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.

Matt Westmoreland

As a professional musician with a large, well connected industry network, not only did I teach private lessons for other music studios, but for many years I watched friends teach for big-box and mom-and-pop lesson studios alike. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of unhappy, uninspired, and underpaid music teachers with correlating high turnover rates. I saw students and families being treated as nothing more than a dollar sign or blank check in the eyes of studio owners who didn’t take the time or make the effort to get to know their own clients. Read more>>

Daphnee Uter

My idea came about from a personal loss in my family. Losing someone special in my life, helped me to realize that I needed to be a change agent and that I needed to help women, especially caregivers and Veterans. It got me thinking about all the women who are caregivers that needs a day of relief and those women that served our country that are still yet invisible, and lastly the spouses of Veterans serving along with the soldier and caring for their child while they honor their commitment to this country. Read more>>

Madison Morris

Light Heart Studios + Coffeeshop was so much more than an idea come to life. It was a lifelong dream of mine since I was a little girl to create the most beautiful business that served and loved on everyone who walked through the door. I’ve been in the beauty industry since I was 16, working as a makeup artist assistant and working my way up to going to esthetics school at 18. I then had a pretty uphill battle “hustling” my way to success as an independent lash artist. Overtime, I experienced some of the darkest parts of the industry and knew I had to be the one to change that. Read more>>

Robyne Henry

I never knew I had the solution until I was faced with the problem. Having experienced many different traumas in life and being a go-getter, I realized how much of an issue trauma can be in the lives of many women. I witnessed firsthand with myself the effects of trauma and how stagnating it can be and how it clogs the pipeline of the soul for many women. Upon realizing this, I self-published my first book, The Caged Bird Finally Sings, detailing my fight to freedom from an abusive relationship, my faith in God to heal an incurable STD and being sexually assaulted by a family member. Read more>>

Danielle Petty

Being introduced to the NFT and web3 community opened my mind to endless opportunities that can be brought to life in this space. Shortly after realizing the potential of creating a community that is driven to make an impact, we saw the stat that less than 16% of NFT projects are owned by women, so we decided to jump in full force. Read more>>

Logan Sneed

I was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma Brain Tumor at 20 years old while I was in college. I then learned about the ketogenic diet and how this could potentially shrink tumors or prevent tumor regrowth. I began the ketogenic diet and saw incredible life changing results in my body while going through chemotherapy and radiation. Read more>>

Samantha Quintana

During the summer right before I started my freshman year of college, I started following different food bloggers and coming up with lists of restaurants I wanted to visit based on their recommendations. I started reading up on different restaurants in Miami and found out which were worth the hype, which weren’t, different local spots, and I really just wanted to expand my palate. In the middle of curating my own personal ‘Must Try’ list, I realized I could become a food blogger myself. Read more>>

Danezion Mills

I have been working as a personal trainer for 4 years. At first, I was at the mercy of a major gym where I was working all day training clients and only making $7.50 for every 30-min session. These sessions were never guaranteed, so while chasing down clients that belonged to the gym I would also end up driving for Lyft just to make rent. This left no time for me to pursue my own workouts to keep myself sane or set an example for my clients. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I realized I did not need a major gym to train my clients. Read more>>

Noreen Ismail

After working in all aspects of nightlife over many years i.e waitress, bartender, go-go dancer, door host and eventually a promoter, I was offered to bring a good looking crowd to high end nightlife establishments in Miami. I knew that food always has and always will bring people together. I got the nickname Dinner Party Diva since I started only taking gigs that I had a budget for food to host my guests. Read more>>

Jackie Martinez

I always knew I wanted to be my own boss and work at my own schedule. It isn’t easy but you do meet amazing humans . I am thankful for all the support Serenity Lashes has received since it launched . Read more>>

Georgianna and Giusseppi Dominguez

Home has always been our favorite place to be. Both of us are considered “homebodies” I love having a hot cup of tea and being in bed at 9pm sharp for a good 10 hours of sleep and my husband, Giusseppi, loves being home listening to jazz on vinyl or unwinding watching a good tv show after a long day of work. We’ve always known our home was a safe, calming and rejuvenating place to be and a big reason that it was, was because we specifically created an atmosphere in our space that we simply just never wanted to leave. Read more>>

Rachel Phillips

The idea for my business was derived from the death of my first love, Tyrone Arnold. He was murdered shortly after graduating high school. Over the years of enduring so much heartache and pain, I decided to encourage young people to make the right decisions in regards to their academics and in life, because I knew what could happen when they sway away from their journey in life. We both had been given college basketball scholarships, then Tyrone made a really bad decision that ended his life. Read more>>

Elizabeth Skwiot

I was a professional circus performer between earning my M.A. and Ph.D. While working as an adjunct professor, I became a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor to earn extra money. In client sessions I began blending exercises from my circus training into more traditional fitness and Pilates exercises. Clients loved the innovation and challenge. I then developed training programs and got them approved for continuing education. I knew I wanted to share the joy I found in circus training with everyone in a way that was safe, fun, effective, and accessible. Read more>>

Ryan Hiller

I have been a full-time, professional musician since I was old enough to start working. I got my degree in music from the University of New Orleans and toured the country. When Hurricane Katrina hit, I relocated to San Diego. I established myself in the music community ever since… up until 2020 that is! I had been taking every penny I was making in the music business and dumping it into real estate. Read more>>

Jaklin Levine-Pritzker

When I was in law school, I went to a counselor for the first time because I was dealing with really bad anxiety. A series of events led to me finding out that so much of the reason I was struggling was undiagnosed ADHD. I realized I really needed to prioritize my well being and become a certified health coach (because clearly I had time to do that while struggling in law school) and started caring for myself and learning how to support others. After finishing law school and diving into the world of well being, Read more>>

Caroline Candace

I launched LOOK Organics, because I wanted to change the way people look at their everyday products, their bodies and the world. Most people don’t look at the ingredients in their everyday products, and truly understand the effects of them – on them personally, but also environmentally. I am looking to make the world a better place, starting with our products. I know that everything is connected, which is why we focus on nourishment in all forms. Read more>>

Christy Stransky

Well, the most relevant part of that story started in 2015. I was embarking on a new chapter in my life where I wanted to do something for myself outside of corporate America and the career/ industry I had always known. Yoga had been such a positive instrument in my life and I found my mission was and still is to connect with people who were looking for the same thing as I was…. to find themselves again, even if they didn’t know it. Read more>>

Labrent Lee

I wanted to do more in my community but obviously needed money to fund different events and projects. I decided to sell T-shirts to bring in funding. Shirt sells were great and as requests for other items grew so did the idea of a full clothing line and well here we are… Read more>>

Jennifer Einerson

I have always enjoyed creating. My grandmother and my mom taught me to sew at a young age. It all began with repurposed fabric scraps from my grandma’s sewing basket – which is probably why I love using repurposed fabrics to bring fly little bird Stuffies to life. I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and Computer Graphics and shortly before I had my first child I became a Stay at Home Mom. Throughout the years, painting and creating were my outlets. Read more>>

Hilary Sheinbaum

The idea for “The Dry Challenge” came about accidentally. In fact, it was a book that came about through random a bet I had with a guy friend. On New Year’s Eve 2016, I tipsy texted my friend “Happy New Year!” and initiated a Dry January wager, which entailed both of us abstaining from alcohol for 31 days — that meant no wine, beer, spirits, spritzes, shots, etc. etc. for the whole month. With that, I put down my drink as the New Year’s Eve ball dropped in Times Square. Eventually, my friend lost the bet. I won! And in Dec. 2020, The Dry Challenge was published by HarperCollins. It highlights the benefits of going dry, how to do it, and activities to partake in that don’t involve alcohol. Read more>>

Matt Allbritton

Roofing in Texas is known for scandals and scammers. Stories of roofers taking a check without doing the work, doing a crummy job but not fixing their errors, or just knocking on a door without a solicitors permit are far too common. It is a bad combination of a lucrative industry and no state license requirements. With these facts in mind, there is great potential to stand out as a trustworthy and reliable roofing contractor. Read more>>

Myeshia Washington

My grandmother was my inspiritation to begin my business. Not only did she teach me to bake, she did so with crippling arthritis. Watching her in pain daily for years before her passing was a reminder to push and make a product that could help those who suffered as well. She raised strong independent daughters, grandchildren that strive for greatness! Her nickname was Peaches and she was born in 1944. I launched Peach 44 LLC on her birthday. Read more>>

Jean Ross

At the time I wanted to start a business for Christian dance ministries. I prayed and ask God to reveal to me on what the business name should be. I waited and waited, the wait was long. Then one night I woke up from a dream and in the dream, there was a young lady who kept saying that you are covered by grace. I was fully aware that this was in response to my prayers. It was clear that no matter what we do we are covered by His grace and I wanted the business to have that same grace. Read more>>

Tracy Wallace

It should have been obvious and easy but it was not. My husband was helping me to decide on a name and we went through every funny, kitschy, interesting name for wine that there was out there. After many ideas and not liking any of them my husband says “Wait, what are your favorite things?” Without hesitation, I said “Peacocks and Wine “and so became the Peacock Wine Bar. Read more>>

Desiree Cocroft

One day when I was thinking about all the names I could possibly come up with for my business I began to think about how we are always chasing after the next thing. Or at least I am. I have been a high-achiever my whole life and always looking to do something new, risky, fun, and out of the box to prove to myself that I could do it. It gives me a high for a little while and then I am off to the next thing. In my business, I wanted to help people feel that “high” all the time. Read more>>

Danielle Spadinger

Timberline came to me as one of those shower thoughts. During Covid and my maternity leave I was struggling with some postpartum depression and anxiety and needed an outlet for myself. I wasn’t ready to start working with clients yet but needed something. I have a few friends that are great illustrators and seeing their work always has inspired me. Which is how an idea sparked to start a passion project of illustrating the 14er peaks in Colorado. Read more>>

Brad Hart

When it comes to money, there are people playing two types of games, scarcity and abundance. Sometimes, there really isn’t enough to go around, but most of the time, there is more than enough. It’s really a perception thing. After working on Wall St and in Real Estate during my early career, I quickly tired of seeing people playing the scarcity game- it was like that kids game Hungry Hungry Hippos. Read more>>

Tweety and Patrice Angwenyi

As former educators, Patrice and Tweety spent a lot of time making caffeinated decisions about transitioning to entrepreneurship. In doing so, on day on the way to work, Patrice started rolling with ideas about how coffee ultimately brings people together. It unifies and inspires. It’s hustle fuel. So jokingly, she said “hustle blendz” out loud during her commute. Read more>>

Whitney Jeski

I had debated going back and forth on launching my business for a few weeks. I couldn’t decide if I should wait a little longer, just make the jump, etc., but I also knew I had plenty of details to still work out, including the name of my business. I was sitting on the couch, debating cliche business names, none of which I loved, and then it was like a lightbulb went off. It’s SORT. That’s the same of the company. Read more>>

Harlee Villegas

This is such a fun question for me because it has a really personal (but awesome) answer. All throughout high school, I wanted to be a photographer. I didn’t know what kind, but I knew it was something I was passionate about. I had a friend named Rachel who always told me if it was my passion I should follow it, and I wanted to. I would take friends senior pictures, pictures of my animals, landscape.. anything that caught my eye. Rachel always said she could see it “you’re meant to be a photographer, Harlee. I just know it.” – famous words I guess. Rachel passed away not long after I went to college but I never forgot what she said. Read more>>

Cansu Onomay Erden, Burcu Onomay Celik

We thought about a lot of different names that will reflect our designs but at the end we wanted our name to be very unique. Myono comes from our last names Onomay. We reversed it a little bit and changed the pronunciation. We loved it because it reflected us, our name and our history. Read more>>

Amanda Paez

Hi there! Well, Teach Inspire Transform wasn’t the first name I had when starting my tutoring company. It was originally Aspire to Inspire. I’m not quite sure why the switch, but I said it to myself, it fully resonated. Teach, because that’s what we do. Inspire ignites an ability to feel, be creative, and foster self-confidence from within. Transform indicates change. Those are all the ultimate goals that fit perfectly to the message we are conveying when hiring a tutor with us! Read more>>

Melissa Finestone

I struggled for months deciding on a name for my company. I kept adding to the list and asked just about anybody and everybody`s opinion. One evening over dinner my husband was teasing me about how I was pronouncing “milk” with my South African accent. He thought it was the funniest thing and in that moment it hit me, Read more>>

Ashley Shante

Well, I am a foodie and I love fashion. I desired to design food inspired Jewelry as an expression for vegans, dessert enthusiast, and people with a sweet tooth. I have a Fruit Collection, Dessert Collection, Willy Wonka Collection and etc. My Chocolate Royalty Collection will be designed in June 2022; it is a Collection dedicated to Chocolate women. Food is tasty and edible so I call my jewels “Yummy” and added my name to the brand because it shows owner ship. My brand is “Yummy Jewels By AshleyShante”. My mission is for every woman to feel beautiful and look Edible in my handmade jewelry. Read more>>

Amber Neal

I am the 2nd generation Matchmaker, my mom was the 1st. We are what you would call an “Empath”. We just KNOW who belongs together. My mom matched and married all her friends to their husbands and none of them ever divorced! I have now been matchmaking 18 years and never had a divorced client either. I love helping people find their soulmate. It is a gift that we use for good.Read more>>

Frederick Poteat

Looking at the state we’re in as a human-race, it’s clearly evident to me that the removal of GOD has tremendously impacted the mindset and values of people especially the youth. Music I grew up to inspired and motivated us to be better and do better. Majority of the music today glorifies drugs, sex, gangs, and money. Music is a spiritual phenomena that can influence one positively or negatively. Read more>>

Tyler Walker

Bridges of Gold came to life after our daughter Lucy was diagnosed with leukemia. Within days of Lucy’s diagnosis, our family was in search of a place to live for the next 3o days. At the time of Lucy’s diagnosis, the local Ronald McDonald house was full and our home was well over the hour threshold which forced us to stay in Portland. With a no vacancy sign and little knowledge of what places would be available for us to live, I remember the social worker bringing in a packet of information that shared hotels in the surrounding area. Of course not being from Portland, and having no knowledge of any of the places, we quickly started asking as many questions as we could. Read more>>

Taylor Moxey

My business idea came to life out of a simple wanting to buy a Barbie doll. Every Sunday my parents and I would go to target after church and they would buy me a doll. One Sunday, I asked my dad for the doll and he said “No!,.. I want you to come up with a way to earn your own money and buy your toys” Being seven years old at the time this was a shocker for me. But thinking quick, I asked my dad “Can I sell cupcakes!” The desire to bake cupcakes was based on my love for watching lots of cooking and baking shows on tv. Read more>>

Bruce Leadbetter

When I started this business in 1992 It was named “Arizona White-Knuckle Adventures”. It was mildly successful, but in 2004 we realized that the name put some people off. Not only that, but they assumed we were a white-water rafting company. So, I bought out my (at that time) business partner, and came up with a different concept. Read more>>

Mia Logan

I couldn’t get a handle on my name at first. I continued to change it but I never gained a spark from it. One night, I was in my kitchen, doing my sisters nails and my mom yelled out… go to bed!. I couldn’t go to sleep because I trained myself to watch over my household throughout the night to protect my children. So as I continue doing my sisters nails, I explain to her how unhappy I was with my name at that time. Read more>>

Stuart Preston

After several years of telling jokey-jokes on stage, I decided I wanted my comedy to be more meaningful. I had recently experienced the loss of my son to depression and suicide, and I decided to create one-man show about that to help break the stigma around depression, mental health, and more. My grief journey was somewhat unique, assisted by psychedelics. The goal of The Stoned Ape Show is to save lives and raise money for suicide prevention. That is my primary focus, creatively, these days. Read more>>