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.

Lorrie Thomas Ross

I never intended to name my business Web Marketing Therapy® – we re-branded to this name a year or so in thanks to my clients who were calling me their “marketing therapist” and commending my team and I for transformational work and our therapeutic, holistic approach to marketing. Read more>>

Arjita Shrimali

My husband and I spent 14 months planning our wedding events, which started in Jaipur and ended with a third reception in Dallas. Wedding planning was the most stressful chapter of our lives, from the anxiety of merging two families to a neverending daily task list. Two weeks before our wedding, my husband had an anxiety attack (which he thought was a heart attack), and we dropped everything and rushed to the hospital. We’ve spoken to so many couples who’ve gone through the same stresses. Read more>>

Carla Boyd

I was looking for a nourishing source of clean plant-based protein that could be prepared quickly without sacrificing comfort and real flavor. It didn’t exist. It was almost impossible to find something that was both comforting, nutrient dense and not soy and allergen-ridden. At the time, the only “fast-friendly” “veggie” products I could find in the freezer aisles tasted almost “too healthy”– I had a hard time actually enjoying them. Read more>>

Rachel Parrett

I’ve always had a passion for mental health. From experiencing mental illness myself and walking alongside those who were struggling – I have this urgency to do something. To take these mental health resources I have access to and share them with people. After some brainstorming, Mend began – a lip balm with a mental health resource on each label. The hope is for this natural and organic lip balm to end up in the right hands at the right time. Read more>>

VASILIKI GKARMIRI

This business was seeded almost 30 years ago, when I set foot in a bead store for the first time and was mesmerized by the colors, textures and sparkle of design elements-beads, yarns and textiles stole my heart. I became a collector on the spot and creating jewelry became an outlet for expressing my creative spirit, a hobby next to my other artistic endeavors like painting and writing poetry. Read more>>

Emmanuel Glaze

I was covering the Tour Championship in 2018 and while I was at the 18th green watching Tiger Woods win his 1st event in 5 years, I saw a ton of people surrounding him, but I felt there wasn’t enough students from the area enjoying the experience. So I decided at the point to create a program that would allow me to work with students who may be under exposed to events such as this. Read more>>

Patrick O’Malley

The original business was never thought of, it just happened. I like to say I tripped and fell into what I do. I liked coffee but had zero desire to enter the industry. I lucked into oportunity. I wanted to be a wine maker, I somehow found myself living in Maui working in F&B and took a weekend trip to Kona. I discoverd coffee and its simularity to wine and from that point on I was sucked into the coffee world. My 1st company in coffee I started was in 1989 as a technitian and selling espresso machines, soon after roasting and from that point I was hooked and tried once to look back but was too far vested in my career I built for myself. Read more>>

Kelly Tenkely

There’s nothing sacred about spelling tests as a way to learn to spell, flashcards to learn math facts, curriculum as a way to teach, or testing as a way to collect data on learning. There’s nothing sacred about most of what we do every day in education, yet we hold tightly to these structures as if they are sacred. As an educator, I routinely witnessed how this one-size-fits-all model that values sameness and measures success narrowly failed to meet the needs of my students. Read more>>

Shiketa Days

Never in a lifetime I’d thought I find myself running a full-time business on top of my full-time career as Police Dispatcher II. My journey started back in December 13, 2008. I always tell people that I didn’t just wake up one day and decided to start my own nonprofit. There’s a story and a boat load of emotions attached. Our 10-month son Derrick Jr. was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Which was the pillar of our organization. We started Derrick Danzel Days II Corporation April 2011. Read more>>

Sabrina Proffitt

If I’m being honest, my entire business plan was propelled by failure. Flashback to last summer, August of 2021… I was working for a little online magazine that I’d found on a job posting site. The pay was good, the assignments were fun but the work culture was increasingly torturous and toxic. Every little typo I made was a fire under my feet, and the string I was standing on was on its last thread. Without much of a warning (and just a little speculation), I was fired, point-blank. No warning, no notice. I was fired over email and ripped out of all of our programs immediately. I was out. Read more>>

Tasha Dalal

Moving Box Co was born when I moved homes and single-handedly packed and then taped 110 cardboard boxes only to unpack and break-down every single one of them two days later. My hands were callused, cut up, and rougher than a Brillo sponge. And the worst part was, no one wanted my free cardboard boxes, and why would they – how gross! I ended up having to leave a few out every week for recycle because they wouldn’t take them all at once. I new I never wanted to go through that mess again and if I felt that way, I am sure others out there did too. Read more>>

Mike James

The idea of life coaching came from many years of experiencing life, and then getting to the point where I wanted to help people more beyond just the physical. I was a personal trainer for 15 years prior to venturing out into life coaching. I recognized that many of my clients had other reasons that kept them from reaching their goals that had nothing to do with exercise. Now that I knew that life coaching is what I wanted to do, Read more>>

Ebony Adell

Yoga has been an important part of my life for over 20 years. Through my yoga practice I learned about tantric yoga and tantric sex. I was drawn to the idea of the connection between spirituality and sex. But what blew my mind was the chakras. I instantly visualized them, felt it and could make the correlations between my chakras and my physical reality. It made so much sense to me and I began to paint them incorporate them into every part of my life including my online business. So I taught tantra to master the philosophy and techniques; as well as evolve my yoga practice. Read more>>

Jaremy Turner

Inebriation Station name choice did not take long at all to synthesize. Prior to forming the company, I was the unofficial bartender amongst my friends. No matter what side of town I stayed on, my house would always become the pre-game stop as I would generally keep my bar in stock with the essential liquors, liqueurs, and mixers. Read more>>

Kevin Bouknight

The idea started back in December 2019. I was visiting my mom and sister in Dallas, TX and one night I went out with my fraternity brother, Rian. We were sitting in the car talking about where I wanted to see myself and the idea of me moving to LA – I was living in Washington DC at the time (my hometown). Rian immediately was like you need to get an Instagram, “like why don’t you have one lol?” -he said. So at that moment I created one. The name started off as clothed minded and as time progressed I decided to add Lou, which is affectionately my alter ego name. Thus, you have the brand Clothed Minded Lou. Read more>>

Erika Lorenzo

I currently have two companies, and I came up with both their names. First one: “chewithme” my personal food + lifestyle blog (2014) — This was the first thing that popped in my head. I have always enjoyed taking photos of my food, and I had many food pics on my camera roll. I was having lunch with my mom one day at Houston’s restaurant in North Miami, and, as per usual, I took a photo of our food. She suggested I should make an album, a book, or something with all my food photos. Read more>>

Angela and Mark

Cooking With Wine was created as a place for us to share our passion for cooking, food, drinks, and travel eats. The name came to us fairly easily since the majority of our recipes use wine as an ingredient and we often enjoy a glass of wine while we cook! We also enjoy the wine and food culture and exploring wine pairings with food, which enhances both tasting experiences. Read more>>

Clarisa Wiley

It all started in beauty school. When I step into becoming a hairstylist it wasn’t in the plan to make it my career. I had the talent naturally but the brand found me. One of my instructors would call me Cypress everyday. I didn’t understand why so I asked her why and told her my actual name. Her response was God told me that’s your name. So I was sold. I was in a very bad place during beauty school so the meaning touched me deeply. Read more>>

Tom Kirlin

When I made the decision to curate my first art show, I knew that I needed a catchy concept in order to get people through the door. Art shows can typically be a bit stuffy and boring so I wanted to give people not only a reason to come but a reason to stay. Booze isn’t a cost effective to give away in large volumes so I needed something else that I give away. Anything that was cheap and easy to serve. That’s when I thought. back to my college days. I would go to Costco and buy 10 lb bags of pancakes mix for $6 that would last for months. I literally survived off of pancakes, lol. Read more>>

Kelly Frega

Initially, I did not come up with this idea myself! I had never even considered starting a calligraphy business, until a friend of mine suggested it after I hand addressed her wedding invitations. I had hand addressed my own invitations and place cards as well, a few years before. She was so encouraging and made me feel as if I could really succeed at this. After some thought and a lot of pressure and help from friends, I started a Yelp account and a Facebook business page. I had a few calls here and there. Read more>>

Corey Boyd

For myself, becoming a personal trainer was second nature. I had been into weight lifting and fitness since middle school. And being the youngest of three boys, I grew up around sports and exercise. This affinity followed me throughout my life and I became known for working out. People came to me for workout advice and tips. Since it was something I loved, I didn’t consider getting paid for it. Read more>>