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.

Lori Parnell

Between Covid-19, the lock-down and the death of George Floyd, 2020 was a rough year. It was a heart-breaking year. But, watching people from other cultures and ethnicities stand in solidarity with us was awe inspiring. Read more>>

Sandra Stevens Smalls

The establishment of the S3 Unstoppable Faith Movement and the FaithWalk Coaching Institute is a story of resilience, hope, and the power of unstoppable faith. Read more>>

Hannah Richey

First off my business is called Hannah Joy Spectrum Designs because I am on the autism spectrum. I originally started making products to reduce anxiety not originally to start a business but here we’re 5 years later. Read more>>

Sasha Quezada

Just Yours Boutique was created because I wanted something of my own, and something that would give me the financial freedom to be with my kids. Read more>>

Reggie Gustave

Hello, I’m Reginald Gustave, and I’m thrilled to share the story of how my business came to fruition. The journey began with a burning desire to address the lack of a safe space for young men of color. Read more>>

Alex Koch

The decision to embark on a business centered around music production and recording felt like a natural progression for me. I had been honing my recording skills since the age of 15, starting with a basic 4-track tape recorder and gradually advancing my equipment over time. Read more>>

Alita Terry

Well, let me just start by saying, my love for hair, doing hair, basically everything hair was something that was always a part of me for as long as I can remember. As a child it was one of my biggest hobbies. Read more>>

Delilah Harris

I came up with the idea for my business through my desire to connect with my spirituality and to transform all of the traumatic experiences I had in the past into something I could gain strength from, rather than remain a victim. Read more>>

Kevin Krzyzaniak

Upon to moving to Asheville 16 yrs ago, I was instantly drawn to the nature here, so many plants and mushrooms that I never experienced before. I was very curious of what could be eaten and what could be used for medicine. Read more>>

Jami Savage

After a year of sharing my family adventures on Instagram, I was starting to get the same questions a LOT: * How do you take kids hiking? * Aren’t they too young to learn to snowboard? Read more>>

Tatiana Gramatikova-Bonneau

I was running an IT agency, focusing on building websites and software, mainly for the UK market. I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, a writer so naturally as things developed started edging towards the marketing and branding side, which felt like it allows more creativity. Read more>>

Crissie Hoskins

I’m a creative at heart. Most of what brings me joy in life falls somewhere in creating…something. Anything. It could be a logo, photoshoot, making jewelry, baking, drawing on the sidewalk, or even making my own lipgloss and makeup. Read more>>

Liv Johnson

I started Almost Nakey at 16. It all started as a bikini company – I had a manufacture in China, learned the ins and outs of manufacturing, moved to Bali began sewing in factory with my team, and learned how to build a business. Read more>>

Lorena Mucke

Like most children, I was in awe of nature, especially animals. I was drawn to them from an early age, and as I grew up, I was a confused about the labels society places on them: food, entertainment, pests, clothing, experimentation subject, etc. Read more>>

Esther Dillard

I recently published a book called: Raising an Autistic Young Adult, with Archway Publishing, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book launched in mid-February. Read more>>

Marian Turner

I’ve always loved games. From family board game night, to playing Dungeons and Dragons with our regular Friday night group I’ve always had a passion for being creative and having fun playing games. Read more>>

Wendi Eiden

Diana, my sister and business partner, and I, had talked about opening a coffee shop for years. What it would look like? The conversation, the laughter, the people! We started planning, when I was diagnosed with cancer. Read more>>

Tom Wyler

My BBQ journey started 10 years ago when my wife gifted me my first smoker. I was 35 at the time, and either you get really into history, or smoking meats. Read more>>

Kevin Reid

Funny story my love and passion for cooking came out of a place of sort of annoyance, to be honest. To give you some background heritage-wise wise I am Afro-Laino, and both my parents are from Costa Rica. Read more>>

Gabrielle Pitchford

As an Adjunct Professor of Voice and Private Voice Teacher, I’ve taught as many as 20 students at a time of various levels and genres. At the start of each semester, I found myself procrastinating on repertoire assignments because of the amount of time I was spending on them. Read more>>

Whitney French

Twinkle Lux Skincare came about in 2014. I was in a point in my life where i feeling like my life was very routined and purposeless. Read more>>

Kevin Hamilton

Right out of high school I moved to Europe and immediately fell in love. The overall sense of community and attention towards quality-of-life resonated with me.. Read more>>

Rosa Castano

My business background had always been in sales. I worked for a small business, entrepreneurial start-up, and large scale non-profit. In 2020 I was working in Tourism & Hospitality in Nashville, TN. Read more>>

Pamela Abbott

Retail is in my blood. I had many retail positions throughout my youth, but the one that impacted me the most was Nordstrom. I really learned my strength in sales, merchandising and management, HR related issues, and most importantly, customer service. Read more>>

Ilia Basilashvili

It was always my dream to have my own business. That was always one my goals that I wanted to achieve in my lief. After completing my studies in Georgia, where I come originally from, and Germany, where I initially came as an Au-pair, I started working in a small company, where I gathered lots of experience. Read more>>