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.

Nina Velez

I began my career in the insurance industry. At just eighteen I obtained my health and life insurance license, mainly because my parents were in the insurance industry and encouraged me to get my license as a “Plan B,” in case I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue career wise. Read more>>

Chris Haverlock

educate the general public about the paper industry . The global paper industry employs millions of hardworking people, consistently generates hundreds of billions of US dollars in annual revenue, and is ever-improving as a leader in environmentally responsible manufacturing practices. It was time for papermakers to have a platform so they could represent all that is great about the industry. Read more>>

Stephanie Newsom

Actually, this is funny…. When I was a stay at home mom with my kids used to garden, make soap, useful salves, pour candles, and wild harvest herbs. My house looked like an old cottage, with herbs hanging from the ceiling and the windows. I had bottles of all sorts of tonics and tinctures on shelves through the house, and soap for days maybe years. My husband would get off work daily and run into something physically. Read more>>

Van Peart – M I N K A H O N T A S

Starting out with an interest in the arts, I always knew I wanted to make it into a business. There was always this missing market for all season wear with unconventional accents. I needed dimensional wear that is sometimes practical in separates, but contrasting true artisan concepts. Read more>>

Karen Cabral

It was the pandemic, I had a regular 9-5 designer job at an agency. Off course, at the that it was work from home. So the work wouldn’t stop but my pay was reduced to $50 a month. I felt like I was not valued as a designer at my agency. Creatives in South Asia are not really valued or paid well. I wanted to start something of my own and turn the narrative around. Show creatives that they are valued. And what was the best way to do it? Do it myself! Read more>>

Lindsey Mayes

Back in 2016, I was living in California and I had recently started cycling as a way to heal from my father passing away from cancer. I had been mostly riding road until one weekend I went up to Tahoe for work and planned on riding some gravel trails. Up until that point everything I needed to carry on my bike rides would be stuffed into one of my jersey pockets, which I wasn’t a huge fan of, but that’s what everyone did. Read more>>

Kristen Somerville

Back in 2020, I remember sitting in my living room thinking of ways to make extra money. I was still in college working on my bachelor’s degree, living alone, handling everything by myself. I remember thinking “What is something I could sell that people like?” The answer quickly became eyelashes (they were extremely popular then), which is where the name EyeKatching by Kris came from. Read more>>

Sharmarr Singleton Sr

At the age of 19, I had my twins, a girl and a boy. My relationship with my kids’ mother was challenging to say the least so we parted ways early on with the understanding that I wanted to be an active participant in my kids’ lives. I paid my mandatory child support, but because we were such young parents, the financial strain of the twins required my childrens’ mom to utilize government assistance. Read more>>

Monsieur Chase Estevez

I am Monsieur Chase Estevez, International Chase, Worldwide Estevez, Hall Of Fame Chase, many names, one man, one legend, let’s go. I would first like to give praise and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Read more>>

Hayley Besheer Santell

Shortly after graduating with two (mostly unrelated to my now career) undergraduate degrees, I stumbled upon a blog listing this shocking statistic – new underwear is the number one most requested yet least donated item of clothing. When this fell into my lap in 2012, I could think about nothing else but that fact for months. Ironically around the same time, a family member confided in me that she was once – 30 plus years prior – a victim of domestic violence. Read more>>

Erin Foreman and Kasey Norton

Committed to Giving Moms the Gift of Time, The Local Moms Network (TLMN) was founded to deliver hyper-local resources and community connections to moms in suburbs across the country. The first location was launched in Greenwich, CT over 5 years ago and TLMN is now in 100 suburbs in 26 states across the country. North Houston Moms being one of those locations! Read more>>

Kim Staples

It had always been a long-held dream of mine to become an entrepreneur and make a truly positive impact on the lives of others. This being said, for many years I believed that reality was simply not possible for me.

I experienced several traumatic events that profoundly shaped my beliefs about love, happiness, and the possibility of a purpose filled life. Read more>>

Good Vibes Crew

Good Vibes Crew was random, to say the least. Simone and I were reflecting on our friendship and those in our lives today, expressing how we were thankful for them and the good vibes brought by each individual. From there, we thought building a brand around good vibes and friendship would be great. Nowadays, friendships are not what they used to be, and having genuine people in your life who rock with you every step of the way during your highs and lows is essential, so we wanted to highlight that through our brand. Read more>>

Crystell Harris

I first knew that I wanted to be a broker after several years as an agent and realized that all of my business was generated myself. I was at a point where I was earning the most commission out of hundreds of agents in the brokerage and I was tired of giving someone else a cut of what I worked hard for. In real estate most times, leads are not provided to you and you are responsible for all things related to your business, from prospecting to showing, building a network of reliable lenders, marketing, etc. Read more>>

Madison Miller

My whole life I have been enchanted by stories. From films to novels, I have lost myself in far off worlds time and time again. The story of how I came up with the idea for my creative services business, Peach & Honey, is deeply intertwined with my passion for romance, art, cinematography, and storytelling. Allow me to paint the picture for you, so you can truly understand the context, circumstances, and emotions that led me to embark on this journey. Read more>>

Brittany Berger

My mission in life is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and ignite healing in the music industry. I choose to do the same within our community by expanding a greater conscious connection for all individuals on their healing journey, while also helping creators bring their visions to life. I wanted to create a safe environment for artists, writers, producers, engineers, management, and all music industry professionals to create, connect, and grow together in alignment, while initiating or supporting their healing journey. Read more>>

Kelsey Wiseman

I’ve always considered myself to be creative and I have dabbled in just about every hobby under the sun. I tried every medium from photography to painting canvases. It wasn’t until I discovered polymer clay that something clicked. I fell in love with the endless possibilities of creativity with polymer clay and started making earrings. Read more>>

Erik Loomis

We have always talked about starting a business together. The growth and scientific advancements around alkaline water made a high pH bottled water an obvious choice. We would have tea quite often and discuss how “Chai Tea” is really ”Tea Tea”, since Chai means Tea in several languages. Erik then asked Satinder “How do you say “water” in your native language?” and that’s how Pahhni® was born. Read more>>

Neomi Negron

Coming up with the idea for Buggy Pops was working in reverse actually. Summer is my favorite time of year, while Winter is my least favorite of all time. I wanted to start a business that required not having to work in the winter. I saw that there was an opportunity in Asheville to start a popsicle business since there wasn’t one. Now I work inside a freezer which is a temporary winter environment that I am completely in control of. Read more>>

Shakira Huglon

THEDOLLBLVD’S mission is to be creative with the latest fashion. Our main mission is to get an actual boulevard named after the business, to keep it creative, & alive. The logic that this would work was when i first believed in myself, it all starts with you. The idea that has me excited about the boulevard is the main mission, & the creative photoshoots we have planned. Emotions runs through the roof sometimes, lol. Sadness, happiness, doubt, but everything will be worth it. Read more>>

Cara Nissen

I never intended to have my own business. Everyone in my family worked in education or another “safe industry.” I feel that with the pandemic, everything went out the window and there was no such thing as being safe. It was about taking a leap of faith and really going after your dreams. Working for yourself is not as glamorous as it may seem, but you are in the driver’s seat and have the ability to make an impact. Read more>>

Diana Geiger

Discovering the Rhythm of Life: The Inception of vLA Dancefit The genesis of LA Dancefit is a tale of passion, self-discovery, and the relentless pursuit of happiness. Join me as we dive into the captivating narrative that gave birth to this extraordinary dance fitness venture. Read more>>

Aaron & Essa Cole

My husband and I have a combined 30+ years in the restaurant business. Our dream was to run a food truck, with great food people would fall in love with. Fast forward so many years, Covid hit, we took time during that period to research, perfect, save, and come up with everything possible we would need and want to pull off this dream of ours. Read more>>

Ernesto Rodriguez

I was trained as a school psychologist, but art is my heritage. I grew up in Cuba among brushes and paint, and credit my grandfather who was renowned muralist, for instilling a love of art. While working as a school psychologist in Saudi Arabia at The Saudi Arabian International School I met Jim Doran, a National Geographic photographer. Doran’s compelling and alluring images rekindled my childhood love art. Read more>>

Kasey Davis

As a consumer I believe that the market needs more African American women who are business owners. Representation is very important to me and I am passionate about creating products that are holistic and health conscientious. In my research I found that the chemicals we inhale and put on our body has an adverse affect on the fertility in the African American community. Read more>>

Sarah Hamilton

My name is Sarah, I’m the Founder & CEO of Holen Apparel and I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was in the Summer of 2016 when I decided to go to my church’s temple and receive my garments. I made a vow to wear these religious garments under my clothes as a reminder of the covenants I’ve made with God. Read more>>

Callie Saldana

I originally started as “Captured by Callie,” which felt like a cute and simple name for my business while I was attending college. That was the name I stuck with for a few years as my business grew, but over time I realized it just didn’t embody how I really felt about what I was doing, what it meant to me. I had a dream (no, literally) about a never ending sunrise and when I woke up, I really sat on it. A sunrise is the beginning of each day. Read more>>

Theresa Schierloh

I have been a lifelong entrepreneur. When I was quite young I hosted garage sales in my neighborhood in Pennsylvania before moving to Michigan. The sale of handmade objects fascinates me and there is so much creativity involved in selling art. I in fact am an artist, so I took the name after of one of my prints to name the Dancing Eye. Read more>>

Victoria Garcia Martinez

Everything started with a huge passion for photography and art in general. I trained since the age of 4 to become a ballet dancer and although I had a Wonderfull career in theatres I always knew that the career would have end quite early. reason why I always followed my other big passion, photography. I bought my first ever reflex camera as I got my first pay check as professional dancer and watched tutorials every time I had time. Read more>>

Sheida Jenkins

While traveling to different countries I enjoyed documenting my travels for my own personal archive and sometimes sharing them with friends and family, especially when they would ask for a recommendation to what places to go for a nice and calm vacation, honey moon, solo traveling , etc. Giving tips and advice motivated me to share these experiences with more people. So I started travel blogging and I got really great feedback soon after I started. Read more>>

Veronica Hawkins

Kind of a long story so I will try to give the short version. It all started from the age of 13 years old. I struggled with dry, oily and painful acne and cystic acne. My hair also grew slowly and would break off due to it being very dry and hard to manage. Read more>>

LaSha Marie

I have a 20 yr career as a HR Consultant. I’ve partnered with many leading progressive companies (Qualcomm/Exelon.Bank of America to name a few) to execute Hiring Initiatives and implement strategies for key stakeholders internationally. I lend these skills to the community to promote career progression as an activist & Motivational Speaker. Read more>>

Victoria Bayagich

Watercolor Connections emerged as a creative venture amidst the challenging circumstances of the pandemic in 2020. The idea sprouted from a deep desire to foster meaningful connections and bring joy to people during a time of isolation. It all began with 10-minute drawing sessions over Instagram Live, an attempt to stay connected with friends and provide a small escape from the confines of quarantine. Read more>>

Nick & Alex Fos

Nick worked as a main refinisher for a vintage furniture store and they brought me (Alex) on for their marketing, website, social media and customer service. We both worked there for a few years until they began manufacturing new / custom furniture. Our heart was in the vintage pieces. So we talked to the owners of the business and they encouraged us to start our own restoration business. Read more>>

Azia Mikayle

My inspiration for my becoming a Influencer was one person! I always had the idea in the back of my mind ever since I was in middle school that I want to be well known/famous. I have started my Youtube channel over plenty of times because I was scared to fail, I was scared of not succeeding with what I love to do. I fell in love with content creating more after high school. Read more>>

Rachel Elberts

I was living in San Francisco at the time, working in the outdoor industry in PR, Marketing, Media Relations, and Communications. I had and still have this necklace that says “Stoked” on it. It represented who I was/am as a person – someone who is proverbially always Stoked about life. Read more>>

Sherry Bonelli

I moved to Tennessee in the early 1990s and was a court reporter there for two years. The first time I went to Nashville, I fell in LOVE with the city! I love country music, cowboy hats and cowboy boots — and Nashville felt like “home” to me. When I later moved to California and then back to my home state of Iowa, I never forgot my love for Nashville. Read more>>

Jennifer Dorosh

In 2017 a close family friend learned the heartbreaking news that her then 2 year old son needed a liver transplant. I so badly wanted to help however after having a brain aneurysm the year prior and an infant child, I did not have the funds. I then asked a friend how they did at a fundraiser garage sale they put on for their softball team. Read more>>

Tamara Dingwell

The inspiration behind starting Teepow Natural Cosmetics came from my growing concern about the harmful toxins present in commercial skincare products and their impact on my children’s well-being. My daughter, Vada, was born with eczema, and I struggled to find natural products that could effectively soothe her sensitive skin. Read more>>

Jamie Musacchio

The world is changing faster than ever, why isn’t education evolving with it? And more importantly, with all the knowledge we have now, why are children still falling behind in traditional school systems. These are the questions I kept asking myself before I opened Wisdom Warehouse. Read more>>

Kovaski Jones

I used to watch my cousin take photos and I thought that taking photos may be a cool thing to try. One day, I purchased a starter camera, nothing too expensive, just to learn how to take photos and to see if this was something I actually enjoy. On the same day I purchased it, I went out to The Battery before a Braves game and just randomly took photos of people. They were posing and asking for pics like I was a vet. Read more>>