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.

Natalie Noble

I am a branding consultant and media influencer. I educate and assist my audience with branding tips and business tips to succeed as an entrepreneur. I create content that informs an aspiring or starting entrepreneur on what they have to do to remain focused and driven in their business. I also over services for brand collateral. I am a graphic designer and web developer. Read more>>

La’ Naya Carter

Getting into fitness apparel was always something that I wanted to do. After having a year experience in personal training, I started writing ideas down on how I wanted to expand Nyla K. Fit. One of the biggest ideas I had was having my own fitness apparel line. I wanted to build a brand that when you see that logo you know who Embodied is. A brand that is authentic, that meant a little more than another brand with a cool logo and some hard t-shirts in different colors. Read more>>

Karmiyah Xi Amaru

I have been doing hair since I was 10 years old. It made me feel good being so young and knowing how to braid and do extensions. Then I started noticing all of my clients even since I was young would say how much their hair was growing and how much healthier it was since i had been styling their hair. Last year I began researching more into reiki and healing frequencies and found out that transference of energy is most likely the reason why my clients are noticing such a difference when I do their hair. Read more>>

Stephanie Dreyer

I started an online community over 10 years ago via a blog. My goal was to share my vegan lifestyle and connect with others in the plant-based community. As the only vegan in my family of 5, I gained expertise in feeding my family with one meal, despite our dietary differences. One of my biggest strategies for doing this was through my meal planning system and techniques. Read more>>

Alvinita Gonzales

I grew up around photography and videography. My mother always had disposable cameras, as well as giving my brother and I one during vacations or school field trips. She would let us photograph whatever interested us. My grandfather was also always videoing memories, school programs, holidays, birthdays, etc. Read more>>

Elise Wiggins

I grew up in Louisiana…the deep south. As a child my mother would make exciting dinners for us kids such as Carbonara and pair it with photos of her childhood summers spent in Italy. I was mesmerized by the beautifully mountain and lake scenery of Lake Como, Italy. She would tell us of all her wonderful experiences there and the amazing food she ate. I was hooked from then on. I desperately wanted to go to Italy and experience the amazing sights and tastes of this beautiful country. So from that very first dinner about Italy, I set out to become a chef with the ultimate goal of studying in Italy. Read more>>

Jennifer Lee

I have always had a passion and interest in beauty for as long as I can remember. Growing up my dad was very strict and didn’t want to me wear any type of makeup so I used to have to sneakily put it on when I left for school and take it off by the time I got home. Having a career in beauty or anything creative was not something I ever thought wold be possible, my parents had a very specific goal in mind for me which was 4 years of university and then a job in the corporate world. Read more>>

Jess Royer

Back in 2013, I was working at my local co-op (community owned/natural food grocery store). I, very quickly realized that I had a fascination with herbal medicine. I found myself over in the wellness section of the co-op with all of the supplements, reading and learning about plants. Very shortly after realizing my fascination with holistic medicine, I met an herbalist that was presently teaching classes in our community center. Her name is Leah Wolfe, owner of the Trillium Center in Conneaut, OH. Read more>>

Xaviera Zientek

I was always into working out, but never had the nutrition bug. I came across a post of FB regarding losing weight and gaining energy. I instantly DM the person who wrote it and went to place called a nutrition club. I was able to lose 15 lbs my first month taking the products. I never felt better in my life. I started coaching others to do what I do and expanded. I started making healthy treats from my house during pandemic. Read more>>

Byron Morgan

First of all as an artist we are suppose to understand the importance of Branding yourself so when it comes down to it that’s where the idea began from. I really believe in brands sending a message that is relatable to all not just one audience so when we came up with the LSP model (Love, Success, Progress) it was to highlight those three words in life. You need to be able to show love to your people, you need to always strive for success and even if it’s a little you gotta progress everyday . Read more>>

Adrienne McNicholas

Just about everyone who’s ever had a fridge has, at some point, found a forgotten fruit or veggie that’s rotten and wrapped up in plastic wrap at the back. Nobody likes to be wasteful. Wasted food and plastic trash is something everyone was all too familiar with and nobody wanted. It was the perfect kind of problem to try and solve. Read more>>

Ringo Chiu

I was born in China and spent majority of my childhood in a poor village. When I was 10 years old, my family migrated to Hong Kong, where I was first introduced to photography. My father purchased a used Yashica Electro 35 GSN camera from a recycling street vendor with the intention of it being our family camera. However, the camera did not come with a manual and no one in my family knew how to operate it. Eventually, I picked up the camera and played around with it, the way one would a toy. I grew very attached to it on my own and brought it with me to any family or school event I could. No long after, this became my everyday hobby. Read more>>

Ashley and Michael Bustillos

We have always had a passion for travel and dreaming of bucket list experiences. Our friends and family would say we are quite adventurous and always seeking the next thrill. During our first couple years dating, while our friends were buying the latest iPhone or going to the next big concert, we were saving up for our next adventure. Whether we were swimming with the sharks or jumping out of an airplane, we started making videos of our travels for us to reflect on and show our families. Read more>>

Kareem Stevens

I started my journey in Photography as a musician who sometimes had to film performances for other artists that I worked with. During my time traveling the circuit doing shows and networking I was approached by a hip hop publication and asked to be a journalist interviewing Published Models. Once I started featuring and working with the models and their management and publicists I had the idea that it would be beneficial if I could do photoshoots with some of the models I featured. Read more>>

Michael Miles

My whole life, I have always been a visual and creative person. I went to college at St, John’s University and studied business marketing with a minor in graphic design. While in school I learned how to master Photoshop, which lead me to editing photos for other people/photographers. While doing this, I was always bringing someone else’s vision to life… so it hit me that I should start taking my own photos, creating my own ideas, and bring my visions to life. I began reading books and watching Youtube videos to learn about cameras and lighting, and started shooting. Read more>>

Dana Shaked

One thing I can say about my business- there was never an idea or an intention to make it a business, it was an act of a loving mom to her son. My son and I have a chromosome deficiency that limits us in the consumption of lots of ingredients that exist in topical creams, supplements and medications. Ingredients like ascorbic acid, soy and legumes that are great for others, can be life threatening to us and they are in almost everything. Read more>>

ELIZA DALY

During a busy shift at my restaurant in San Francisco where I worked as Executive Chef, I greeted a table of young, happy guests. They entreated me to share the pasta recipe they had been so delighted by, and I divulged without hesitation. In that moment she realized she had a greater mission than running a restaurant: encouraging the next generation to cook for themselves. Something as simple as pasta making should be education everyone has. Read more>>

Dija Sabbar

I love everything decor, and with my background in graphic design provides me with valuable skills and knowledge that are useful in the field of interior decorating. I am always the go-to friend for home decoration projects I travel to Morocco my home country once every year and each time on my way back to the US I have to bring a lot of gifts to family, friends, and co-workers. I am the Santa Claus from Morocco. a friend of mine suggested an online store for Moroccan decor an idea that I entertained for a year. after a few months of research, I decided in 2021 to start my business. Read more>>

Ashanti Ortega

This is a really funny story! So, my friend and I at the time used to always try to find something to do in our small town, and being two young adults who aren’t of legal age to drink, there was barely anything interesting to do here. I’m pretty sure all the young small-town people can relate to this struggle. We would go deep into the depths of the Internet to find some fun event or a new place to eat in town and we would find them! Read more>>

Tracy Vogt

I came up with the idea for Charlie’s Acres as I started to explore the animal non profit world. I previously had worked for a medical non profit, and while I loved the idea of non profits and serving a higher cause with my work, I realized my passion was saving animals. I have always loved dogs and cats, and considered what I could do to make a difference in that world, Read more>>

Stephanie Brown Kegler

i started teaching Zumba in Dec 2009 at Pine Forest Rec Center on Saturdays only. I joined a group of phenomenal woman called the Da’ville Girlz and we traveled, did different events etc. During that time I was still trying to get people comfortable with being a Christian and dancing. So during class I would scream, “Let’s go, give it your all, it’s ok this is Dancing Without Sin! We are not drinking, smoking or saying ugly things so it’s ok!” I yelled this during every class, made banners stating we are just Dancing Without Sin for about 6 years. I separated from my spouse and was sitting in my apartment all alone. Confused, sad almost depressed. Read more>>

Michael Beam

Our story is an American story. It began with a quest between two life-long friends—Duke Adams and Michael Beam. The Vagabond Bowties brand was born in 2014, on a picture-perfect June weekend-retreat to Mike’s family cabin in upstate Pennsylvania. We were sitting on the porch talking about how all the bowties we came across were quite ordinary—lacking innovative designs and unique materials. Read more>>

Latesha Byrd

After providing career coaching for hundreds of clients, helping them create career strategies, and advocating for what they deserve, I realized there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done inside the organizations for real change to occur. We can advocate for advancement opportunities, higher pay, and a safer workplace, but companies must prioritize employee growth. If not, systemic inequities will continue to widen the professional developmental gap between historically excluded employees and their white, male counterparts. Read more>>

Wu Russell

Since I was a kid, I know I am different. I mean, yes everyone is different. But I know myself is always thinking out of the box and always going the extra mile. I always try to discover how I can be different in anything. I always start to try new things and am never scared to take risks. So, when I started focusing on a creative services business like what I am doing right now, I always thought, “Be different!”. Especially in the social media industry, when everyone wanted to be the same, doing the same trend, me? I’ve always wanted to be different. Read more>>

Evgeniya Bannikova

I have always been passionate about flowers and had an interest in floral arrangements. I used to spend hours on weekends creating beautiful bouquets and centerpieces for my family and friends. And I began to receive requests from others to create floral arrangements for their events, such as weddings and parties. I always had a feeling that I could be doing more with my skills. And one day it happened. I started small, offering my services to friends to gain experience and build my portfolio. Read more>>

LaTia Maxwell

Tea has always been something I enjoyed. It was something I used to kick off my day and it was a moment of intentionality. There was no long thought out plan or process. I noticed there were very little black owned tea brands, no black owned brands in the grocery store and there were few people in my circle who enjoyed tea as much as I did. Read more>>

Thierry Delourneaux

Being a pastry chef I have always described my delicacies as Chichifoofoo in the past 2 decades, which mean beautiful/ above and beyond. Knowing that I never wanted to open a pastry shop but own a business online so I decided to launch chichifoofoo.com 4 years ago Read more>>

Ronnié Gurley

Momma Earth Apothecary was created because I, Ronniè Gurley, wanted to make my own crystal jewelry. I began incorporating crystals and herbs into my healing, because I was suffering tragic loss and experiencing the chokehold of a toxic relationship. I wanted to be able to take my crystals and incorporate them in my life throughout the day. At the time, I was using them at home during spiritual baths, moon rituals, and self-love spells. Read more>>

Tiffany Hill

The Purpose Unstoppable Collection came about when I was in Toastmasters International Club, a non-profit organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. I was preparing to present my second speech, since being in the club, about helping people pursue their purpose when faced with obstacles. For this speech, I was looking for a dramatic ending. So, I began to pray asking God for the words, and “Purpose Unstoppable” blurted out of my mouth while practicing my speech and pacing the floor in my bedroom. Afterwards, I said aloud, “That’s it!” Read more>>

Babs Cheung

Prior to 2020 I had just quit my job to run my side hustle full time as an event producer for secret events around NYC. When the global shutdown made hosting and producing events illegal, I was in a panic trying to figure out what I was going to do for income. I got a direct hit from the Universe, intuition, Gaia, or whatever higher calling it was which asked me to create a spreadsheet with three columns: Column A: What I was good at. Column B: What I loved doing. Column C: What I would do for free. Read more>>

Sam Sprik

I started in this industry as a photographer. Through that work I found myself around weddings and naturally, wedding planners. A dear friend of mine had started her own wedding planning business, and I always secretly wished I could be on that side of the event. Eventually I reached out to her to see if I could join into what she was doing. I believe my exact offer was that I would be willing to do anything, even something as small as unpacking candles for set-up if that’s what she needed — anything to get my foot in the door. Read more>>

Connie Charney

The backstory is simple… For twelve years, I packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to give to a homeless person when I took the train from New Jersey to Penn Station NY once a week, headed to New York University where I taught a course. As I walked downtown, I gave the sandwich to someone in need. Each encounter with someone in need heightened my awareness about food insecurity in America and I grew more and more passionate about feeding the hungry. But giving one sandwich a week wasn’t enough. I needed to take my effort up a notch. Read more>>

Kristen Bousquet

After officially starting my own content creator journey in 2018, I found that I was getting so many questions about how I was building my business, working with brands, and making enough money for it to be my full-time job. I spent hours and hours in the DMs answering questions until one day I realized that there was clearly a real need for more guidance for creators to learn how to start and scale their businesses. This is when I decided to go all in and start my own company, Soulcialmate. We first started off coaching creators via 1:1 calls and with time, I realized that we needed to shift to more in-depth courses and coaching options. Read more>>

Jason Cercone

I took my first leap into podcasting in 2015 and immediately fell in love with the medium. Having gained some radio experience in college from hosting my own show, podcasting rekindled my passion for being on the mic and communicating with my audience in a profound, entertaining way. Read more>>

Emma Flynn

I worked for years in a corporate design firm, the largest in the world, the big name clients – all of it. It was shiny as a student coming out of design school to be involved in something that seemed so impactful. The allure lasted for a few years but I began to realize working on such large projects, I was missing that personal connection with the people using the spaces. Read more>>

Elizabeth Paige Sparkman

I wish the story was a conscious epiphany-esk moment that I could share, but it’s not. In August of 2018, I quit a job that made me miserable and decided that I was going to work for myself, and really that is the only detail I cared about. I’ve never been great with authority and found that every job was okay for about a year. After a year you know too much, and the dread starts to set in. I’m creative, so I decided to work as a graphic designer and front-end web developer. Read more>>

Albert Lin

Most people, when they first begin learning about indoor hydroponic growing, end up getting exposed to rockwool and peat. Since you can’t use soil in a hydroponic system, these substrates tend to be the most popular, although not sustainable. I used them initially as well but thought we could do better. I saw issues in the substrate market and decided to try and create something novel that could help the industry grow more sustainably. Read more>>

Marissa Saucedo

Originally, I didn’t want to start my own business. I loved just clocking in and out, but wasn’t able to do that with what I wanted to do. I wanted to decorate cookies, but no bakery was interested in bringing that in at the time, so I had no choice but to do it myself. I was 19 at the time, still living at home so what did I have to lose? I quit my full time- minimum wage job and starting selling to friends and family, and offering local businesses free product to try. Once I started, I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Beverly Brooks

Entrepreneurship came to me at a very young age when I began writing a family newspaper. I don’t recall the ‘riveting topics’, but I’m sure it typically involved some sort of adventure or weekend outing such as hiking. Of course, every good newspaper needs beautiful imagery so before long I began taking endless pictures and documenting everything! From there, I had a great mentor in high school and an incredible college professor who taught me all the nuances of a great photo. Read more>>

Amanda Jonsay

I started out as a home baker, specializing in buttercream cakes to floral wedding cakes and pavlovas. It seemed like every entrepreneur around me was using Instagram to market themselves, but I had no idea what to do and how to start. I invested in thousands of dollars’ worth of masterminds, online groups, coaching… you name it! What I unfortunately realized though was that all of these groups were focused on online businesses, trying to reach a wide, global audience. Read more>>

Courtney MacDougall

I went to college in my late 20’s to pursue my Bachelor of Science in Human Services. When I graduated from college I got a job working with the foster youth population. I was working as a case manager/client care coordinator at an agency that provided mental health services to foster youth and their families. Foster youth are a very underserved population in most communities and working closely with biological parents, foster parents, social workers, therapists, school staff and many other individuals involved in these children’s lives was a very eye-opening experience. Read more>>

Julie Ellison

I was living my best life in San Diego working as a freelance event planner. I had an apartment on the beach with my two best friends and really thriving in my 30’s. Then the pandemic happened. The beach and boardwalk were closed and slowly the world began to shut down. All of my event planning contracts we canceled as we figured out what Covid had in store for us. I eventually decided I’d have to move back home to St. Louis with my parents while I figured out my next move. I officially became roommates with my parents in June 2020. Read more>>

Douglas D’Elia

Well, I really feel my interest and success in the arts is a combination of my DNA and a gift from the Creator. My father was a photographer in WWII and there were always cameras around the house and under the Christmas tree. He also had the gift of design that was manifested in the home and his garden. Read more>>

Taylor Haines

I first started my blog back in 2017 as a fashion blog being as I earned a BA in fashion marketing and management the year before in 2016. It was meant to take my mind off of my mother being sick at the time and just a hobby to clear my mind. After a few fashion posts I decided to play around with food photos, everyone likes food – right?! Read more>>

Tracy Marrow

When my daughter was turning 4, I wanted to give her a princess tea party. I asked her “what kind of cake do you want?”. She said, “mommy I want a teapot cake”. I told her she would have a teapot cake. I started pricing cakes at local bakeries and I was absolutely astonished by the prices. A small teapot cake was upwards of $250.00. I certainly couldn’t afford that as a single mom of 2. Read more>>