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.

Karen Loong

Why florals? Some of my earliest memories are of me in the garden. Whether it was my grandma’s garden or my mother’s flower garden, watching them tend to their plants and learning about how things grow naturally and in their own time, slowed everything down for me. That’s where I learned to appreciate the organic flow of life, how beautiful things happen when you give them space to grow naturally. Read more>>

Nancy

I never thought I would be a creative. I was a corporate girl and spent twenty years in technology. The year I turned 40, I was a Senior Vice President for Bank of America. They tasked me with offshoring declining technologies. There was a good business case for it, and I knew it was a high-profile project so I was excited to hit the ground running. Read more>>

Jodi Novak

Honestly, it started really simply. My sister had just made a page for her dog, and at the same time, I had just brought Flynn home as a puppy. He was so tiny and curious, and of course, I was already taking hundreds of photos of him. We were already snapping so many pictures of our dogs that one day we just thought, why not share them with the world? Read more>>

Bianca Baskins

I remember vividly. It was a few days before New Year’s Eve when I first got the idea for Bratty Luxe. It literally came out of nowhere. I’ve always been the type to get really into something for a little bit and then get bored and move on to the next thing, so at first I didn’t think much of it . Around this time I was just hearing about ChatGPT, so I decided to play around with it and get some name ideas and fun logo suggestions. I figured that would be it. Read more>>

Lillian Rafson

Pack Up + Go started with a lightbulb moment. I was twenty-three years old, had quit my job at a startup in New York, and was traveling solo around Eastern Europe hoping I’d have a spark of inspiration and discover what I wanted to do with my life. I was in the lobby of my hostel in Latvia when I heard about the concept of “surprise travel,” which had already taken root in Europe. Within seconds, a flurry of thoughts swirled around my head: Read more>>

Erika Collins

Deciding to start an Executive Protection company was something that was really inspired by my husband. As a former U.S. Marine and protection agent, Jason was already working in the field for over 15 years when we got married. Seeing the level of professionalism, respect, and notoriety that he had within his field, I asked him if he ever considered putting a business together so he could be his own boss. A simple yes led us down a path of business creation, a career and education pivot for me, and a move across the country. With his yes, I was in the middle of my bachelors program for International business management. Read more>>

Teresa Gebbett

our daughter was planning her weddings so weddings were on my mind. We were walking across our pasture with the dogs and I mentioned how “fun” it would be to build a venue. Impulsive and never one to back away from an idea we came home, I drew a venue in the back of an envelope and the next day we made an appointment with a structural engineer and architect. Read more>>