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.

Victor Arroyo

The way it all stared was back when I was in high school my sister and I had a photography class together and honestly at first it was alright because I started taking pictures with my phone we didint have the money to afford a new camera at the time until one of my sisters friends offered to sell us a used camera that they had so we ended up buying the camera I believe it was a Nikon I’m not really sure about the modeling the camera but it was an amazing camera at the time that was when I began to love photography so from there the way I came up with the idea of my name was later on when I had already graduated I was known by “Rexx” Read more>>

Teresa Wright Johnson

I guess I really did not come up with the idea of being a speaker, trainer or coach. I have been leading others since I was a child. And I love to speak. In fact my parents used to call me as a kid eye witness news. As well as being a leader in high school PTSA President . JROTC Group Commander , college, Business Club Vice President, Legal Club Leader and in the community PTSA President, Chairperson of Several Boards. Read more>>

Jessica Boynton

Hakuna Wear began in 2018 after I went on my first tropical surf trip. I had a blast going on scooter rides and boat trips to the breaks but didn’t have a pocket to bring money or a hotel key and kept losing my bottoms in the surf. I felt un-empowered by my bikini and I wanted to change that. Hakuna Wear began to change the swimwear industry and design both fashionable and functional swimwear so that you can be free to be you. That means a place to stash your essentials (pockets), no nip slips, no cheek leak, and no worries when you wear a Hakuna suit. Read more>>

Savannah Welsh

Back in 2020, when I was on my third year of college for dental hygiene, I made a decision that would change the course of my life entirely. I was a delivery driver and a full time student pursuing a career that I had no interest in, with no plan of where that would take me. Day after day, giving my time and energy to something that wasn’t meant for me, I knew something needed to change. Read more>>

Lindsay LaShell

So, the short answer is that it was my clients that gave me the idea but there’s a much longer answer: As an agency founder and a marketing strategist, I had developed a framework that was designed to solve a specific problem that I saw in a lot of other agencies’ work. It’s really common to have great persona research, and it’s really common to have great branding and messaging strategy. Read more>>

Chandler Oriente

I always enjoyed taking photos after taking my first photography class in highschool. When I was in college, I did it as a side job while going to school. The last year of undergrad, covid hit and that really shut down the world. It derailed some of my plans to go to future schooling. I decided to pick up my camera the following year and peruse a fun hobby of mine, full time. Read more>>

Anushree Mukherjee

First of all I want to express my gratitude to CanvasRebel magazine for featuring me. It truly means a lot. As you are aware from my previous interviews, that I quit my full-time IT job when I relocated to USA from UK, almost eight years ago. Soon after, I began to hunt for a profession that might fulfill both my dreams and satisfaction. I decided to work for myself – be my own boss. Read more>>

Jocelyn McCants

Melanated Campout was started by three friends: Shunte McClellan, Cayela Wimberly White, and me (Jocelyn McCants) – but only after Cayela made us believers. Cayela is an avid camper who traded in the club scene for the outdoors. She started curating weekend camping adventures to show her friends and family how the healing powers of nature can be therapeutic and fun. Shunte and I were skeptical at first. Read more>> 

Celestial Randle

For years black women had been hearing about going natural and learning about their own hair. The goal was to stay away from harmful chemicals that alter and straighten our naturally curly hair. For many of us, we are taught to straighten our hair with a relaxer and a lot of us adhere to that all our lives. I stepped away from that idea and my hair was thriving better than it ever had. Read more>>

Ashton Arboleda

From being a teenager in high school, I have always been the individual to stand out and be unique. From wearing loud colorful clothing, to dressing up in different pieces, many of my associates wanting to wear the same pieces I had on or dress somewhat like my attire, I always knew that fashion was apart of me and my image. When I became a young woman, I always dreamed of owning and having a boutique of my own, a fashionable store. Read more>>

Jose and Erika Fontanez

Shockingly enough, we embarked on a new trail about eight years ago, unaware of the adventure awaiting. Many of our friends today would consider us social butterflies, but we weren’t always so outgoing. At least not both of us. Erika was relatively introverted and shied away from posting on social media. While dating, one of the first things we understood about each other was that we both appreciated a good meal. Read more>>

Raakeebah Mann

Okeemah Henderson and Raakeebah Mann, twin sisters having strong ties to the Caribbean, had a vision of sharing and educating about Caribbean culture through fitness utilizing the rebound boots; while participating in masquerade bands at Caribbean carnivals nationwide. Read more>>

Kalonni Daly

About a year after High School graduation i was walking down the mall shopping and i couldn’t find anything i liked or anything someone didn’t already have on. That day i went home and did some research on ways i can make shirts myself. i started mocking up ideas for other brands i had in mind until one day my cousin called me and said we should start a brand. Now i had a partner and things seemed real. i could no longer sit behind my computer and dream, work had to be done so LAHÉRA was born. Read more>>

Chris Watson

When I was 8 years old, I would impersonate characters from movies, cartoons, & tv characters around my family & friends. I remember that it would captivate the room for a short moment because they would stop talking & begin laughing. Now I realize that I was just telling the story of a character that everyone already had context into. Read more>> 

Follow Milli

My mother put me in pageants from the time I could walk until I turned 5. My parents weren’t too keen about modeling growing up, they were more focused on my education. In high school my favorite show, America’s Next Top Model inspired me. I then wanted to become the World’s Next Top Model. I’ve always felt that I should be in front of the camera. You ever felt so passionate about something, that the feeling never weakens? The feeling never left, so I waited. Read more>>

Loulou

The idea for JAZZYBELLE SWIM started in 2018. As a busty woman, I’ve always struggled with finding clothing that were flattering and bikinis weren’t an exemption. I started to host parties as a side gig during summers and most of them were for pool parties. I searched high and low for sexy, full coverage, supportive bikinis and all I could find were maternity one-pieces or plus size swimwear with outdated designs. Read more>>

Edie Carey

As a child of the 1970s/80s I always loved singing along to the artists I loved: Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson…and one day my babysitter Grace, who was often picking me up from school and listening to me sing in the backseat, mentioned to my parents that she thought I had a pretty good ear for music. I started taking voice lessons a few years after that, and then started singing in a cappella groups, bands and musicals in high school. Read more>>

Sarah Boothe

Back in 2020, the whole world was terrified, myself and my family included. I hadn’t finished school, my fiance had been laid off and it seemed that the end of the world was near every time we turned on the TV. The world was living in panic. Eventually, I realized that watching the news was not making my life any better, so I started looking for spiritual literature, I wanted to learn more about my mother, who passed away by her own hand in 2009. Read more>>

ATHINA GARCIA

I am originally from Colombia. I have always been close to artisanal and indigenous communities since I have been seeing them everywhere in Colombia since my childhood. As I grew up it was inevitable to see the conditions many of this artisans lived. They were usually women , children and even entire families living and selling their products on the streets. Many of them were displaced from their territories due to violence and poverty. Read more>>

Tyler Roberts

Outlaw LOTE (Life On The Edge) is a story and a brand that was built upon the inspiration of my family and upbringing. Growing up my father and grandfather always watched western movies and TV shows. Whether it be Gunsmoke, Andie Griffin, Tombstone and many others, you can always hear the sound or horses galloping and gunslingers shooting in the background. Read more>>

Nacari Mosley

wanted to make sure that nobody felt alone, so I made this website. The major objective is to demonstrate to those who are dealing with mental health concerns, who feel alone, and who feel judged that it is normal to communicate how you feel and that there are others who can connect. I wanted to have an impact on others while also helping them. Read more>>

Dana Bearinger

Best friends since our children were very young Suanne Woo and myself, Dana Bearinger have had many adventures, including raising children, travel, friends, family and fun but, going into business together was the biggest and hardest decision we could have made. Neither of us are stylists, actually the opposite… Suanne has not washed her own hair in 10 years, a victim of blow out bars and expensive salons she became hooked on getting her hair done. Read more>>

Rachael Davila

I came across the idea for my business by accident. It was 2005 and for months I’d been stressed about downsizing at my corporate job. I had enough notice to make a plan. I had always enjoyed administrative work, but wanted something that I could do from home and that would give me flexibility to care for my young family. I figured I’d end up as an event planner or professional organizer. Read more>>

Bella Bruce

WLJ Angel Gowns is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Augusta, Ga. It was created in memory of my grandson, my daughters son, Wyatt Lee Johnson (WLJ). We found out at my daughters 20 week anatomy scan that Wyatt had Bilateral Multicystic Dysplastic Kidneys. It affected both of his kidneys. We had Wyatt June 2, 2016 at 30 weeks gestation. He was absolutely perfect. He lived for just 2hours, 10 minutes. Read more>>