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.

Anuhea Sills

My business started after a beef jerky debate between myself and my husband (Brian). He insisted that a thin chip style was best and I was addamant that the old style, a thicker, more chewy cut was better. Read more>>

Jenny Morrissey

The inspiration for SHIFT came from the nurses who cared for my parents during their cancer treatments & from my husband, James, an Air Force nurse. Read more>>

Kendra Cuzick

I love to write. I write from my heart. My heart was heavy with the weight of my son’s struggles. His diagnosis of dyslexia was a blessing that allowed us to find the tools needed to help him, and the teacher that changed him. Read more>>

Monique Rice

When Dennis got back to school all he wanted to do in creative writing class was write about that trip.We started to inspire the children in the community to read, Read more>>

MattDad Starcher

We have created a salt and pepper replacement. That makes your food taste better…….a chef in a bottle. Let’s go back. Almost thirty years ago i started washing dishes in a kitchen and began my journey as a chef. Read more>>

Karrah Lewis

Photography, art and looking for the good as I walk through the world has always. been part of who I am. When I had my first child almost 11 years ago, it really gave me all the motivation needed to really focus on building my photography business. Read more>>

Ashley Chang

I came up with the idea for Sundays because of my mom. She was a software engineer in the Bay Area in the 80’s. She had a super promising trajectory to her early career and then as she started having kids she faced the tough decision between investing in her family or choosing to have a career. Read more>>

Quintin Pearson

I always knew that I wanted to get into fashion. I’ve always been interested in shoes and clothes. I had the idea for a brand back in like 2018 it was just a matter of coming up with the right name and putting my time into it. Read more>>

Keturah Possue

I came up with the idea to start my bookclub through my jewelry business. I believe that community is very important in every aspect in life. Read more>>

Stacie Refeld

I founded You Glow Girl Candle Co., LLC. in 2020 in the midst of a statewide stay-at-home order during the Covid 19 global pandemic. Read more>>

ANNA PALTSEVA

My grandmother, Praskovia—also known as Pasha—was a gifted seamstress. In the Soviet era, people often created their own clothing for work or leisure. Read more>>

Erasto Beard

It all started when I was teaching first grade at an elementary school. I got a call to come to the principal’s office. No one likes getting that call, especially teachers, so I spent the rest of the day wondering what I had done wrong. Read more>>

Ashley Valarie Nicole Dolson

I have suffered from eczema and sensitive skin my entire life. I grew tired of trying to find products that did not specifically cater to my melanin rich skin and became even more frustrated with going into stores to ask for products for my needs and being directed to a secluded area in the back for the “ethnic” and these products being sometimes locked depending on the location. Read more>>

Tamara Ketchian

I had been making my own granola for about 10 years since I couldn’t find any healthy granola options in the store. After being a stay at home mom for 17 years, when looking to go back in the workforce, I realized I needed something flexible. Read more>>

Calleesha Teel

After graduating law school in 2018, I moved to Georgia after passing the Georgia Bar. I worked a temporary job for about six (6) months, and was unable to find any employment so I moved back to North Carolina. Read more>>

Marina Babigian

It’s funny because I’m not quite sure exactly how I stumbled into the idea to start Bee Street. Looking back on my education and experience, all the way back to high school even, it only seems natural that this is where I wound up. Read more>>

Jikaiah Ayla

Incorporating feminism into the beauty industry was a natural progression throughout my career, realizing how toxic this industry had been to women. Read more>>

Pavel Diaz

The idea for Can’t STOP Fashion (CSF) was born out of a deep understanding of the struggles faced by creatives, especially during challenging times like the lockdown. Read more>>

Amina Sako

As a nanny for the past 11 years, I have consistently relied on online platforms to find childcare jobs throughout my career. Read more>>

Sam Kaiser

Becoming a travel blogger didn’t happen overnight, but looking back on it, the progression was clear. In first grade, my parents enrolled me in a Spanish immersion. Read more>>

Jimothy Martin

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been in love with telling stories. It didn’t strike me as something I would make a career out of, I just spent a lot of time alone and have always been fascinated by these things that kept me company – these things that you could share with other people who in turn had their own to share with you. Read more>>

Elizabeth Lewis

My first taste of doing what I do now as a career took place when I was a little girl, as these things often happen. As an extremely shy kid growing up in the South, I could barely string two words together when someone asked me a question. Read more>>

Valerie & Ian Krueger

Title: “Bridging the Gap: Our Journey to PMU and SMP Curriculum” In the world of Permanent Makeup (PMU) and Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP), we faced a glaring reality: a lack of standardization and effective regulation. Read more>> 

Azetta Young

Azetta Design Studio was born 9 years ago as a creative outlet from my struggle with severe postpartum depression after my son was born (it was a silent struggle so being creative was my saving grace.) Read more>>

Kim Michele Richardson

The Pack Horse Librarian Project represented one of the most innovative and forward-thinking initiatives of Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. Read more>>

Mandy Jeppesen

Discovering a Path to Empowerment and Equality From a young age, I was surrounded by deeply ingrained beliefs that little girls were destined only to serve and support men, and that education for women was merely a backup plan in absence of a husband. Read more>>  

Melanie Fox

Last summer I completed the Building Personal Resilience course offered through HeartMath®. Originally, I had planned to use it for my own personal development. Read more>>

Daniela Cintron Phillips

I started Bellas Creations back in 2020 in my One bed one bath apartment in FL, it was me, my husband and our puppy bubba, I am Puerto Rican / Cuban and Bellas trasnlates ton beautiful in Spanish, and that is exactly what feeling i wanted my pieces to envoked in customers, beauty. Read more>>

Sanaa Joumaa

The idea for Saj Creations came to life from a blend of personal passion and a pivotal life transition. Over 20 years ago, I immigrated to the United States from Beirut, Lebanon, with my husband. Initially, our focus was on building a new life and raising our children. Read more>>

Ryanne Mone’

I have to give my mother and grandmother all the credit for putting this idea in my head that soon led to a successful brand. When they first presented the idea of producing fashion shows to me, I wasn’t really interested. Read more>>