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.

Crystal Whiteaker

I’ve joked that I’m a corporate trained creative hippie since I spent over a decade in roles across a few industries including nonprofit, private education, and corporate spaces. Most notably, my time as an executive recruiter is what sent me in the direction of entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Jenna Stakias

In January 2022, I began to share on social media my journey of battling some sort of autoimmune disease with neurological symptoms. I wanted to publicize my story because I wanted others to know that even if they were going through the same thing or a challenge similar that they are not alone. Read more>>

Lawrence Butler

The inception of my creative services business was a journey that began with a passion for gaming and evolved through various stages of personal and professional growth. Read more>>

Jessica Green

As the name implies, my company, Demo Reels For Actors, specializes in editing demo reels—video versions of an actor’s resume, which are essential tools for actors to market themselves and secure audition invitations. Read more>>

Johnny Haure

The idea came to me during the Covid pandemic, I was feeling cooped up and tied down at home with not much to do in regards to creativity, so I decided to break out some extra paint I had laying around and I splattered it all over my bedroom wall. Read more>>

Emmanuel Gyebison

The Breakthrough Idea The breakthrough came with the concept of integrating mushrooms into drink mixes. This approach promised to blend health benefits with the pleasure of a refreshing drink, making it easier for people to incorporate into their daily lives. Read more>>

Barby Moscoso

I am a professional dancer and in 2017 I was on a world tour with Colombian recording artist Maluma. I was constantly on the move, traveling to dozens of countries and always changing outfits. Not only my fellow dancers, but also random people in the airports, would ask me where I got my clothes. Read more>>

Ayesha Ashiq

I am a People Resources professional with a decade of experience in the Middle East, interacting with multicultural individuals. I became an educational consultant when I felt the need to explore options for my son’s education in the US. It was overwhelming for both of us as working parents, striving to provide the best for our only son with limited resources. Read more>>

Rachel Martin

I started my career at one of the largest ad agencies in NYC, designing for some of the world’s most renowned brands. It was an absolute dream job, but over time, it became evident that much of what I was creating was contributing to waste, unnecessary packaging, and encouraging over-consumerism. Read more>>

Jayeden Christensen

During my high school career we went on a career day to the college where we got to explore the programs they have to offer. That’s when I sparked an interest in the massage program. Read more>>

Alita Watson

In 2017, I was hired by the CEO of a unicorn startup, Sonder, as an ’embedded coach.’ He knew he would be hiring many new managers and wanted them to practice the same leadership skills and philosophies he had learned in his own coaching journey. Read more>>

Shane Mahoney

The Evolution of Travel: How Lugos Travel is Redefining the Industry When I first entered the travel industry, a common question I encountered was, “Isn’t that industry dead? I thought no one used travel professionals anymore.” Read more>>

Chelsea Chambliss

During Covid, everyone needed a hobby or a way to escape the cruddy situation. I was filtering between different craft projects; like watercolors, those adult coloring books that do not relax me (no matter what they claim), sewing, even starting to do nail art. Read more>>

Yanira Rubio

I would be lying if I said I always wanted to own a salon or do nails! The truth is that the start to my business was from pure desperation. I had a rough up bringing in the streets of ELA, long story short I got involved with the wrong crowd and though I had something to prove. Read more>>

David Darling

I was home from work recovering from shoulder surgery, and I’d just picked up a novel to read. However, after an hour I put it down. It was horrible. I said, “I could write a better book than that….” so I did. Read more>>

Francheska Robles Diaz

The idea came to me while listening to many people talk about humanity’s dark side. Murderers and foul souls stained with darkness most of us don’t have… or do we? Read more>>

Juan Smith

The idea for my business came from my life experiences and development. I own, MproveU Coaching & Consulting LLC, which is a subsidiary company of my enterprise, JSent Cos. (Juan Smith Enterprise Companies). Read more>>

Shaday Hiraldo

How did this idea come about? It all started a few years back during a family trip to my beautiful island, Puerto Rico. During that trip, my cousin introduced me to açaí, a fruit I had never heard of before. Read more>>

Lisa Kagan

When I was a college student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, I was taking a Migration Literature class, and our assignment was to create a personal story or project based on one of our own family migration or immigration stories. Read more>>

Emanuel Grigoras

Most businesses that make it to the point where they have paying customers start with the awareness of a need – personal or perceived in others. Read more>>

Duly Lee

I am not a trained baker. I saw my wife Aura holding her crystal sound bowl when I told her I also meditated in circles.  I was mixing the batter for probably my hundredth basque cheesecake at that moment.  Read more>>

Caroline Koziol

I created KarolkaShow mostly because I wanted to make people laugh. My friends often told me that I always made them laugh, but I wasn’t certain if they were merely being kind or genuinely meant it. Read more>>

David Arregui

My story begins the day I graduated from high school, unsure of my path forward. I harbored dreams of becoming a musician, but my family had other plans. Read more>>

Jill Arena

It was the late summer of 2020 and I was sitting on my bedroom floor in New York City. I was in the process of my new morning ritual which consisted of building an altar, doing yoga, meditation, card pulling and journaling. Read more>>

Solomon Wilkins

The idea for Success Seekers Academy was born from countless conversations and heartfelt moments with friends, colleagues, and even strangers. Read more>>

Madelene Roserie-Hargrove

The idea for my business came from being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM). Some people think becoming a stay-at-home mom is easy. I must say the struggle became real to care for a 20 year-old, 4 year-old, 3 year-old, and a 2 year old. Read more>>

Dom & Mishell

So I suppose this all started when I (Dom), like many people, downloaded tiktok and created an account in 2020 to help cut the boredom of quarantine. Read more>>

Niqua Brown

I founded Piink Royalty out of necessity during a challenging period of my life. At the time, I was enduring severe mental, physical, and emotional abuse. Read more>>

Micole Rondinone

I am a lifelong lover of food. I grew up in the kitchen with my mom, who is an adventurous self-taught home cook with an “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” style — always more focused on flavor than technique.  Read more>>

Tara Watkins

My family and I had recently done a cross country move, with no job lined up for me. I’d experienced 2 very different jobs prior to this move that both had their pros and cons and essentially what it came down to was – I did not like being told what to do within this field. Read more>>

Ashlye Fleming

I took my first BODYROK class back in 2012 in San Francisco after noticing my a friend’s defined arms at a coffee date. She told me she had discovered this new workout and took me with her to her next class. Read more>>

Jhalana Jones

When I was fresh out of high school, I auditioned for Macbeth at Joe Jefferson Playhouse. There, I met my friend Abbey, who introduced me to tarot and spirituality. Read more>>

Christine Lawson

I started Write Moments in 2019. Write Moments includes reading and writing resources designed for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Although, the inspiration for my business happened many years before as I created resources for my own fourth grade classroom. Read more>>

Manndola Dorsilon

It all began when I attended my first 26 + 2 heated class in Santa Monica back in 2012. I distinctly remember walking into that session feeling nervous and stressed, only to leave feeling completely rejuvenated. Read more>>