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.

Jena La-Clarkson Josephine Wai Lin

Jena and I (Jo) have been BFFs for almost 30 years now, since the 7th grade. Back then, we dreamt of owning a “Petitque” – a boutique for petites like us. Read more>>

Katie West

The venue? We got married at an old converted summer camp outside of Chicago in 2012. During wedding planning, I fell in love with the idea of creating a space to celebrate one of the most signicant moments in life – marriage. Read more>>

Naomi Colon

I have been a bartender for sixteen years at the CLT International airport and over the course those sixteen years people would constantly ask “why aren’t you a manger?” “What do you want to do as your career?” Read more>>

Joshua Stewart

I’ve always said, “you don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” This quote is leading thought in my head before I go to execute on any idea, opportunity or new business ventures. Read more>>

Lauren Holt

A story describing how my business went from idea to execution went like this, Back in 2017 I was bartending at regular bars around Cincinnati learning the ropes from my peers like any other new bartender. Read more>>

Kaitlyn Cruz

I want to say the whole food truck idea started towards the end of high school. Growing up, I wanted a brick & mortar restaurant, but I came across the idea of a mobile food unit by going out and eating at food trucks. Read more>>

Clarissa Butler

Living in the bustling heart of L.A., creativity has always been my driving force. Whether curating art for legendary venues like Westlake Recording Studios, crafting eye-catching flyers for the iconic Viper Room, Read more>>

Majazz Muwwakkil

How I got here is a very interesting story because it’s not a long story short type of thing, so get ready for a story. I was a student at Morehouse College from 2012-2016 and throughout that time I was a member of the Navy Reserve within the Morehouse NROTC program in which I would commission as an officer upon graduation. Read more>>

Leila Warren

I started an animal welfare nonprofit that rescued, fostered, and adopted dogs and cats. The organization was also responsible for vaccinating, medicating (if necessary) and spaying/neutering these pets. Read more>>

Rachel Margolin

When I was 17, I was working for a children’s party company. They did not specifically offer character entertainment but had dabbled in it and I was hired on as a performer. Read more>>

Danika Tynes

It all began one day in June 2021 when my friend Babaluku, a legendary Ugandan artist, confided in me, “Danika, raising capital to support my non-profit and elevate the community is not easy. Read more>>