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.

Amanda Baker-Taylor

I have always had a love for any and all things that smell good! When I find a candle/fragrance/spray I love, I stock up on them. I want my house to smell great at all times. Read more>>

Catherine Medina

“I became an international fitness presenter because I pursued my passion relentlessly and refused to give up. While I do hold a degree in Business Administration and went through the traditional university path as a backup plan, I always knew that a desk job wasn’t where my heart lay. Read more>>

Lauren Garcia

The seeds of Bloom Social Club were planted during our first pop-up event, the ‘Bloom Bazaar,’ born from my desire to connect with women in the small business world while fostering both financial profitability and meaningful friendships and collaborations for my clothing business, Laurel and Magnolia. Read more>>

Dominique Swanquist

My business, like so many others, started due to necessity when COVID hit.I was working in the medical field at the time and our office was considered a necessary business.  Read more>>

Melissa Wheeler

I was very unhappy at my corporate job, many of my colleagues were leaving and I was searching for my next career. One day a friend who had left the company called me about a job position at a chocolate company in Petosky which is not close to my house at all but it planted the seed for the chocolate idea. Read more>>

Maylene White

I sat in front of the computer looking at an opening in a prestigious flower farming school. Previously, for a few years, I’d occasionally get an ad to “find out more.” But this time, it felt different. Read more>>

Kate Johnson

In 2019, I wanted to sell my elderberry syrup to wholesale customers in Maryland. Taking the regulatory steps, it soon became apparent that the state health & agricultural department had never approved an elderberry product. Read more>>

Erin-Kate Escobar

Initially, I resisted even the thought of running my own business. Then 2020 happened – the pandemic times and the fast spreading racial reckoning. Read more>>

Amanda Pumphrey

My story starts at Whole foods. That is where i fell ass backwards into my passion for coffee. It started as I needed a job/any job to get out of the department I was in. Read more>>

Toni Love

I actually started by hosting classes in Atlanta near the airport (for attendees who traveled from other states). I would drive back to Alabama where I was residing and I did that for approximately a year before moving to Atlanta. Read more>>

Tabitha Brown

How DOES someone start a business, especially with no prior experience, is a great question. During the heat of covid in 2020, I was a first-time mom with a newborn, terrified about the unknown. Read more>>

Kelsie Jones

Starting my photography journey was much more of an accident than an actual executed career path. I bought a used DSLR camera (a $250 Nikon D3100) off of Facebook Marketplace in 2014. Read more>>

Jade Delgado

I had this thing I did, call it a ritual or a tradition I suppose, whenever a friend would come over to my apartment. I’d show them to the bar, and have them pick out three bottles. Read more>>

Em Deane Kelley

Although relatable to some, my version of getting started isn’t the one that is mapped out on Pinterest or the one that you will find folks on social media selling courses or free guides for. In my younger years, I was always someone who had to have a plan when it came to my career. Read more>>

Ira Tarrell

All Great Things Start With A ideas, the idea turns into a project once you’ve invested into the idea of getting that project off the ground!! Starting out I had no idea how to do much of anything to do with buisness! Read more>>

KC Bonney

I grew up around the construction industry. My grandfather was a carpenter and was/is my hero. I always wanted to be like him and build things. My uncle was a carpenter as well. Read more>>

Dov Viramontes

It all started in early 2015 when you could only share photographs on Instagram. I was running a successful event photography business at that time, and I was very inspired by other photographer’s work on Instagram. Read more>>

Nora Contreras

This is the most common question I get asked.. “what made you start an at home bakery?”. While I have loved baking and cooking for as long as I can remember, baking was something I clung to when I went through a really hard time in my life. Read more>>

Steve Neilson

My wife and I had 2 children as she worked on full length feature films in Chicago. It became more difficult by the time we had 3 children because of my job situation with lack of freedom and by the time we had our 4th child it was impossible for her to keep going after her dream. Read more>>

Sierra Cranford

I wanted to be a photographer since I was in middle school. My senior year of high school I got an internship at a photography studio and worked on and off in the industry through all of college. Read more>>

Tracey Rush

I started out as a rap artist. In 2016 I began to announce for a company called Race Texas along side my best friend Damon Walker who was at DJ at the time. Read more>>

Aisha Martin

The process of going from idea to execution manifests itself differently for everyone. When it comes to realizing your dreams, sometimes you just have to trust in divine intervention. Read more>>

Kiara James

In 2018, my parents had an intimate vowel renewal celebrating 38 years. I took on that task of creating a balloon arch for the alter. I ordered the materials and with the help of YouTube, I created my first arch. Read more>>

Miranda Imperi

The idea of COOP 111 was born out of a love and appreciation for the small business community and a need for more affordable opportunities for small business owners to get in front of their customers. Read more>>

Matthew Halloran

My partner and I wanted to disrupt our entire industry from a marketing perspective; we found that no one was podcasting and creating custom-written social content. Read more>>

Laura Brown

Like so many others, the catalyst that led to Trove was the 2020 Covid outbreak. My career as a massage therapist had ground to a halt in the midst of isolation, and any new career path seemed especially daunting. Read more>>

Indira Felder

The genesis of “Beauties With Brains” began on an ordinary day in class when inspiration struck me. As someone who effortlessly connects with strangers and finds fulfillment in offering advice and encouragement, I yearned for a way to expand this influence beyond chance encounters. Read more>>

Alex Snape

I always wanted to create music since I was a kid, and it wasn’t until I met my first mentor, Kyle Ginther, that I pursued Audio Engineering + Production. That Spring of 2019 I would Uber + Doordash to save up for audio equipment and consultations with engineers I looked up to. Read more>>

Ruben Russo

On a conceptual level, Arlo And The Sea was always intended to be an internal and psychological look at a ‘post-love story’. The endlessly brilliant Damian Overton – who wrote and directed the film – was clear from the start that this film would pick up right after the end of a relationship. Read more>>

Dina Michele

This is always a fun question to answer. So the beginning of this journey was actually sparked by GloRilla. I was in the process of creating my craft business and was trying to hone in on my target audience. Read more>>

Kailyn Marcano

My journey started when I was working for Harris Teeter in high school. I knew I had the capacity to achieve more, and I set a goal within myself to work as hard as I could to achieve the life I desired. Read more>>

Sam Jaboin

More than ten years ago, my cousin introduced me to photography, and helped me buy my first camera, Canon T2i. Back then, it was just a pastime and a form of self-expression. Read more>>

Annie Bradford

The idea of Bonfire has been percolating in my brain for several years. I’ve always wanted to have my own business– I grew up around two hard-working, entrepreneurial parents, so there was never a question of “if”, but “when”. Read more>>

Alexia Melocchi

After many years as a successful international sales agent for American films, and having sold over 50 movies to profit on behalf of indie producers, while attending all the major film festivals around the world, I found there were not enough champions and mentors of international artists and storytellers. Read more>>

Mary & Jen Cannizzaro

We are a quilting studio selling fabric, offering classes, and making quilt commissions. Many of the commissions were based on using t-shirts as memory quilts for a graduating student or a loved one who had died. Read more>>

Jayquel Williams

My process of going from idea to execution has changed for the better as an artist and entrepreneur and It’s all thanks to 1 photobook. When I started my journey 8 years ago as a photographer the idea of planning seemed foreign to me. Read more>>

Aaron Caerbert

Well for me I’ve always had a huge passion for cooking ever since I was a little boy. It started from watching my grandmother cook for me. I grew up in a divorced home and my mother being a single mother of 2 did her best for me and my sister. Read more>>

Mfon Ekpe-Dancy

The process of going from idea to execution was atypical. I didn’t plan to start a business therefore, I had no funding, business acumen, marketing or sales skills. Here’s how my skincare company Ziggy’s Pudding came about. Read more>>