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.

Kiaya Carmona

In October of 2020 I was furloughed from my full time job of 5 years. With limited options of places to dine in I began hosting small dinners with friends at my home. While hosting I would take pictures and post them on my social media. Soon after that I received messages asking if I could create a charcuterie board for a bridal shower. I informed them that I was not selling my work, I was just posting for fun! The customer was persistent and adamant about placing the order, so I set a price and voila just like that the idea of Prepped by Pretty Plated was created! Read more>>

Ashley Dixon

I would like to tell my story from the beginning. In 2016, I was diagnosed with depression due some things that had taken place in my life at the time. I would cry a lot, and often isolate myself because I was overwhelmed by emotions. One day, while heading home, I passed by a brand new Planet Fitness and decided that going to the gym would be a good idea for my mental and physical health overall. I decided to take a HIIT workout class which I really enjoyed and things took off from there. Read more>>

Jason & Heather Birdsell

We moved our family from Southern California to New Braunfels, Texas in July 2018. We had talked about a big out of state move for years, and this time it just seemed to pan out perfectly from the job transfer Jason received, to the purchase of our new home. 4 days after moving to Texas our oldest son, William was diagnosed with cancer at age 9. For two years, we balanced William’s intense appointment, treatment and surgery schedule along with Jason’s new job, and two younger kiddos. Read more>>

Danielle Lucas.

I know it is very typical to say that my Grandmother is the best cook or baker in the family, but for me that truly was the case. I spent the majority of my adolescence at my grandparents house either after school or on the weekends and my grandmother, or Nana as we called her, was the Queen of the Kitchen. It was there I learned what food could do to the soul and how through each dish or pastry I was discovering a piece of our family’s history. Read more>>

Jana Askeland.

I’m constantly asked by my peer group about cars and suv’s best suited for families. I also see SO many posts in Moms Groups of women asking “What’s the best SUV for 3 car seats across” or “what will fit my two big kids and also has a full 3rd row?”. These questions always get so many opinions because Moms are PASSIONATE about what they drive! Read more>>

Adrienne Catone.

In the 1990s people weren’t talking about sustainability as much as they are now. I was adventurous and decided to take a trip to Africa. There, I had the opportunity to venture into the forest to see a wild troupe of mountain gorillas. Watching the guides track the gorillas was inspiring, but actually seeing silverback gorillas in the “mountains of the mist” changed my life. At that time, there was a fear that without conservation involvement, the majestic silverback gorillas could be extinct before the end of the century. Read more>>

Aimee Hill

While spending a day at the Sebastian Inlet sandbar, on the east coast of Florida, my husband, Jim, and I watched from our boat as our friends stood talking in the water, our teenagers lounged on floats without phones in hand, and the younger kids hunted hermit crabs on the sandbar. Surrounding us, were a hundred other boats doing the exact same thing with their own families and friends. Read more>>

Samantha Riley

BITE was born in 2019 when two cousins, B + Sam, were both individually the next step professionally. A friend who was moving gave B a mini donut maker and one afternoon they decided to make 100 mini donuts just for fun. After giving away these treats to friends and co-workers, people started to ask if they could purchase them for kids birthdays or office parties. Read more>>

Iqra Khawaja.

I officially started Monet Moves in 2018 as an escape from depression and anxiety after a very scary time in my life and I wanted to be able to channel my discomfort and use it for something good. It was during this time that I realized how I could combine the beauty of Islam with my artistic skill and share it with the world! Read more>>

Russell Underwood.

So I started crafting tea blends when I was in high school, truly after my ADHD kicked in one day.. About 7 years ago was when I started taking my craft more seriously and began playing around with flavor profiles and such, and trying to figure out how to make exciting tea blends. Finally at the end of 2020 I said “Know what? It’s a global pandemic, why NOT try and start selling teas!” Read more>>

Sara Tick

I am a licensed couples therapist and I have always loved the intersection between relationships, dating, communication, and technology. I worked part-time with a matchmaking company during graduate school in Boston, and the day that I graduated with my masters degree I launched my dating coaching company for professional men. Read more>>

Christian Lowe

When I was growing up, the church that my family attended had a gymnasium that was supposed to be free for all church members. However, when my siblings would visit the gym, we found that the gentleman who was in charge would specifically not rent out equipment to little Black kids like us. Read more>>

Meleca Link.

Having a good work ethic is something that has always been an asset of mines. I knew that by displaying my drive to succeed in any position that I held at that moment, would lead to rewards. However, with rewards, come sacrifices. and I would learn this while working a corporate job. I knew from attending College courses for business and entrepreneurship, that I wanted to build generational wealth for my children. Read more>>

Alyssa Davis

I came up for the idea of Spring Bungee Fitness LLC in approximately early 2020. I was first introduced to bungee fitness in December 2019 as a student. The long version of the story is that I remember a long time ago, maybe even in high school, seeing a segment on one of the morning talk shows (TODAY, Good Morning America etc.) and it was for a studio that was featured in New York that had individual trampolines and used bungee bands similar to TRX classes. Read more>>

Darius Godwin

The King Bear LLC business and brand has continued to be a journey that started in 2012. Initially, the business name was S.P.A.X. Sports Performance (Speed Power Agility and Xplosivness) and was solely geared towards high performance fitness training for athletes from youth to professional. S.P.A.X. started as I was blessed with an opportunity to coach youth in the local area in Indianapolis, Indiana. Read more>>

Yesenia Bernard.

I started this journey as just a girl with a dream. I have been styling parties and weddings for over a decade; interest and passion that came into fruition after designing parties for family and friends. This passion of creating epic themed parties flourished even more after my daughter was born; and it became an official brand established as BP BLVD. Read more>>

Cassandra Bellevue.

Those who have known me the longest can attest I’ve been life coaching for most of my life, just for free! Haha! I believe that everyone has a special calling on their lives from God. For me, it’s been to be a great listener, supporter, cheerleader and encouraging people to embrace/love themselves and walk out their purpose. I’ve been doing this as far back as I can remember. I just didn’t know there was a name for what I was doing. Read more>>

Stanley K Harvey

TAG was created through someone else’s idea. I had been back from Atlanta for a few years and still had not figured out what to do with myself. I knew I want to be an entrepreneur, but I wasn’t sure in what field. I created an accountability program with a list of clients where every day they received tasks to complete to improve in an area they wanted to grow in. Read more>>

Sig Ferrer.

I grew up in Florida and spent a lot of my childhood spending time outdoors. I always had an affinity for nature and everything related to the botanical world. I moved to Western NY and took up houseplants as a hobby and a pleasant escape from the brutal winters. Wanting to fulfill a creative need, I read up everything I could about hosueplants, gathered all the plants and decorative materials and go to work – I got lost in the meditative art of creating miniature gardens. Read more>>

Danielle Hines.

I purchased the Arthur Shores Law Center in 2018. Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do with the vacant portions of the building. I made three promises to the Hon. Helen Shores Lee and her husband when they offered to sell me the building. First, minority lawyers would always have an affordable place to practice law, secondly, I would keep the building in her fathers name, Arthur Shores, and finally that I would add vibrancy and assist with brining the space alive within the community. Read more>>

Brooke Robinson

In 2012, my grandmother, FrancesMarie passed from Cancer. My world was completely shaken for years after her death, she was my best friend, my grandmother was a big part of my world. For a long time her death caused my world to feel incomplete, there are still moments now, I feel as though something is missing. I don’t think you really ever stop grieving someone you love, but I have learned that you can find ways to honor their memories, their life, and their love. Read more>>

Brianna Dinkins

The name of my business is called Generations 360. The reason it is called that is because the idea was for this to be a family business. I got my first job when I was 15 at Kmart and the corporate world just seemed like a shady place for such a young person. With that being said, I have four younger brothers and two younger sisters, all of which I want to grow up in an employment environment that meets their needs. Read more>>

Eric Gauthier

Fungi have been held close to my heart since my mid-20’s. I’ve always found them to be interesting and fascinating life-forms, most people do when they take the time to get to know them. If there’s one thing I can say its the more than I learn, the more fascinated and intrigued I am by the magical world of fungi and the potential impact they can have on so many levels. Today we know mushrooms have the ability to produce food and beverage, medicine, construction materials, paper, clothing, biofuels, and many other valuable resources to humanity. Read more>>

Jacqueline Radulovic

My sisters and I founded BOBO Marketing Services, which focuses on helping businesses with SEO performance and content marketing. I offered Social Media Services as well, but coming from a fashion background. I wanted to branch off and create a sister company that focuses solely on clients social media and offer them my expertise. Read more>>

Tia Little

The Little Grapevine was created after my husband and I wanted to create a business that will eventually create a legacy for our children and family. In 2019 I was having a tough time breaking into the tech industry and my husband suggested we create something for ourselves that we had total control over to eliminate disappointment from corporate experiences. He wanted me to find something in a business that I absolutely loved. Read more>> 

Teri Cochrane

I wanted to be that mother for other mothers that was told their child was broken . This was almost 20 years ago. Since then I have continued to make pioneering discoveries and now had developed The Cochrane Method. The Cochrane Method® is a precision wellness model that approaches health through a lens of true bio-individuality. Read more>>

Saliah Mustafa

Sabreen Cosmetics was born out of our desire to honor the life and legacy of my sisters and I aunt, Nabeehah Sabreen. She lost her valiant battle with Breast Cancer in 2009, and we founded our brand in 2016. Throughout her life she was unapologetic and lived life on her terms, and we wanted to create a brand that honored her and the magnificent woman she was. Creating a luxury beauty brand was a strategic process. Read more>>

April Jackson

After a decade of teaching throughout the Southeast, and in schools with predominantly black populations I saw some a consistent and persistent failure of schools to address the diverse needs of the populations. In particular, the students were performing well below the state and even local averages in mathematics and reading; and the schools and parents were failing to address this issue. Read more>>

Debby Lightman Casher

It was never really my intention to own a business. I was a stay-at-home mom of 3, with a Masters Degree in Psychology and an Elementary Education Teaching Degree. I had worked as a psychologist at school before becoming a mother. But, when my own children started attending school, I went back to work part-time in local schools, teaching yoga & mindfulness to students. In 2017, after a full year of teaching mindfulness in the schools, I was approached by teachers and families asking me how they could incorporate mindful practices into their lives on their own, when I wasn’t actively working with them. Read more>>

Joseph Terranova

I’d come up with the idea to start a boutique video production company simply out of being interested in telling stories. I’d dabbled in photography for a number of years prior to starting my company, and that’s really where the foundation was set and where I got hooked on visual storytelling as a medium. From there, I fell in love with film and video as a way to communicate stories. Read more>>

Katy Rutkin

I was in a senior-level role at a global marketing agency and was experiencing such burnout personally, and also observing it in many colleagues and junior staff. Morale was low, and mistakes were being made quite frequently. I knew we weren’t alone; agency roles notoriously come with long hours and the culture can be detrimental to the mental health of employees. I thought to myself, “there must be a better way” and decided to build a business that would improve upon the existing agency model. Read more>>

Rebecca Diak

Hard work has been instilled in me from a very young age. Maybe without knowing it, the grown-ups in my family showed me what it was like to learn, build and be proud. No matter what it was; duct work in the elementary schools, the train village on Christmas, or the immaculate carving of the turkey on thanksgiving.. they were proud. They enjoyed the ride & that’s what made it fun! Read more>>

Nicole St. John.

Finding momentum grew from my life’s story. I have spent my life struggling with mental health issues. Until recently they were often ignored, or I was accused of wanting attention or needing an excuse. Moving through life and seeing other’s struggles I knew I had to do something. So Finding Momentum was born. A clothing and accessories company that was founded with the goal of creating a movement to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and ensure access to help. Read more>>

Angie Hudson, Tamara Lapsley

Esteamed Coffee is a 501©3 in Cary, NC whose mission is to lower the 70+ percent unemployment rate for individuals with communication, intellectual/developmental, and/or visual impairments in our local community! We have been open since December 17, 2020 and were founded by 2 friends, Angie Hudson and Tamara Lapsley, both with their own unique backgrounds that brought them to this dream. Read more>>

Jill Osur

It was June 3, 2020, I was working from home due to Covid as many of us were. It was a time when the news was consumed with the civil unrest in this country following the murders of Brianna Taylor, Amaud Arbery and George Floyd. It was a beautiful morning at the vineyard, and I started my day, as every day, with a warm cup of Nespresso. Read more>>

Chelsea Dunham

I am a self-proclaimed beach-glasser; one of those people that you may see walking slowly down the beach, head down, looking like they lost their keys in the sand. I am always looking for tiny shards of glass that have tumbled and smoothed by the waves. Creating Lost at Sea Jewelry came to me on a boring Saturday afternoon when, on a whim, I wrapped a piece of wire around a piece of beach glass from my collection. I wore it on a chain and got so many compliments and requests I thought, “I can sell these!” Read more>>

Mandi Tollefson

This is my journey into business. Tolly’s Treatments really began in 2012 when I was searching for custom-printed lip balm gifts for our wedding guests. I am a self-proclaimed lip balm addict and DIYer, so it seemed like the best choice to share with family and friends. I was already into using the natural options, and I was quick to find out that all of the custom balms online had such horrible ingredients! Petroleum, synthetic fragrances, and many other not-so-good-for-you things. Read more>>