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.

Enoch McKie

For me, I got tired of saying yes to everyone else and saying no to myself. I started my business as a way to highlight voices that have often gone unheard. After this idea, came further learning my craft (directing, photography, videography) and learning the business side. Being good at what you do is the first step – dive down deep into your craft and always be a student of the game. Read more>>

Sara Luna

Texicana Candle Company started 10 years ago in my kitchen and garage. Originally it was just a candle company providing uniquely scented candles at local farmers markets. In 2020 I decided to incorporate the spiritual aspect. A leap of faith. Read more>>

Jade Dyamond

After earning my degree, I entered the construction field. I began working my big girl job but I often found myself returning home and engaging in uneventful repetitive routines that resembled similar to many adults I observed growing up. I realized it was up to me to choose how I spent my leisure time without the club activities and campus events that were always available in college. Read more>>

Demetra Landry-Durst

It all started with a prayer to God, I was content but not satisfied. I ask God could He create a position where I could all of my lived experience of low living to get paid… a few years later, 5 years to be exact a ministry partner walked into my 1st business and everything else is history. Read more>>

Anisha & Millie Kili & Phung

Our brand officially launched in 2017 but we came up with the idea in 2013 while we were in college. The initial idea arose from our love for fashion and trying to find pieces that we loved and were made sustainably. To make this idea a reality, we did enormous amounts of research and focused on all of the foundational business administration work such as creating a business plan, filing for our business license, and finding manufacturers for our first products. Read more>>

Sustainable Harvest International

It all started in the early 1990’s. Florence Reed was serving as an agroforestry Peace Corps volunteer in Panama. During her service, she witnessed the tragic human component of tropical deforestation: huge swaths of lush tropical forests being burnt to a crisp as desperate farmers sought new land to farm. Read more>>

Ruth Kidd Johnson

In 2019 my husband and I purchased our first duplex property with a store front in the basement. He being an entrepreneur his whole life was drawn to such a property to build stability for our family and hopefully future generations. Read more>>

Christine Hart

When I first started my law firm things took off fast. With very minimal marketing and a virtual office, I began getting a decent influx of clients the first few weeks. But after those few weeks things started to slow down. A key point from one of my favorite books came to mind. Read more>>

Julianna Donovan

I had been crocheting for over 15 years before I attempted to make my first hat. “This doesn’t make sense to me” I remember saying as I tried to follow the instructions. My mother and my grandma were sitting with me in my apartment in Salem. We each had a hook and yarn, and they worked through how to make a hat with me. Read more>>

Amber Holmes

After returning home from working on Norwegian’s Pride of America cruise line, I had no clear vision what I wanted to do business wise. I’ve always baked and sold desserts, but I didn’t have a solid business plan. Ironically, I was watching a reality show of a business that had a dessert catering business. It peaked my interest and thought it was a great idea. Read more>>

Ikaia Pal

The inception of Goat Life Media was sparked by a combination of passion, skills, and a vision for creating compelling commercial content. As a freelance director, I found myself drawn to the idea of establishing a media agency that could deliver concise and impactful content for both brands and individuals. Read more>>

Ross Sandlin

I established a reputation throughout the Front Range music scene between 2014 and 2020, where many friends and peers would ask for lessons. After reading Victor Wooten’s book “The Music Lesson” I was inspired to start teaching lessons professionally through music studios in the Denver Metro area. Read more>>

Theodora Chatzipavlidis

At travelout, we’re on a mission to revolutionize the travel experience by connecting travelers around the globe, fostering cultural awareness, and supporting local communities through our AI-powered app. The journey from idea to execution has been both exhilarating and challenging, filled with learning curves, strategic decisions, and moments of serendipity. Read more>>

Jacob Kelley

It all began with a simple but powerful realization: my community needed something more. People were asking for guidance, education, and a safe space to explore and understand the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion. They wanted to learn about queer identities, sexuality, and the vibrant culture of drag. Read more>>

Niyah Red

I had an idea to become a content creator and a fashion model . The day I realized how beautiful I am and my personality is and realizing how much people see my potential is the day I started . I began to start to build my Tiktok and Instagram by posting reels and lip syncing to different hit songs and started to go viral. Read more>>

Muyly Miller

This concept of decorating cakes while sipping chardonnay popped up in my head one weekend when I realized that, heck, there are a lot of people out there that LOVE to decorate cakes, but have no reason to really decorate a cake. I am giving them a reason- WINE. Just kidding. No the idea is to get together with your pals, socialize, and have a great evening getting creative, learning, eating, and laughing. Read more>>

Ben Wales

Early 2020 I shared my idea with Bobby, a close friend of mine, about creating a workspace that was health and wellness focused. A few months later COVID was in full swing so we were unsure about the future of coworking in-person, but kept planning and talking about our potential business model. Read more>>

Sydnee Thompson

I didn’t grow up realizing that my hairstylist, our favorite seafood spot owner, or so many people in my community were entrepreneurs. I was born to a truck driver, a nurse, and a village of educators in Savannah, GA. Fast forward to 2020, I became something I never dreamed of…an entrepreneur. A business owner. Read more>>

Timeeka Tardy

It all started with a spark of realization during a particularly stressful day at my first massage job. I saw the need for a more flexible approach to wellness, something beyond the confines of a traditional spa setting. That night, the idea of Massages On The Move was born. The next day was a whirlwind of excitement and uncertainty. Read more>>

Madison Mains

in 2018 I traveled solo to Thailand and spent 3 weeks there. I was an extremely transformational trip for me and at the time I was working in the restaurant industry and just not happy. While I was there I witness many people traveling and working from their computers living this nomadic lifestyle and I deeply had this desire to want to do the same. Read more>>

Brandon Fadden

The concept of launching a general contracting firm took root while I was navigating my first year of college at Arizona State University. During that time, I worked for my then girlfriend’s father, the owner of a commercial electrical business, laboring under the relentless Arizona sun. Read more>>

DSTUNNA PLAYZ

Back in 2020 , I used to stream games such as fortnite, roblox and imvu. Imvu and fortnite was the reason why I gained about 2,000 subs on youtube. During covid, I had the idea to learn how to create videos so I started to do research on how to create animated videos which is why I started to play IMVU. Read more>>

Danielle Ferrari

The idea for Valhalla came together sort of on accident. I didn’t set out to start a clothing rental business but once the idea formed, there was no turning back for me. About 8 years ago, I found myself ready to change careers and industries but I was having trouble finding a good fit so I decided to start a business, something I had always wanted to do. Read more>>

Markia Ash

The Pro Boss Agency is a creative agency specializing in creative direction for e-commerce social media campaigns. This idea came about last January and one year later it is finally in full motion. Before, I was as lash artist of 5 years and as you can imagine being a new business owner you have to learn how to do everything yourself. Read more>>

Kaprice Tropnas

It all began when I faced the dual challenge of putting my son through private school while working in the medical field. Juggling these responsibilities, I discovered my passion for hairstyling. Inspired by a friend’s sister who owned a salon, I decided to turn my passion into a business. Read more>>

Valeria Watson

When I started my college education, I was a painting major. It took me a couple of months until I realized I wanted to do fashion. I started by looking for inspiration everywhere: fashion magazines, photography, paintings, plays, and more. As I grew as a designer, I realized my strongest connections were the ones inspired by my personal story. Read more>>

Ljaunet Montgomery

Tiara and I, for years, have discussed the idea of owning a restaurant. We came up with the idea of a Midwest/Creole fusion restaurant. Tiara is from Illinois, and I am from Louisiana. Growing up, I watched some of the best cooks I know cook some of my favorite dishes, which aided my passion for cooking. Read more>>

Keshia Dickson

I started taking an interest in makeup in my mid 20s as a way to build confidence. 2016 was the year of beauty gurus, and I turned to YouTube to learn makeup from Jeffree Star, CosmoByHaley, Jaclyn Hill, and MannyMUA. I started to practice on my friends and they encoureged me to do weddings. Of course, I was terrified. Read more>>

Julie Laughton

I started out working in New York City in commercial construction as a designer. I loved commercial work because everyone knew their roles and the rules and they followed them. It was a seamless process. After seven years working in Manhattan with the top five developers, I moved to Southern California to work in the residential arena. Read more>>

Jerel Wilson

Initially growing up in Baltimore we suffer from so many issues gun violence homeless issues, job readiness and trying to prepare our folks to be successful and mentoring for our youth.. I created a platform that could assist individuals with resources @ A one stop shop in our resource center to provided all these outlets for my community.. Read more>>

CHAR McAllister

How did you actually start – what was the process of going from idea to execution – walk us through some of the main steps that allowed you to launch your business? Tell it to us as a story – you had the idea, then what happened? What was the next day, hour, month or year like? What did you have to figure out, look into, setup, etc in order to move beyond the idea phase and actually launch? Read more>>

Toure Folkes

I have been a hospitality professional for almost eighteen years, stumbling into industry out of necessity and falling in love with it along the way. Throughout my career, I have always been aware of the lack of diversity endemic to the industry. Restaurant workers of color experience poverty at nearly twice the rate of their white counterparts (Shierholz 2014). 2/3 of hospitality workers earn less than a living wage. Read more>>

Kym Joles

Going from Idea to Execution was about overcoming the fear of being a failure. The voice we all have in our mind of “are we enough”. We live in a time that is so hyper critical, where if you make a mistake you are cancelled, or if you are not enough you are reviewed. It too me a while to reach a place in my life, that I felt like I didn’t care so much for what people thought of me. Read more>>