One of the challenges we’ve seen to true equality of opportunity is that schools and books often can’t (or choose not) offer access to one of the most equalizing resources – first hand stories of how successful entrepreneurs made their ideas a reality. If you grew up in a family or community that had many successful entrepreneurs you may have been lucky to hear many conversations and stories about starting and executing on an idea, but there are millions of people across the country who haven’t had the same advantage and so our hope here is to create a space where those stories can be told in a more public forum for the benefit of any and every aspiring entrepreneur.

Amber Farooqui

The Sisterhood Community was an idea I had for awhile. I wasn’t exactly clear on what I wanted to create, but I knew I wanted to create some type of a community for female leaders to level up in both business and life with support and empowerment from other females. I wanted to create that safe space for females to join and feel like they belong. A place where we collaborate and unite rather than compete and cat talk. Read more>>

Pinky Redd

Since I was a little girl I was always helping others & giving to others. About 15 years ago the director at my daycare I owned said I would have my own ministry. I was like yea ok whatever, not trying to hear all that. Fast forward I moved to Atlanta in 2016. I started going to The 3D Church in 2017 and my pastor spoke something similar over me. Once again I blew it off. Read more>>

Maelynn Le

I always felt like an outsider in high school and I felt I didn’t belong to any group of friends. I remembered having a lot of stress and anxiety going to school. I didn’t have a lot of friends in high school because I was a transfer student from a different school. The friends I was going to school with, I had to leave them to purse a better-built music program since I knew I would have more opportunities as a musician at that high school. Read more>>

Mykayla Victoriano

When I was little my mom had turned our laundry room into a little studio and me and my siblings would have so much fun dressing up and playing with props and having our photos taken! I loved photography but realized pretty quick I wasn’t a huge fan of being in front of the camera I wanted to be behind it! From the moment I got my first cell phone I was using it to take pictures with. Read more>>

Erica Murphy

Going from idea to execution, I started by writing down my vision, in detail. The details of “why” am I creating this business?, “what” purpose will it serve? and “when” do I want to launch it? I am a true believer in writing things down, you will see them come to fruition. Not only write your vision or goals down, but add a date to it. The date is important for the execution. Read more>>

Greg Westbrook

When my company started I had already had a few entrepreneurial endeavors under my belt. At the time I was working full time in corporate marketing and my wife was full time in corporate finance. She had a clothing studio that also doubled as a photo studio and event space and I happened to be in charge of marketing. This was an exhilarating time in my life because I was able to make a difference in something I owned. Read more>>

Michele Brabson

I was working as a commissioned stylist in Grand Prairie when my business idea to booth rent came to me. I knew I wanted to work behind the chair for myself but I enjoy working with people. I enjoy being surrounded by people because everyone has a different way of thinking. That was when I knew I wanted to work as my own boss but I didn’t want to work in a suite by myself. Read more>>

Kate Anlyan

I worked in fashion for 20+ years before taking the leap into interior design and though I knew I loved the discovery and curation aspects of fashion design/merchandising, the itch was never fully scratched while I was working for other people. I found myself looking for an outlet on the side where I could explore what excited me most: collecting beautiful pieces that I found interesting and special and layering them in unexpected ways. The home became my canvas. Read more>>

Syerra Donaldson

I was living in Arizona at the time and I was working countless of mental health jobs and server mental illness work . I enjoyed helping people but I just knew I had more in me to do in life . I was always good at eating food and helping people self develop in life . When the pandemic hit I had no choice to bask in my creativity for food and people. I started going to Walmart daily and buying random food items and decided to start recording myself and posting them online because I thought it was a hobby. Little did I know God had other plans . Read more>>

Ayanna Jaji

To be completely honest, I had no actual knowledge about the industry I was about to step into. As I previously mentioned in an earlier interview, I was introduced to the music scene by my boyfriend. I saw his passion for music and it kind of grew on me. Well, it most definitely grew on me. I just wanted to learn everything about it, I knew I always loved music and I loved to watch the hustle of an independent artist, so that mixed with the mentioning of a record label by my boyfriend we decided to start a label. Read more>>

Steve Kibe

They say when coming up a brand its a marathon not a sprint and Stetikmind is exactly that. Started from humble beginnings, derived from my full names, nurtured in an entrepreneurial family & environment, God-given. Blessed. Over the years i have developed numerous identities, gained insight from critics & mentors till i settled with the one i have now. ( i must say i can’t change it for a ticket to SpaceX ) Read more>>

Ernie Murana

I’ve actually always been in love with music from a really early age. My uncle used to watch me when I was little and he would always have BET or MTV on and we would just sit and watch music videos all day lol. That’s when I discovered my two all time favorite artists Chris Brown and Kanye West. Then years later when I got to middle school I would always download apps and make like dance/electronic type beats cause at the time I was listening to a lot of dj blend lol if you know you know, but I eventually stopped until my junior year of high school. Read more>>

Robert Korn

Music is a Language, Inc is an accredited 501c3 dedicated to music education by supplying funds and resources to schools and after-school program in the greater Denver area, with a global vision. The concept was formed as a single idea to support music education but the mission and execution of the mission didn’t develop until a team began to form. My belief is that an idea develops into a mission when more than one person believes in the idea. For me, that is when the idea of Music is a Language began to really form its mission. Read more>>

LaTasha Reynolds

After I wrote my first manuscript, I did a lot of research. I didn’t have a mentor to guide me to next steps. First, I joined Facebook writing groups. There was a lot of knowledge to absorb and experiences to read. I would encourage people to join social networks to build relationships and ask questions. These people pointed me in the direction of finding an editor, illustrator, etc. Read more>>

Cameron Cooper

The Director of MODGolf (Jake Saladin) and I had an idea to partner together to bring golf simulation, instruction, and competition all to the same place at Blackhorse Golf Club in Cypress, TX. We then had to work on the setup of the simulator studio at the Teaching Center on the far side of the range. We looked at different options for bay enclosures and additional launch monitors. We decided to go with 24/7 Golf and a couple of their enclosures. Read more>>

Chastity Alford

From my days in Corporate Leadership, I have always had a passion for helping others. In 2015 I made the big transition to switch gears from my 9-5 to the world of Entrepreneurship. If someone would have told me I would go from working 40 hours a week to 80 hours a week to start my business, I would have laughed. Read more>>

Jaclyn Haugen

The transition from a manager in the marketing corporate world to an independent entrepreneur was both exciting and intimidating. On one hand, Jaclyn had the freedom to pursue whatever opportunities she wanted in her new business and could work on projects that excited her; on the other, she now had the responsibility of keeping all aspects of the business afloat – from sales to marketing to operations, she would be in charge of it all. Read more>>

Madisyn Banks

In essence, I have spent my entire life being what you may call “a creative.” I’ve always had a tendency to gravitate toward media, creative planning, and the arts. As I was growing up, I built brands or assisted in their strategic planning. When I was about 12 years old, I started vlogging and video editing as a pastime. Together with my close friend Tori, I founded the “Dope3TV” online series. Read more>>

Mykel Darrough

To go from idea to execution was a major step in the process to where I am today. It is very important because it’s in this process you find out the possibility of making your dream a reality. In the process of creating Truly Grand Sports Promotions in 2015 I went through the figure it out process. I had to understand what were the needs in the sports industry and where could I fit in. I started by sponsoring professional athletes to develop a relationship with the client. Read more>>

Grant McGaugh

When I worked for a large Fortune 500 company in October 2019, my Boss called me and, without warning, told me that 50 of my peers and I were being laid off. Suddenly faced with financial uncertainty, I began to think about my next opportunity. While at a seminar, one of the attendees heard of my current unemployed status and asked me if I was interested in representing his company on a commission basis as a business development manager. Read more>>

Gelsandra Guzman Valerie Diaz

It went from an idea to an escape to a dream reality. The idea came about in January 2020, and little did we know that a global pandemic was about to hit us, and the world would come to a close. The concept of Posh Palma Styles brought joy and happy tears to us, with that said, as the world closed in March of 2020, we thought what now? Do we end the dream so quickly? Do we pause? So we decided to reflect together and trust our intuition, let ourselves be guided by what felt good. Read more>>

Valeria Bianco

I have been collecting photographs of various patterns and textures for almost a decade. I design physical objects for a living and I even created a couple of textile designs in the past. With the past three years this obsession with textures just grew more intense. While there’s certainly no shortage of photographers capturing New York City, during the height of the lockdown capturing the beauty of my town became a sort of mission for me, in a time when NYC seemed deprived of its vibrancy. Read more>>