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.
Scott Miller
I’ve been directing and writing musicals since 1981. I’ve written the book, music, and lyrics for ten musicals and two plays, and I’ve also written more than a dozen books about musical theatre. My life has been a pretty direct path to where I am now. Read more>>
Aaron Beelner
Rose Bucket Productions was a concept long before I was truly aware of what was taking place. My late father had coined his own phrase, “pulling a rose out of a bucket of s@%t,” and he had used this unique expression on two occasions. On the day my mother passed, August 3, 2009, he was crumbling, and he looked at me and asked, “You know how you have a way of pulling a rose out of a bucket of s@%t? Do you think you could do that today?” Read more>>
Clarence & Yalonda Lewis
During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, one of the things we started doing together was live-streaming on Sunday nights on Twitch (twitch.tv/djcsharp). Our stream is called HeartBEATS in The Basement and Clarence plays slow jams while Yalonda chats with him and the virtual guests about music, relationships, or other fun topics. Read more>>
Laura Holiday
I have always had a passion for art and dabbled with the combination of creating art pieces with wood rather than a canvas. When a friend saw one of the pieces I had created, she asked if I could do something custom for her husband who serves in the military. One order turned into another order based on presentation. Read more>>
Emmanuel Waters
What’s interesting about our story is that although I am CEO, the company didn’t start with me. The idea was created my Co-Founder Jesse Carpenter, who had a dream in the middle of the night to start a bourbon company. Jesse calls his best friend from middle school Brian Burton, Brian picks up the phone and calls his elementary school partner Courtney Tucker. Read more>>
Javier Parra
Ever since COVID lockdown was in full effect, I felt watching movies was a good way to pass the time. Life before 2020 was orientated towards errands and social engagement whereas any movie that dealt with heavy subjects was barely a consideration. With an abundance of time on my hands in the spring of 2020, I dove right into films that were challenging and required undivided attention. Read more>>
Josiah Jean
In order for me to take the leap and start my professional wrestling journey i had to be sure that this was what i wanted to do. On the day of my high school graduation in 2021 i was sure what i was going to do. I was going to become a professional wrestler! I got a job and i started saving to pay for my wrestling school tuition. Read more>>
Christine Imoukhuede
Picture this: the summer of 2021, and I’m caught up in a crazy wedding scene. Three close friends in Dallas are all set to get hitched in Nigeria, mixing tradition and modern stuff in their ceremonies. The tricky part? They’re dealing with weddings happening in different parts of the world, and there’s no guarantee the payments are safe. That’s when I thought, “Okay, I need to sort this out,” and Ahavaplan was born. Read more>>
Rebecca Hing
My journey into the world of 3D printing and digital sculpting began unexpectedly when my husband gifted me an Elegoo Mars for my birthday. Having previously enjoyed working with ceramics and creating cosplays, life had led me to put those passions on hold due to wrist injuries and the responsibilities of starting a family. Read more>>
Micah Freeman
I started with 200 dollars & a dream. The process going from idea to execution was simple when i looked around & got tired of my circumstance so i prayed to God & when he answered he told me to pick up that old thing you put down & that old thing was cutting hair. The main steps that allowed me to launch my business was just a act of faith i stepped out on pure faith because i had nothing else to lose. Read more>>
Hunsader Family
After generations of commercial farming in the Hunsader family, brothers Jared and Tyler and their father Mike were ready to invite others into the world and beauty of agriculture with them. At the time that the dream took hold in their and their wives’ hearts to start a u-pick apple orchard, Jared and Tyler were farming tomatoes at Jeter Mountain Farm. Read more>>
Jenny Lawrence
I started my business, Gingerbeet, because I wanted to provide an elevated experience that included, health-conscious and flavorful, plant-based cuisine. I launched my business in 2020 and had been plant-based for about 7 years at that time. Prior to starting my business, I did my due diligence by conducting research on factors that could affect my business. Read more>>
Timothy Scahill
Whenever I start any project, I always make an outline. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing poetry or songs, building websites, or helping a freelance client with their marketing strategy. An outline helps me to get my thoughts organized and makes it easier to get a team together to work on the project. Read more>>
Sam Viola
After refusing to study abroad in college, I graduated in 2014 and found myself dreading my first full-time job in Chicago at the age of 23. I often thought to myself, “I’m way too young to be hating my job.” After a few lengthy conversations with my best friend, we decided to quit our jobs and take a sabbatical in the form of backpacking across Europe and Central America for 6 months. Always referred to as “the trip”, this is where Uproute was conceived. Read more>>
Hollywoodd Tomlin
“I had been making beats for a while and I also already had the LLC for it. I really just had to put myself out there and let it be known that I was a producer… but before I could do that I had to make sure my production was up to par with the standard I wanted it to be. I was working consistently trying to create a sound a perfect my craft, early morning & long nights. Read more>>
Sharooz Raoofi
I’m a firm believer that a company or a startup can’t or won’t exist if it’s simply a deck. A deck is a glorified daydream in my opinion. With Wavetick I knew we needed an actual tangible venture – real IP, revenue, community, a customer base, before we even thought about a deck or raising money. I’ve spent over two decades making and selling tools to musicians, so Wavetick’s existence was more of an evolution of my trajectory than a blue sky moment. Read more>>
Giovanny Dejesus
I got inspiration from a street artist in New York I brought one of the paintings that he was selling and hang them up on my wall. Then later on, I was contemplating the art and talk to myself that I could make it, so I try to replicate it and after 11 years, dictated to Inc. that style of art with anime in my business became what is today in spraypaintgio. Read more>>
Chanel Miller
Believe it or not I started my music business on passion. I was an independent contractor going on some tours for a few year prior to Pandemic. As time went along and meeting a lot of people from all over the world I learn buiness and how to build relationship and the differences of transaction and networking. I developed an image of what I want to build and how I want to be seen as on both sides of my life (professional and personal). Read more>>
Andrew Hart
We had just been married and I was waiting for a new job to start so in the interim I was doing odd jobs and side work, easy work I could do with a pickup truck. I cleaned a garage out for someone and found a perfectly good cane chair without a seat. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out, so I found a guide to chair caning and after many attempts, taught myself how to cane. Read more>>
Nic Duca
We started the first Duca’s pizza in 2008. My uncle Tony and Joe started the concept. I got out of the military the same year Ducas opened and knew I had to be a part of making the amazing family pizza I’ve been having since I was a kid in my grandma’s kitchen. My family comes from Italy and the recipes do also. Read more>>
Derrick Leatch
I looked up and we were into the middle of COVID, and the economy was rocky and I didn’t have a try way that I could consistently provide for my family in the event something happened. I had stopped eating out and wasn’t spending money on gas or clothes, so I begin learning more about investing. Once I begin investing, my mindset shifted and I begin to understand the importance of additional streams of income for my children and their futures. Read more>>
Rebecca Carlyle Allen
It took me a while to understand my creative process. I’ve always been a perfectionist which used to hold me back from being vulnerable with my art and it stopped me from trying anything new, which I later learned is a big part of the creative process. Read more>>
Sandra Morales
I started my photography journey when I got my first dslr camera as a graduation gift from my boyfriend’s parents in 2017. I immediately began to practice shooting an array of subjects such as random things around the house, my boyfriend’s dog, my close family and I even worked with TFP (time for print) models. I practiced and perfected my photography for a whole lot of years until I finally decided that I was ready to book clients in 2021. Read more>>