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.

Ken Dillon

What if there’s a way to enjoy great quality local wine, reducing or eliminating waste, and without having to pay a high price? I spent a couple of years involved in many restless nights of excitement and doubt, learning from local bars, restaurants and wineries’ menu and drink pour offers and what vessels contained them. I was seeing a trend of many bars and restaurants, and some wineries’ offering at least one keg wine-on-tap for a glass pour option. However, sometimes when I received a wine pour from a bottle I sometimes asked, “when was this bottle opened, and what happens to all the empty glass bottles?” It’s great when you know the wine being poured in your glass is fresh and high quality, but it’s another feeling when your wine may taste a little ‘off.’ I totally understand that an off wine is not generally the wine’s fault as human error can play a significant role in a wine customer’s experience. Read more>>

Madison Marchegiano

In March 2010, two-year-old Colt Catalina was found unresponsive in a relative’s pool while they were babysitting him. Colt’s story inspired me to train to become an Infant Aquatic Survival® Specialist. I was just 12 years old when Colt passed away. He was the cutest, blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby boy I’d ever known. I have so many fond memories of him and miss him every day, especially his winning smile. His death has impacted my life and left a hole in my heart. Colt was born on January 18, 2008, to the parents of John and Natalie, and little brother to Mackenzie and Presley. He was a vibrant toddler, the love of everyone who knew him, and the apple of his mother’s eye. A very talented little boy and a special gift from god. Many people who knew Colt loved his heavenly blue eyes, winning smile, and the sound of his infection laugh. Colt brought so much joy to this world and touched so many people’s lives. He was such a sweet fun, loving little boy. In the 2 short years, he was with us, he stole the hearts of everyone who was lucky enough to meet him. Read more>>

Paula Farmer

During the pandemic shutdown of 2020 I noticed my employer (iconic independent bookstore in SF Bay Area) was lacking diversity with their online virtual events. This concerned me, so I approached them about considering this. When they did not make changes at that time, I launched an interview series on Instagram to give a platform to BIPOC authors, artists and activists. That turned into developing a website and services to curate BIPOC leaning author events for organizations and indie bookstores. My first client ended up being my employer. They realized the error of their ways, and I went from being on their staff to them being a client with me developing special programming for diversity and social justice. Read more>>

Geanea Hall

Gigi’s Astro Trip came about because of an auto accident I was in 3 years ago. My ex & I was rear ended on the Verrazano bridge coming from New Jersey. As the car was spinning out of control, I heard a voice tell me “I know it’s scary, but you’ll be okay”. When the car stopped, I heard “get back into your magic”. I immediately knew what that meant. Read more>>

Ankit Jain

I started my career as a Software Engineer in one of the biggest IT company of India – Tata Consultancy Services. I moved to Mumbai – The Financial Capital and one of the most happening city of India, for my job. Read more>>

Kacie Fournier

Reflecting back on whathas already been a remarkable career, I can’t help but feel immense joy and awe at the journey it’s been. Were it all started to where it is today has grown and changed so much yet What will always remain the same is my drive to offer a safe space for my guests with the same quality and value I have always offered. Read more>>

Melanie Lewis

Prior to starting the business, I worked as a Pastry Chef under the guidance of some of the most prominent Twin Cities chefs such as Tim McKee (La Belle Vie), Isaac Becker (Bar La Grassa), and Gavin Kaysen (Spoon and Stable) which was an invaluable experience that shaped my culinary expertise. Read more>>

Temple Sewell

I came up with the idea for my business when I was 21 years old; 1996. My best friend and I moved to Maui, HI from LA to start a fish taco stand (inspired by Rubios Fish Tacos). Once we actually settled in living in Maui, we both got caught up in day-to-day life and kinda forgot our goal. I moved back to LA in 1997 to go back to school. In 1998 &1999 I tried out for the LA Dodgers in open tryout camps, one in Vegasc the other at Pierce College in the SFV. I failed at baseball, but decided to pursue a career working with professional ball players. I graduated Long Beach State in 2005 and subsequently landed a job in finance working with the daily finances of a variety of professional MLB players. In 2013 (ten years ago this August), I decided the corporate life was too stifling, therefor it was time to pursued my goal I set out for when I was 21. So, here I am… :-) Read more>>

 Elena Voleac

Since I was little my parents was taking me in small trips and always we loved to explore the city, walk on the beach long distances. We could walk for hours . After we got our first baby in Usa we decided to go to places we never been. First one was Aruba our kid loved it so much that every 2 months we were going to different islands . After travelling to many places random people would text me asking how is in one island or another one, which place I would recommend for visiting. So that’s when my idea came up to help in more professional way since o would find them the links and tell my opinions about resorts. I love when people are in vacation and I can help them choose the right one by becoming a travel agent Read more>>

Abel Wilson

Coffee is not a new thing, it has been around since before colonialism and had a massive expansion due to its profitability with underpaid labor in developing countries and pricing control through c-market trading. There is a sect of coffee that wants to do more for farmers, their workers, and everyone in the value chain. A Coffee Movement started with this goal at the forefront of our minds. The idea for a mobile coffee van arose after I had to move back home during the pandemic. A time when routine, regular life didn’t exist anymore, and ultimately a lot of places, coffee shops included, went under as a business. My background in Chemical Engineering took me on a journey toward better coffee. I found community, friends, gear, and levels of depth I didn’t know could exist in such a seemingly simple beverage. I listened to stories of coffee farmers speaking out on the cycle of perpetual and increasing debt each harvest. I read books relating water flow through a coffee bed to complex mathematical models and discovered theories on how that affects consistency and tastes in coffee. You quickly realize that coffee is anything but simple. Read more>>

Estella Kirk

I’ve always done music since I was a little girl, but I actually started out doing pop music. It wasn’t until I was 13 years old that I felt God tugging at my heart to change directions. I began wondering why I was doing music I thought shouldn’t I be doing this for God? So at 13 I created my first EP called Brightside ever since then I have always known that I was supposed to create music to bring people closer to God. Read more>>

Tomasina Chupco

Indigenous Intentions is a community-based business that was cultivated from having to provide fundraising dollars for a social justice march. I designed and created my first collection of cause bracelets and it made an impact. I continued to grow with my community and made my business a cause brand that came from a place of advocacy. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Black & Missing Foundation, and Environmental causes are near and dear to the Black and Indigenous community. 100% of the proceeds of each cause jewelry collection goes directly to the organization. Read more>>

 Rose Kreider

Hi everyone! How I came up with the idea to be a female filmmaker amongst the Seattle film industry is through Covid. I began modeling and participated in New York fashion week twice and traveled to places like Texas for fashion shows and photo shoots. This wasn’t fulfilling enough for me, and the industry was quite harsh to people my age, so I decided to pick up small acting roles. Through acting, I learned the in and outs of the field, and I learned about everyone’s role behind the scenes as well as in front of the lens. I enjoyed learning about the Director and writers role and one day after my first short film premiered in a small theater, I decided to write my own screenplay, and after my movie set was finished with preproduction and filmed from January to March 2022, and premiered in theaters March 13, 2022, I realize that directing was my real passion, and I have a lot of drive for it. Read more>>

Chris Reese

In March of 2018, I was diagnosed with a progressive case of psoriasis that radically changed my life forever. After months of traditional treatment without much relief and success, I decided to fight this autoimmune disease through natural healing and lifestyle change. A major proponent of that lifestyle change was deciding to leave the career that I had been doing for over 10 years because it wasn’t bringing joy to my life. My wife Lindsay and I always wanted to start a business, so we decided to start dreaming of all of the possible businesses that we would want to create. During this process, we made the decision to move closer to family to our hometown of Hagerstown, MD. We loved everything about our hometown except for the lack of high quality restaurants and coffeeshops that we had experienced in our days living in Savannah, GA and Baltimore, MD. We both spent hours a day at the local coffeeshops in these cities, spending time with friends, having business meetings, going on a date, etc. We loved the community aspect of the cafe and both of our jobs highly involved social/community engagement. Our hometown didn’t have a coffeeshop that we had experienced elsewhere, and we really wanted that, so we decided to build one. We had no idea how to start a business, we had never worked in a coffeeshop before, and we had very little money! Over the course of a year, we thought ourselves how to build a business plan, raise capital to build out a brick and mortar in our City Square, and launch our very first coffeeshop in the heart of Downtown Hagerstown. Read more>>

Brian Schwartz

In the midst of the 2020 global pandemic, I found myself at a crossroads, suddenly laid off from my comfortable role as Vice President of a Manhattan advertising agency. With a child on the way, my father battling terminal brain cancer, and a sea of uncertainty, my stress levels rose to a point that sent me to the hospital with a panic attack. Read more>>

Lauren ‘Elle B’ Ball

On a tour bus in the middle of nowhere and headed to yet another concrete arena, I discovered this Miles Davis’ quote and it was an instant epiphany moment. At some point, five years into my tenure as lead backing vocalist for Katy Perry, I’d begun to feel adrift in my life, I had reached the highest heights of my career as a singer but the life that I was experiencing was so far away from where I come from, that it became hard to share it with my loved ones. The person I was becoming seemed to have lost her most important audience. And even though I sang everyday, my voice became unfamiliar to me too. Read more>>