. There are so many talented student athletes that do not have the proper guidance to help them achieve their goals of getting an education and pursuing their athletic talents. Read more>>

Nada Khalaf-Jones

I’d been a journalist, scuba instructor, motorbike dispatch rider, marketing analyst and global traveler before I got to America and became a wife, citizen, then a Mother to 4 one of them Down Syndrome! And settled in Key Largo – The First Key In Paradise!  My big inspiration was fueled by extreme poverty, injustice I saw in my travels and what sadness and desperation u feel when you can’t keep it in. And hope for those kids, you suddenly hope your kids don’t end up ‘there’ where it seems so hopeless for so many. Read more>>

Jay Smith

At the onset of the pandemic, I decided to create, write, and produce contemporary and experimental short films, leading to my business, Blue Jay Production Company LLC. The purpose of my company is to highlight independent artists and creators, like myself, who want to showcase their talents to the world, and not wait for their debut role in the film industry. I decided to create my independent films with great quality cinematography, writers, directors, and actors. I aspire to create my films and bring something new to the film industry. Read more>>

Cassie Ramos

I came up with the idea for SlayaPaints by incorporating my love for art with relaxation. I believe everyone deserves to wine down after a long workday or workweek. Expressing yourself through creativity just makes it more worthwhile. I knew if would work because it’s something I know people would enjoy with their friends other than just going to brunch every weekend. Read more>>

Shiemicka LaShanne

My journey began over 25 years ago when I decided that I wanted more! With little confidence and lots of fear, I decided to do one of the things I feared the most, compete in a beauty pageant. Since that day, I have never stopped stepping out of my comfort zone. I aim to teach tweens, teens, and women to do the same! Read more>>

DeShayla Cisero

The idea for Joy Code came to me as a divine download after earnestly seeking the answer to what is my purpose vocation and mission I am meant to fulfill. I can vividly recall the day in July 2019 during my 45-minute commute to work, I received the business name along with the blueprint of what the business and brand will encompass. Immediately upon arriving to work, I took a few moments to write it all down and begin the process of digesting what I was being called to create. Read more>>

Russell Smith

I have been in the fitness industry for 17+ years. For most of that time, I have been a group fitness instructor, and in person fitness coach. The pandemic truly changed the way that I think about my life and the things that I wanted to achieve. One of the first things I wanted to achieve, was getting some of my time back. Being stuck home in lockdown really made me appreciate how valuable personal time is, and I no longer desired Stuck in one place all of the time. I searched around for quite some time trying to decide how I was going to operate in my business virtually. Read more>>

Novel King

I consider myself to be a curvy woman, Finding clothes to fit my style and shape became very challenging, so, Spring Break in 2011 I decided to try my hand at sewing. I went to the local fabric store, bought fabric, and a pattern, and borrowed my mother’s sewing machine. WELL… that was an epic FAILURE. But, I decided to mentally process what I had done, go to tube university, and try it again. I continued to work at it, practice, and learn fabrics. Read more>>

Georgie Renz

LadyJo Entertainment was created by Georgie Renz in 2019. In her quest for a classier experience with upscale venues and entertainment, she was often disappointed. Desiring more intimate spaces where music could be heard and enjoyed while in a chic ambiance with delicious food on decorative tables, rather than her lap, Georgie wanted to celebrate life with like-minded adults who appreciated the old school vibe and wanted to hear top notch entertainment. Those aspirations would lead her to working and traveling with many legendary entertainers, such as Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, and Anita Baker. Read more>>

Miasha Gilliam-El

In 2012 I experienced PPCM ( Peripartum Cardiomyopathy) in which I experienced Cardiac Arrest having my heart stop for 10 minutes. I ended up on a ventilator for three days unable to breath on my own. When I awakened and went home after seven days in the ICU, I began to think about the health of others, my community and the prevalence of Diabetes and heart associated issues. I thought about how people love to indulge in deserts, especially cupcakes. Read more>>

Liv Albert

Starting a podcast isn’t quite like starting any other business, you basically have to go into it thinking that you will probably always just be doing the show as a hobby, very very unpaid. That’s exactly how I started mine. I had gone through a few things in my personal and professional life, a lot of changes and disappointments and basically I found myself in a job that I hated, in a city where I didn’t know anyone, and just generally depressed and listening to podcasts to make myself feel better. Read more>>

Christine Hubbard

In April 2011, I decided to do something for the greater good in honor of my birthday. I decided to start volunteering at one of our local shelters. Boy did I not realize how that decision was going to change my life forever. From that day on I have been actively working to change the lives of feral cats. I had set many goals and had many dreams of what I wanted to see for our feral felines. We still have a ways to go but just in the past four years have made huge strides. Read more>>

Jeff Heggie

Sports have always been a big part of my life. Growing up I played in many different sports, ranging from hockey, boxing, baseball, football, basketball, rodeo, and more. Having an older brother who was successful in many sports gave me someone to look up to and aspire to be like. So a lot of the sports that I was involved in were because I had watched him play them as well. Read more>>

Lorenzo Borghese

With so many beers in the marketplace and so many similar tasting beers and styles, I still felt something was missing. A beer that was brewed with real juices, after fermentation, so the benefits and taste of the juices were prevalent, and beer brewed with electrolytes to help reduce the likelihood of dehydration and/or a hangover. Moe Moreover, I felt beers for the brunch scene were also missing. Brunch menus included Mimosas, Blood Marys and Bellinis but why not beers? And that’s when I created, “The Brunch Beer” concept. Read more>>

Megan Egan

Early this past spring, it became apparent that my youngest daughter was excelling at horseback riding. She was asked to join the show team and explore her talent in that area. Meanwhile my older daughter was also really taking off in her sports and interests. I was praying about the best way to finance these dreams, seeing as I stay home with my girls and homeschool them. That night, I had a dream where I was making earrings from birch bark, and it was very detailed. Read more>>

Sarah Little

For me personally, plants have always been a part of my life, though I didn’t really get bitten by the plant bug, so to speak, until about 6 or so years ago. It runs in my gene pool. My grandmother was a big creative – she was an avid painter and very much into flower arrangements – This is evident in a lot of her paintings. Most of them have some greenery/flowers/landscape in them. She was also a big gardener. My grandparents had a place out in the VA countryside and I remember spending many summers of my childhood helping out in the garden picking fruits and vegetables, fishing, riding the tractor, and just generally being out in nature. Read more>>

Rhonda Helgesen

“What happens next?” This is a question every parent of a child with a disability has asked themselves as adulthood approaches. Over the next decade, about half a million children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will enter adulthood and age out of school-based services. This transition pushes individuals on the spectrum into a world woefully lacking in appropriate programs for autistic adults, especially those requiring an increased level of supervision. While the number of adults with autism diagnoses is soaring, there just aren’t enough programs and services to meet the demand. Read more>>

Selena Jackson Guines

I was good at my corporate job. But I was overwhelmed and overworked. Corporate America was burning me out. Even mentioning the thought of quitting got friends and family up in arms over the perks and benefits I’d leave behind. But I didn’t care. I just wanted more work-life balance. Read more>>

Emily Benson

My main passion in life is animals. I knew that growing up I wanted to work with animals in some way. From taking an internship at a wildlife rehabilitation center in college, to owning my first dog, and then adopting my rescue cat during quarantine, I knew that animals were my future. Bouncing from job to job in my early 20s, I knew that a 9-5 job just wasn’t for me. I want to be my own boss, work on my own time, and create my own products. Dreaming of starting a business, Read more>>

Carly Garrison

Amaryllis and Main Boutique came about abruptly. After meeting with the Acworth City Development team we felt discouraged. It appeared as though this endeavor was not possible for another year due to the lack of retail space available at the time. Come to find out, time was on our side. We decided to begin the process of this potential opportunity and met with Tami Fredrick, the former owner of 4887 N Main Street and we were blown away with the support and graciousness presented to us. Read more>>

Rana Sewsarran

I have a strong passion for food and having family and friends over on the weekends for dinner and special occasions. I enjoy trying new foods and different recipes which I create with my own personal touch. For me, the fun was in imagining what I wanted to create, and executing it for others, rather than having it for myself. I began doing meal prep for a very close friend of mine as a hobby. As a personal trainer, he referred me to a few of his clients for meal prep to help with their fitness journeys giving each client a unique experience tailored to their liking. Read more>>

Deka Dike

Like so many other founders before me, who seek to solve a problem after having a personal experience, Omatochi was founded based on my own personal experience struggling to manage the care of an aging parent.. Years ago, my dad’s health began to rapidly decline, and without much warning or preparation, my mom became his primary caregiver. She was overwhelmed with the fear of knowing that her husband wasn’t in good health, and struggled to remember important details like medication names, dosages, and other relevant information. Read more>>

DaKevia Long

During the early months of covid lockdown, I found myself (like many others) discovering new routines in order to get through another day sane and healthy. At the time, I was employed with an essential business so staying home most of the day wasn’t necessarily my normal and I often found myself overwhelmed. A hot bath soak paired with a nice cup of tea suddenly became my favorite part of the day. Read more>>

Chanel Budd

I knew that it was imperative to provide relationship and personal development services to those who wanted to break free from toxic cycles, communication issues, lack of intimacy, self sabotage and many other barriers so I strived to be a resource/service to assist with changing the trajectory of one’s life in a positive way. Read more>>

Stoney

I came up with chosen studios by taking all of the skills I learned for fun and combining them into something way more than I expected and something I can share with other people. I want my brand to specifically reach out to the younger generation because I’m young just like everyone else with dreams and goals. This is one of the reason I felt like i could succeed with chosen studios, because my brand is formed around entertainment with a lot of cultural such as the hip-hop/rap community, skateboarding an rock Read more>>

Jasmine Hawthorne

Unofficially I have been career coaching and advising leaders and aspiring leaders how to lead well throughout my entire corporate career. When I left my Vice President role, I had a clients from other business units requesting my help to navigate the corporate landscape. The first question most of my clients would ask me is “how did you go from being a telemarketer to breaking into HR as a recruiter and getting 9 promotions in 15 years?” I realized that many talented people were skilled at the requirements of their job, but they lacked the strategy to grow a fruitful and fulfilling career. Read more>>

Tiesha Bryant

I started We Have a Purpose as a non profit organization in November 2014, because I had a desire to see young people succeed, regardless of their circumstances, regardless of many obstacles or the hurdles they may have to overcome, as I did. Becoming a teen mom at 13, growing up in an area that lacked opportunities and seeing the lack of support for justice impacted youth and the increasing number of youth entering the school to prison pipeline. Read more>>

Amanda Saylor

Sweets & Treats by AJ began in 2015 without much planning. Two friends, baking many kinds of cookies together every Christmas, finally took a risk on others’ encouragement to sell their cookies and started taking orders for Valentine’s Day. A simple Facebook page was created in case customers wanted to order again. And they did. Since sugar cookies have always been one of my favorites and royal icing becoming more popular with its detailed characteristics, we decided that would be our specialization. Read more>>

Etty Berkowitz

I initially started with wanting to create a slim fitted toddler and kid pant. My son was always very petite and slim and I felt he needed a better fit than the standard kid pants on the market. I began looking into manufacturing but ultimately decided to pivot and get to know the market better before creating anything. I decided to first become a retailer, buying and selling other brands to properly understand what people wanted to buy for their kids. Read more>>

Tippie La’Dawn

The idea SWAGLYF was actually founded at birth, in the early 90’s by my mother ANGELA BELINDA SIMMONS. (Long Live The Queen (12.25.60-6.18.20) My mom was a classy lady, who always kept us fly as possible. Matching shoes, with the matching Socks, matching pants with the matching shirt. She always had a way with the SWAG, putting things together making them match really well. The “NAME” SWAGLYF was originated in Broward County,FL around 2008-2009. Read more>>

Ginger King

I am an award-winning cosmetic chemist in the beauty industry for over three decades. In the past ten years, I have been helping beauty professionals to develop their own beauty brand from concept to launch including formulation so they can have a second income or leave a legacy. Read more>>

Wellsley Tjebben

I started thinking about opening a small business during prime Covid season. I felt isolated and wanted something to make the days easier and more fun. During this time I adopted my first cat, Winnie. She is a lot of the inspiration behind my small business. She has brought me a lot of joy in this past year. Around the time I adopted her, I also began to learn to crochet. Crochet is something that has brought me comfort and joy while at home and isolated. Read more>>

Briana “Beatrixz” Spikes

During COVID 19, I realized how important self care is and how little dots taken seriously. I found that, More than half of the American population is stressed and feel guilty about taking time for themselves; therefore, they minimize self-care and multitask through it, especially Women. 39% of men say they consistently make time for self-care while only 32% of women do. 56% of women tend to feel burnt out quite often, compared to 51% of men. Read more>>