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.

Anvi Palav

BioMedizone didn’t start as a company or even a formal idea: it started with pure frustration. As a high school student passionate about research, I quickly realized how difficult it was for students like me to access meaningful research opportunities. Labs required prior experience, professors rarely responded to emails, and existing programs were either highly selective or expensive. If no one was going to make space for students like me, I was going to build that space myself. Read more>>

M. O. Stewart

As a kid I thought often about being a published author. I had a strong desire to write my own book and in middle school I sat down with a couple ideas to write into full-length novels. I usually got a few chapters in but it was hard to continue past that point and I didn’t know what I was doing.
Writing came and went from that time on, sometimes with new ideas, sometimes with the same ideas/characters as before. I never stopped writing, but I was pursuing other things (namely a degree in music) so my writing remained for myself. Read more>>

Anakarina Pina Ramirez

I started building content in social media for runner’s strength training. Being a runner myself and a personal trainer I knew that combining both strength training and running I could show my followers how to avoid injury.
As my following grew, I started to get more and more questions on how to avoid common running injuries during training cycles toward marathon and half marathon training. Read more>>

Matt Patrick

I have been at the Library Recording Studio for 16 years. When I first moved into this space, I had no idea what I was going to call it. I had a library ladder at my previous studio that I simply liked the aesthetic of. While I was installing it in the new studio, I thought to myself, “It would really enhance the space if there were books on the wall behind it… and then I could call the studio The Library.” Two weeks later, I got ahold of 2000 remnant books left unsold from a fundraiser book fair for a local, Catholic church. After that it seemed the floodgates were opened and I was finding, purchasing and receiving donations of all kinds of library-related items; globes, maps, card catalogs, more and more books… It all just slid into place. Read more>>

Vanessa Kavulish

One of my best friends owns a party planning business, and back when she was just starting out, I would help her with events whenever I could. One night, we were decorating for a close friend’s 50th birthday—a huge milestone. The venue looked incredible: Sparkles and glitter abound, purple and pink decor flowed throughout the room highlighting her ‘Swiftie Bejeweled’ theme. This client had gone all out, setting up a bar with mixers, cups, and garnishes neatly arranged for a self-serve cocktail station. Read more>>

Larry Brechner

After retiring from an over 40 year career in theater (facility management/show producing/directing),
I was already very involved on various arts and media boards of director.

I had done an 18-month stint consulting for setting up a local university’s new theater facilities rental operations. Also doing some guest lecturing for another university. Since 1993, I was an on-air/on-camera pledge host for our local PBS station and later also on their local NPR station (I served on the board of directors since 2000 and currently am the board chair). Read more>>

Marina Rubin

After the release of my 3rd poetry collection “Logic,” I realized no one cared about poetry… I looked around, the year was 2007, what was happening in the universe? Facebook…The iPhone just came out…The screen got so much smaller…The attention span shrunk to a couple of hundred words…That’s when it hit me – I am going to write desperately short stories, 300 words of so, a mini Babel, a shrunken Chekhov, it will have a plot, a cast of characters and a conflict. And it will speak to the modern reader who only has one minute to concentrate. I remembered the lesson I learned in my creative writing class — in order to write well, write what you know. What did I know? A family of five arrive from Ukraine with no English and two suitcases per person. Young women looking for love at ESL classes. Read more>>

Katherine Collins

Creativity has always been a part of me. It’s a gift, I believe, passed down through generations. My mom, Memaw, and Grandpa are all wonderfully talented artists, and growing up surrounded by their work nurtured a deep desire within me to find my own creative outlet. College felt like the perfect place to explore this, and I initially thought advertising design was the answer. It seemed sensible, a way to blend creativity with a stable career. But the world of advertising, while interesting, didn’t quite resonate with me. During my first internship, I learned a valuable lesson, you can be good at something without truly loving it. I could craft effective ads, I could meet deadlines, but the joy, the spark of pure passion, was missing. Read more>>

Chau Nguyen

In the winter of 2021, I started making polymer clay earrings as Christmas gifts for friends and family—an outlet, a way to escape and find my inner peace during the hardest time of my life. What began as a simple creative escape soon turned into something more. A dream started forming—one where I could turn this process into something bigger, something that gave me purpose and a future to move toward—a vision of building my own business. Slowly, I started shaping my brand, designing a logo, crafting packaging, and refining my aesthetic. Read more>>

Kelly Smith

I built my career in small- to medium-sized design firms, ad agencies, and hybrids of both across Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina. Though I’m a designer and illustrator by education, I’ve always been a writer. Creative and business strategy just made sense to me, so I seemed to get a lot of those assignments, too. Lastly, my dad was a career salesman, and everyone in my family was taught that understanding selling was critical to business. Read more>>

Asean Townsend

Going from idea to execution is actually *whispers* one of my least favorite parts of the process. I “whispered” that because my peers have affectionately coined me as the guy who can take ideas and make them realities. The most fun for me is creating an idea and fine-tuning it. The process is always cool because it varies based on who I am helping, go from idea to execution. The template I’ve created and usually use for this process is: fine-tuning the idea – acknowledging the roadblocks and the challenges – plotting your attack around or through the roadblocks – sitting down and talking to yourself about any internal angst/ tension you may be feeling before taking this step – and lastly setting a schedule for it. Read more>>

Marc Strong

My journey into video production and animation wasn’t a sudden leap—it was a gradual process, sparked by a passion I didn’t initially recognize as a career path. At the time, I had a stable and intellectually stimulating job as an intelligence analyst. I had gone to a top graduate school to get there, and by all logical measures, I was on the right track. But something was missing. Read more>>

Shawntee Reed

I never set out to become a floral designer. It all started with a simple ritual. I would carve out a small budget each week to buy fresh flowers from my local grocery store (Trader Joe’s). I loved the way flowers transformed my space, bringing beauty, warmth, and a sense of renewal into my home. Honestly, it just made me happy. Occasionally, I’d snap a quick photo of my arrangements and post them on social media but nothing too serious, just a little inspiration for my friends. Read more>>

Clayton & Taylor Connell & Johnston

We have been great friends for over a decade. During this time our shared passion for DJ’ing and producing grew and took on a mind of it’s own. From throwing connective dance parties, to enrolling in months long production classes; we were unknowingly paving the way to building a record label of our own, simply by chasing our passion and leaning into having FUN. Read more>>

Emily Easterly

Disney’s The Little Mermaid first came to theaters when I was a little girl, and Ariel was instantly my favorite and remained so for many years (she still is, really!) When I was about 7 or 8, my grandparents took me to a magical little Florida theme park called Weeki Wachee Springs, whose main attraction is its underwater theater featuring live mermaid performers. I was old enough at the time to know that they weren’t “real” mermaids, but performers in mermaid tails, and I knew then that THAT was what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Rontario Hicks

My journey from idea to execution for Pool Scouts of Huntsville is a testament to strategic planning, leveraging military leadership skills, and maximizing franchise support systems. Here’s how I transformed an idea into a thriving pool service business: From Concept to Reality: The Launch of Pool Scouts of Huntsville 1. Identifying the Opportunity. My decision to start a business was rooted in hands-on work, combined with customer and community service, but rather than starting from scratch, I strategically chose a franchise model.  Read more>>

Danielle Dinkelman

The idea for our employee wellness coaching business sparked when I was in Colorado, training to become a health & wellness coach in February 2018. The instructor shared that there are three paths you can take: clinical, private practice, or corporate wellness. I was immediately enamored with the idea of “corporate wellness” since the term seemed so paradoxical. I had watched my husband struggle through his executive career to be well, physically and mentally. I knew in that moment I had found what I wanted to do. I flew home after that weekend of training, bubbling over with this idea of starting our own corporate wellness coaching company. I shared the idea with my husband and asked if he wanted to do this with me someday, and he said yes! That was in 2018. We laid the plan then and there to have me focus on my private practice first and to get established as a coach first. I did just that. Read more>>

Prinston Hicks

In a cramped backroom, I lay on my mother’s floor, staring at the ceiling fan, realizing my life was a complete disaster. I
had dropped out of college to start my business, but I found myself back at home starting down my failure.
I read books, listened to gurus, attended seminars, and tried different business strategies, but I still was broke and an
absolute joke to my friends and family. Everyone wrote me off as a failure, and worst of all, I was starting to believe it
myself. Read more>>

Zoey Heffner

I’ve known since high school that I wanted to own my own business—I’ve always had a business-minded approach to everything I do, constantly finding unique ways to succeed and thinking outside the box. I’ve also had experience in bartending, but it never really felt like “a job” to me. I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people and, more than anything, I love creating new drink ideas and recipes. Read more>>

Brittianna Robinson

The process of going from idea to execution for me was an eventful, expanding thrill. Like the late rapper, Nipsey Hustle said in a song, “I went through every emotion while trying to pursue what I’m doing.” Following my idea to create Nana’s Secret, I began execution by educating myself in various areas. Obtaining my Associates in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management was my first step. Second, I enrolled in an entrepreneurial development program. Although it was tough balancing a tight schedule, I knew that in order to reach my goals in the time frame I envisioned, it was mandatory that I maximized the use of my time. Read more>>

Sara Castaneda

I knew I wanted to travel, so I took steps to find a job that allowed me to work remotely. My camera has always been my companion, so it wasn’t just about seeing new places—it was about going through this journey together and exploring how we could express ourselves to the world. I had already experimented with commercial photography and commissioned work, but this journey was something I had to do for myself. Read more>>

Joanne Spruill

It was my Uncle’s 70th birthday so I bought him some pajamas. Nearly my entire family attended the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) North Carolina A&T State University. My mom noticed the pajamas were the school colors and told me to go online and find some A&T slippers and she would pay for them. After doing a google search, I was able to find many different varieties of slippers for schools but none for HBCUs and that’s how HBCU slippers began! I began to search and understand how shoes are made because I thought I could just buy shoes and place the logo on them. Little did I know, it was not that simple. Read more>>

Morgan Hall

I first started selling on Facebook Marketplace. It sounds odd but I had just moved into a new house. Before moving out my previous one, I used the platform to get rid of old furniture and other items that we no longer needed. After spending so much time on there, I realized that people were buying and selling all kinds of things. It wasn’t just unwanted junk – there were lots of valuable things in great condition, both used and new. It also felt like Facebook Marketplace was an untouched gold mine in that here’s this huge audience of people looking for things to buy. I was already interested in jewelry so my mind started to wonder…what if I sell jewelry here? To me it made sense: I wouldn’t have to worry about marketing or building a website because there’s a built-in audience on an existing platform. Read more>>