Starting a business or creative project is scary for many reasons, but one that is often overlooked is the anxiety related to whether this is really “the one.” To some, this isn’t a valid consideration while to others this is the only consideration. Some argue that what you work on, along with who you work with are the two most pivotal decisions you’ll make and so we’ve asked folks to tell us about how they came up with their ideas and how they knew this idea was the one.
Joshua Smith
After working in Houston real estate for 8 years, I grew an appreciation for interior design. I started cultivating my passion and would take annual trips to the Round Top Antiques Festival. I wanted to foster my passion and decided to move out of my home state and attend the New York School of Interior Design. While attending school, I joined the team at Steven Gambrel, an influential interior design firm specializing in high-end residential and commercial commissions worldwide. It was the inspiration I needed to create Joshua Smith, Inc. in 2013. Read more>>
Luke Shirley
Just over a year ago I got introduced to a woman who owned a nonprofit focused on helping people in recovery and in active addiction through free Crossfit classes and personal training. We invited her to lead our outdoor fitness group, The Outsiders, and I asked if she would share her personal recovery story. It was deeply moving to see people in our group come up to her after and open up to express they too had struggled or lost someone close to them to battles of addiction and mental health. Read more>>
Chané Barlow
I have always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur and starting my own business! I knew that one day I would take that leap of faith and pursue my dreams. Although not knowing what field of business I wanted to enter, I asked myself: “What do you like to do and what could you see yourself doing?”. After much thought, I realized I wanted to become a wedding and event planner. I remembered when my husband and I were planning our wedding, I was a very hands-on bride that enjoyed the wedding planning process. Read more>>
Chris Minor.
In my early 30s I noticed the beginnings of what appeared to be psoriasis or an eczema type skin condition on multiple areas of my body. I tried multiple over-the-counter treatments including hydrocortisone cream, vaseline, and expensive lotions with little to no long lasting results. A close friend of mine at the time was delving into the business realm of cannabis infused products. Read more>>
Jerry Brown.
I was working for one of the largest photography companies in the USA. Ihad been there for over 12 years, and although I loved photography, the art and emotion seemed to dwindle. Was it the advent of digital media? Was it the lack of teachers showing how to use light , composition, posing? I don’t know what it was, but I saw my creative spirit leaving me. Read more>>
Tanya Bryant
We’re a family that has always talked about practical things that should be invented to make life’s little problems a little easier! In Jan ‘17, we were sitting at dinner and the question came up: “If you could invent anything what would it be?” The winning answer was: “Something that would stop what I put in my passenger seat (a purse, laptop, coffee, lunch bag, or whatever) from falling to the floor when I step on the brakes!! That HAS TO drive everybody crazy!” Read more>>
Benita Botello.
Book Beau started when I decided to get sober, found clarity and realized I had a passion for reading. Prior to solving a problem I had, I was reading over a hundred books a year. I am a proud fangirl and I fell hard for a few authors. I naturally starting doing research and deep dives. I found that a few authors I became obsessed with were local and there were actual book signings! I was alone in my reading ventures so I went to my very first signing by myself and the rest is bookish history! Read more>>
Jan House Teressa Gordon .
In 2018, calls were being received from seniors looking for ways to help overcome an array of things including loneliness, anxiety, financial, spiritual, mental and physical abuse and more. After much research, we quickly realized that unless a person was directly connected to a group, organization or individual, their opportunity to get involved was limited. Read more>>
Nancy Nieto
I have always loved being creative; It is also a form of escape for me from the real world. I always knew I wanted to own my own business I just never really knew what exactly. I completely stopped creating once I had my 1st daughter in November 2017. I lost myself in motherhood and didn’t really feel I had any space for me to be creative anymore. A lot happened between 2017 & 2020 including a lot of anxiety. Read more>>
Ashley Jones
When my 2-month old daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness, my entire world seemed to collapse. The doctors told us Skylar would likely not see her first birthday and there was nothing anyone could do. I was 25 years old, many of my friends in their early to mid twenties as well, and none of us had been taught what to do in grief. Many disappeared, but one of our friends gifted us a professional portrait session. I knew those photos would be a gift, but little did I know they would set me on my path to revolutionizing the way we heal in grief. Read more>>
Carlos Pundik
It was early on when the pandemic first began that my partner Jonathan and I got stuck at home from our corporate jobs where our vanilla extracts idea came about. I love to bake, I grew up spending quite a bit of time with my paternal grandmother in her kitchen while I was a young adolescent watching and observing her prepare meals and traditional family recipes. Read more>>
Amber Hurt
The Adulting Queen was born in January 2019 with the mission to help individuals navigate adulting because no one teaches you how to be an adult. At the time, I was working on a college campus with students that lived on campus. My students would always ask me adulting questions, seek guidance on issues they were having outside of the classroom or ask for the latest brunch spots I’d been to. Read more>>
Marc Johnson
FIORELLA Nashville came from finding inner happiness by stepping into my repressed creative side. After years of Event Sales Management with various hotels and venus, I had lost touch with my creative side and thought that a facet of my life needed to be nurtured to feel a sense of self-accomplishment. Read more>>
Joyce Kyles
There are many positives of having what is considered a regular job. During the early stages of transitioning into the role of business owner, I thought about working for someone else on a regular basis. There are emotional and financial securities that come with doing so. I knew my exact rate of pay, when I would be paid, and how often. If a problem arose with a client, I experienced issues with malfunctioning equipment, needed operational supplies, etc., Read more>>
Julia Palmer.
Starting this business was not an option, it was mandatory. My family and I had uprooted ourselves to move across the country to be closer to loved ones and to hopefully create new beginnings, only to be faced with a pandemic a couple of months into becoming comfortable. I had initially hoped to make efforts to possibly open a practice for my wellness business, but with the uncertainty of the unknown and the lack of information in regards to the reopening of small businesses, it didn’t seem logical. Read more>>
Joan Kanner
A foodie with a research background, in 2015 I led the design and development of Baltimore’s first ever diner-focused survey. Tired of celebrity chef-driven dining trends, I wanted to know what diners’ experiences really were in the Baltimore food scene. The instrument, the Baltimore Diners Survey, was born. Read more>>
Andrew Clark
My business story started 3 years ago. The idea started with me wondering what I was gonna do after serving in Active Duty. I had been is a lil over 15 years at the time. The only thing that really stuck out to me was I wanted to invest in myself and follow my passion if metalwork. Read more>>
KORA DELTA
This is an excellent question. I want to get a couple of things straight. I am very young. All my creative things are for fun, gaining knowledge and connections, and experiences. All the right people and money, and opportunities will naturally flow. Read more>>
Giovanna Ventola
Bizarre Bazaar started selfishly; I wanted a place to sell the kids book I wrote where I was also in control of my earning potential. I lost my job during Covid and found myself unemployed for 7 months during the winter of 2020/2021. Winter in Chicago is depressing and being jobless with Covid fatigue made it significantly worse. I had to find a way to get myself up and motivated every single day. Between Peloton rides and bundled up dog walks, I dove into some passion projects I’d been wanting to start. Read more>>
T Valadares
After working for shops and having multiple terrible experiences with shop owners who don’t value their clients or co-workers I decided to take a huge step and find a space of my own. During all this time I was also learning a lot about myself and wanted to create a space where everyone, especially from the LGBTQ+ community, felt comfortable and cared for. Read more>>
Jeanne Foley.
When I got married, I had been working as a technical designer for apparel brands for about 10 years. When it came time to look for tuxes for my Fiance and his 9 groomsmen (including 2 of my brothers) we went the obvious route, rentals. This is what everyone did when getting a large group dressed in black tie attire affordably. The only thing I didn’t realize, was that they actually weren’t affordable (they were over $250 for a one time wear) and they didn’t fit well at all! Read more>>
TRI Distinction Handmade Jewelry & Accessories
TRI Distinction is owned by Penyon (mother) and Qiauna and Camai (two daughters). We have fond memories of working in our mother’s handmade jewelry business when we were adolescents. We attended local bazars and festivals to sell our jewelry while learning public speaking, cash handling, and negotiation skills. We loved making jewelry with our mother, because it provided us with confidence, self-esteem, creativity, trust, and a deeper relationship between the three of us. Read more>>
Jasmine Gossett.
Well my flower journey start was completely unplanned. Some years back in Summer of 2016 I planned to take my dog (a corgi) to an event called Corgi Beach Day in Huntington Beach California. I read up on the event and saw that they had a costume contest for the dogs so I figured I’d create a costume for my dog so she could enter. Read more>>
Misty Wilson
When I was teaching third grade, my students loved graphic novels. I stocked my classroom library full of them, and one day, I opened one to see what exactly had even my reluctant readers gleefully picking up books and groaning when independent reading time was over. First, I read Raina Telgemeier’s SMILE, as it was the most popular by far, and discovered it was a memoir—a true story about Raina’s experience getting her teeth knocked out and going through middle school with dental issues. Read more>>
Mya Bloodgood
Honestly, coming up with the idea to start my business was not spur of the moment. It was a development over time; I saw things happening in my community, the country, and our world and knew I wanted to change them. I consider myself a visionary, so I saw exactly what I wanted to do, but I was initially unsure how I wanted to do it. It wasn’t until December 2021 that I was able to make my vision clear. Read more>>
Jaunitra Watkins
I have the biggest candle fetish ever! I always like for my home to smell good so I would always purchase candles. I would light a candle for just about anything. Anything there was a sale going on somewhere for candles, trust me I was there getting more than enough. I then told myself one day I’m going to make my own candles, which I did end up doing but just for fun. That later turned info my family asking me to make them. Read more>>
Bejanae Kareem
Prior to the launch of BK International Education Consultancy, I served as a classroom teacher for over 10 years. I recognized the need for teacher training aimed to deepen students’ 21st-century skills and fully stocked classrooms for innovative learning. During my tenure, I was often frustrated with attending trainings that didn’t move the needle for my kids and constantly spending out of pocket. Read more>>
Daniel Walker.
One day, my brother and I were discussing, how can we make an impact on the world? We knew our Faith is something of the importance. Growing up in the church we’ve always heard different sayings or passages from the Bible that sticks with us or use on a daily basis. We then had an idea, how about bringing those sayings we all grew up on to light? That’s how we started our Faith based and Inspirational quotes clothing brand. Read more>>
Dynamic Mars.
We have wanted to start a business for at least 3 years, but we didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do. It’s 4 of us, so trying to come up with something that everyone agreed to was hard. Because, we are minors, we also knew that it needed to be something that our parents would be able to easily oversee the process of. Back in March of 2022, my 6-year-old brother came home and told us about his day at school. Read more>>
Carol Roper
About twelve years ago I felt called to start writing but since my background is in architectural engineering designing homes, this was really out of my wheelhouse. I’d heard about a local writer’s group and decided to join. I was overwhelmed by the support and encouragement they gave me and felt like the next step was to go to a writing conference nearby. Read more>>
Marco Espindola.
After working fo so Many restaurants and not being able to show my creativity I lost the fear of the unknown and decide to open a food truck Read more>>
Arianna Soto
I am Arianna Soto, sole owner and creator of Boho Wicca LLC. When I was 23 I found out I had three tumors in my right breast that were growing rapidly. Needless to say this was a scary and unsure time for myself. After a few doctors appointments, I reluctantly scheduled a surgery to get two of the three which were most concerning to the doctors removed. After doing so, I went through a long process of recovering. I couldn’t do much because of the pain and was extremely self conscience now because of the large scar I had from the surgery. Read more>>
Tonica Logan
Hi, my name is Tonica Logan, but most people address me by my middle name, “Angel.” Born and raised in “Small Town Friendly” Forest City, NC, where everyone knows your name and all your “Kin Folk,” it’s a place of familiarity and comfort. I moved to Atlanta in 2015 to pursue my dream of owning The Progress Place, a behavioral health agency. Fast forward seven years later, God has blessed a little black girl from a small town friendly with not one but two great businesses in Atlanta, GA. Read more>>
Amber Allen
The idea of Skinvestment Body Company was developed from my personal problems and experience with my own skin. I was determined to come up with a solution. I knew that if it was an issue for me in my mid-twenties, it could be an issue for others as well. In 2018 I made a conscious decision that I wanted to develop skincare products that would satisfy and meet the needs of others who may be experiencing issues like myself. Read more>>