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.

Mac Senour

I have always love cooking and baking, Sometimes I’m so focused, I forgot to talk to my guests. I was famous in my apartment building for making WAY to much food and sharing it with neighbors. Read more>>

Jaylene Scott

I started a personal development journey in 2020. As I moved into 2021, I experienced some life events that shook me and made me question my purpose. During this time, I joined a skincare company with some friends from back home, which pushed me to post my writing about what I was going through. Read more>>

GUY & SHONNA Williams

At the height of the pandemic, I had a life-altering accident that left me struggling with severe memory loss for eight months. Despite countless medical treatments, nothing seemed to work. In a desperate moment, my cousin suggested trying sea moss, something I had nearly forgotten about despite its significance in my Jamaican culture. Read more>>

Nylah & Yolanda Randall & Purnell

Dance has been apart of our lives since childhood. It’s a passion, an escape, and a lifestyle. We’ve coached many teams in the past and being the creative and driven people we are, we wanted something that belonged to us. Read more>> 

Xinyue Wu

Inspiration and Beginnings The idea for my creative services business, PinPaint, was born out of a blend of childhood memories and everyday observations. As a child, I often drew little flowers and animals on my bags and painted visions of home on my bedroom walls. Read more>>

Lydia Thibodeau

I grew up and went to school in Chicago. When I attended college downtown, I worked as a part-time nanny to help afford tuition and board. The family that I worked for had three young children and one parent who traveled extensively for work. Read more>>

Elisha Horne

I always said that music was my first language, before I could talk I was humming and singing around the house. And it helped because I grew up in a family of people who sang and understood music. Read more>>

Molly Piccirilli

After living a life between urban Paris and tranquil Sydney, I found myself increasingly drawn to comfortable, yet elegant sleepwear and loungewear that mirrored my lifestyle of working and mothering 3 children. Read more>>

Shakela Matthews

I’d be happy to share the story behind my business. The idea for my business (Divinely Restored), which includes my book (Beautiful Brokenness) and my women empowerment coaching program, was born out of my personal journey and the countless stories of women I’ve encountered. Read more>>

Allie Sarnataro

Katie Cram, Wayne Jackson and I met at a therapeutic riding center in San Diego. Throughout the years we worked together and transferred to different therapeutic riding centers in San Diego. We had always talked about starting and creating our own riding center but never thought it would actually come true! Read more>>

Amber Horton

I have always loved movement. In my early years, I studied dance for 15 years. In my late twenties, I was introduced to yoga and found a kindred spirit of movement in this new practice. Read more>>

Renee Pollino

Life can be hopeless and hardships can become paralyzing. Working with women refugees and survivors of human trafficking in America and around the world opened my eyes to the vulnerability of women that often leads to poverty, addictions, and exploitation. Read more>>

Justin Sather

Hi! My name is Justin Sather and I’m 13 years old. I live in San Diego, California and am the founder of a new online business called Recreate.World. Read more>>

Kirsten Maitland

My parents passed away at a very young age due to cancer. From a very early age, I have always believed that food could heal and that diet plays a vital role in health. Read more>>

OLD TOWNE

As creative’s in the Fashion and Lifestyle Industry for more than 25+ years, our profession is to make imagery for designers and brands for the use of advertising. I’m a Fashion Stylist and Consultant and Craig is a Lifestyle Photographer. Read more>>

Nolan Delgado

I went to college at CalPoly SLO to study architecture. The program is designed around the concept of “Learn By Doing”. With the heavy focus on physical modeling, I took a liking to the laser cutter. Read more>>

Tania Russell

To understand how I came up with the idea for Makeup to Go, you have to understand what makeup education was like all the way back in the 1990s when I started my journey as a makeup artist. Read more>>

Chris Laughter

Over countless cups of coffee, we discovered our mutual love for photography and design. We dreamed of creating a studio where we could make innovative, unique art that truly stands out. Read more>>

Kayla Davis

I felt like this is an animation the world needs right now. “Skelly” is dedicated to my grandmother, who was always sassy and full of life. Now, as she struggles with dementia, I wanted to create a story that captures the humor, heart, and strength she always embodied. Read more>>

Amber Hudson

The idea for Wandering Free Photo and Video began as a spark of passion and creativity from my childhood. I remember being just six years old, holding a camera in my tiny hands, and feeling an incredible sense of wonder. Read more>>

Deanne Frieders

I left my corporate job to raise our children. Living in a rural area, there aren’t a lot of daycare options so it was a sensible thing to do. I was raised by a family of entrepreneurs, so it was hard to not “have a job” (though parenting is the hardest job ever! Read more>>

Abigail Harris

I have always loved nature and have been a fairly successful gardener for many years now. I got interested in floral preservation as a way to extend the joy we get from flowers beyond their natural life span. Read more>>

Amanda Steffen

I love senior pets. I just love their gentle wholesome souls. So I spend a lot of time discussing how to care for them and what extra things we can do to keep them comfortable. Read more>>

Genevieve Godwin

This has always been a life long calling. Since I was a child I knew that I was supposed to help people and be a light in this world. I could just tell the way the majority of people were living was not how life is supposed to be. Read more>>

Gwendolyn E Childs

At 12, I began working at my cousin Mary “Pee Wee” Jeffries’ salon, The Golden Touch. The lively atmosphere and the transformations I witnessed sparked my passion for haircare. Read more>>

Adriana Galvan

I have been fortunate enough to have my immigrant parents teach me about money, but it was very much saving, living under your means and investing in real estate for passive income. Read more>>

Arden Joy

The idea for Girls Who Travel wasn’t an idea at all. It was a question I asked when I was first wanting to set out and travel on my own: how can I, as a woman, travel the world safely and connect with other travelers like me? Read more>>

Pineiro’ Kitchen

Pineiro’s Kitchen was founded in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pineiro’s Kitchen has been operated by two strong women ever since, who share a special bond. Read more>>

Erin Bauchan-Caprara

Before I even started this project I knew that I wanted to come up with some way to center my creative practice on keeping myself engaged during what was sure to be a challenging election year. Read more>>

Drew Walston

While Mighty Hero Homes is not a faith based organization by definition, everything we do, including the original calling, is as a result of my relationship with Jesus Christ and my effort to be obsessively obedient to what He’s called me to accomplish. Read more>>

Jessica Matthews

The idea for my business stemmed from my heritage and early experiences in the kitchen. As a young girl, I was taught to cook at the age of nine years old. I quickly became captivated by the taste, culture, and warmth of the people coming together within my family my community, especially through the concept of good eats. Read more>>

Rebekah Kochan

I’ve been working as an actor/comic since I was a teenager and had dealt with the same frustrations a lot of artists in Hollywood deal with: lack of control over how much you work, not feeling understood/valued, wanting to be more involved in the creation of projects. Read more>>

Kovia Ventress

“Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeling. To have the hard conversations.” -Brene Brown Read more>>

Jen Munson

In the midst of a life altering battle with Covid pneumonia I found solace in an unexpected place-aromatherapy. My journey began in the hospital, where I spent a month battling pneumonia and respiratory failure. Read more>>

Cassandra Riddick

I came up with the idea for Leadership and Arts Coalition, a nonprofit 501-C3 organization about 25 years ago. In 2005 I left the music industry to pursue my film career. My first true love. LAC became official in 2019. Read more>>

Lara Harrison

In the fall of 2002, my dad, Charlie, passed away, and I inherited 18.000 hardback books. Charlie was an avid reader and book collector. Growing up in Southern California, I frequented used book stores and library book sales with my dad and as I got older, we bonded over favorite authors and sharing new ones. Read more>>

Sascha Alexander

When I turned 30 I stopped wanting balance “dayjobs” with my acting career. I loved my artistic life, but I wanted greater stability. Never knowing what would happen to my schedule week after week became less and less cute the older I got. Read more>>

Meli Malavasi

My business idea came to me as something very unexpected. My original idea was to be a star, a rockstar in the music business, but no matter how hard I tried I could never find happiness in what I was doing. Read more>>

Meghan Roghanchi

The concept for RAM Gallery emerged from numerous visits to New York City, where I immersed myself in the dynamic art scene. It was during these experiences that I was particularly captivated by the perseverance of street artists showcasing their creations. Read more>>

Kimberly Richardson

As I started to get more of my books published, I also learned about the health benefits of tea. I wanted to exchange my coffee-drinking ways for something better, so tea was the likely choice. Read more>>

Wasfee Vazir

The idea for Hindi Time Kids originated from my personal experience and the challenge of passing on heritage language and culture to my child growing up in the U.S. Read more>>

Tammy Reimer

I really love helping people. I was very fortunate to stay home with my kids when they were little. I was able to volunteer and help those in need because I had the time. Read more>>

Rachael M Rollson

Our business models our life in many ways. In January 2020, my life partner and baker, Joshua quit his career with a local solar company and started baking sourdough bread with local and responsible ingredients from our homestead kitchen. Read more>>