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.

Gregory Duval

It all started in the early 90’s in Boston working for Maurice Starr founder and producer, writer for New Edition and New Kids on the Block. I was an intern working in three different studios before moving back to NYC and working at Unique Studios and other recording studios in New York. It was always my goal to own and operate my own music production company and recording studio. Read more>>

Josh Breckenridge

Memento Mori Grappling Club has its roots in my music and art career. Read more>>

Caley Rose

One morning, I woke up thinking about how I was bullied in middle school, and I suddenly realized that I didn’t want kids to go through that hardship alone. I wanted to help them. Being bullied destroyed my self-confidence, and I didn’t want anyone else to go through that. Read more>>

Dr. Wanita Mercer

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my business’ origin story. The story of my business unfolds over several years, intertwining my academic journey and my profound, divine connection to the essence of leadership. It all began during my pursuit of a master’s degree in administration, where my intrigue for leadership took root. Read more>>

Pouria Safa

I came up with the idea for my real estate photography business through a series of experiences and observations. Initially, I worked in the mortgage industry and later became a realtor in 2008. As the market began to shift, I faced the challenge of finding alternative ways to make a living. Read more>>

Ana Duque

My love for nature came naturally to me. I’ve always been a nature lover, and this passion developed independently, without anyone in my life teaching me how to care for the environment. While working for a nonprofit in California, I became involved in social justice advocacy, which intensified my passion for addressing environmental injustices. Read more>>

Ariel Cannon

My photography business has evolved over the years. I started Ariel Cannon Photography as a generalist family photographer. As you might imagine, there is a lot of competition in this area, especially in a large market like Los Angeles. The turning point for me, which brought my business from the “supplemental income” category to “breadwinner” category was when I pivoted my focus to newborn photography. Read more>> 

Mycheal/ Darrel Franklin

It Was Always A Dream Of Ours To Give Back To Our Community an Some Type Of Way… like our whole circle we use to sit back and talk about it…like all the free stuff we’ll do what celebrity we’ll bring around there things like that for when we get rich…. That type of stuff we know would bring joy smiles through the people in the neighborhood… we wanted to paint a different picture for our neighborhood to show it in a different light than always negative….we are from the Northside of chicago east Rogers park Howard st area…. Read more>>

Stefanie Block

I wanted permanent jewelry myself, but found that I could not find a place near me. I started to do research on the process and thought to myself “I can do this myself” as a way to put jewelry on myself as well. It grew to be a creative outlet for me. At first, I was just playing around with friends and family. Read more>>

Sarah Dawson

Sada by Sarah’s brand emergence story is also mine. When going through my middle school and high school years I was the world sometimes refer to as a late bloomer. All of the girls in school were growing breast, hips and were very tall; I had none of the above. Comparing myself to all those around me, I felt like I was never going to hit puberty and that the body I had was going to be the one I would have forever and I decided that I could be fine with that it I learned to boost my own confidence, love myself and truly see the beauty I already had. Read more>>

Braxton Garms

I have always been interested in videos and pictures. As a little kid, I used to watch this video of a Christmas with my family, over and over and over. Eventually the VHS cassette tape wore out. Read more>>

Marquell Byrd

We took a group of students from Compton to a near by museum but the students didnt see themselves within the art aht was displayed in the museum. Once that happened God spoke to me about building our own museum within our community. Read more>>

Thamsanqa Ndlovu

I have had an eclectic career. I started out as an attorney where I practiced in the mergers and acquisitions department of a mid-size law firm that was later acquired by PwC USA. From there, I started a construction business in my home country of Zimbabwe, but after realizing that I had a lot to learn about business, I decided to attend business school in Boston, Massachusetts. Read more>>

Valentine Ebunilo

How did I come up with the idea? Well, that within itself is a little embarrassing, but not for the reason you might think, or maybe you might. I would say I was under a cloud of imposter syndrome, because realistically the idea had been right in front of me the whole time. Read more>>

Tali Mizrachi

Our story started way back in 2014, when Monica (our co-founder & now my mother-in-law!) was helping her daughter pack for college. She couldn’t find a product that fit her daughter’s needs. She tried other organizers but they were too flimsy and didn’t allow her to see what she packed. Being the creative and crafty mom that she’s always been, she decided to design the products she imagined… CLEAR packing cubes in fun colors and sizes. Read more>>

A..G. Billig

When I was 8, I discovered my passion for writing and telling stories. In high school, I learned that business can also be creative. I ran a high-school magazine without realizing I was running a small business. But since I made a profit, that’s exactly what I was doing. Read more>>  

Jonathan Black

I have always loved jewelry and antiques since I was a child and about 5 years ago I was changing the direction my life was going and thought to start my own business with a jewelry line. I stalled on the idea as I knew I needed a different concept for my line as jewelry is a very over saturated and difficult market to enter. I decided to go on vacation and I was in Europe in the city of Lucca in Italy and there was a giant antique market going on that weekend that I stumbled upon. Read more>>

Angela Friis

Through a fear of not being able to take care of me and my daughter, I had no help and was receiving no child support which left it all on my shoulders. Since we moved to a new state to help my mom who just received a cancer diagnosis and I was in the midst of a divorce, plus leaving my hometown with my 13 year old daughter and leaving my son who was 17 at the time with his dad. Read more>>

Jesus Rocha

Chueytacos was established in 2018 the idea of starting my own business came about when I was 16 years old I used to sell sodas chips to Friends and people to make money so that I can buy school, clothes, shoes, and other things that my prayers couldn’t afford for me I always wanted to be my own boss. My work ethic was taught by my parents, but I knew that putting that work ethic in my own business. It will help me grow as a business owner and It did. Read more>>

Jalaysia Allen

While preparing myself for my sophomore year of college the first thing I knew for sure I had to do was go school shopping. In my mind I knew I did not want to look like anyone else when it came to clothes. I didn’t want anyone to have the same shirts or pants I purchased, so anything I saw that looked too typical I walked past it. I walked out the store with nothing in my hand which was very frustrating because I still didn’t have anything to wear to school. Read more>>

Gil Igondjo

Over a decade ago, a simple desire to surprise my wife with a spotlessly clean car led me down a path that would eventually become Igo-Mobile Detailing. Back then, we were parents to young kids, and I thought a full car detail would be the perfect gift. Read more>>

Renee King Sonnen

It all started with Rowdy Girl, a little 2-month-old baby calf my husband wanted me to care for, hoping I would start wanting to be a “good” rancher’s wife. I bought her for $300 having no idea that she would take me down the rabbit hole where I would come out on the other side of compassion for all sentient beings – even the ones that used to end up on my plate. The rest they say is her-story. Read more>>

Cameron Reeve

When I was in High School I found myself usually selecting the music to play for our friend parties and car rides. While in high school my friend group and i became obsessed with going to the local country nights that happened at the fun park. Because I was consistently going and activity dancing I became self aware of songs that are danceable and what songs are really not. Read more>>

Rhonda Chamberlain

After having 2 kids, I dealt with prolapse symptoms that made it scary and challenging to get back into exercise again. Even as a physiotherapist, I had NO CLUE how to rehab my pelvic floor (we weren’t taught this information in school). Read more>>

Paula Cordoba

Traveling has always been my passion, but as I entered my 30s my body started asking for a vacation after my vacation. The need to rest from many days of walking, carrying bags, trying new exotic foods, indulging in gelatos, and many other things that weren’t part of my everyday routine. Starting 2020, I was determined to do something better about my traveling plans which were no longer sustainable as they were. Read more>>

Mana

Mana Made grew into a small business from a passion project – designing and making jewelry has long been my creative outlet. Early in this process, I started getting inquiries about the jewelry I designed for myself – staple pieces I would wear everyday. First from friends and family and then from the general public, who would frequently ask about the pieces I was wearing and where they could find them. Read more>>

Reka Vicsacsán

Although I run a non-profit organization and not a business, I still think that approaching it as such from time to time is a must in order to be successful. The idea came to a couple of years after I moved to the U.S. Just like many other immigrants I arrived with a suitcase and left most of my belongings, my family, my friends behind. I moved here not because I did not have a fulfilling life back home, or a promising future. Read more>>

Lori James

I want to talk to you about Alzheimer’s. What do you think happens when you lose your memory? During my father’s journey with Alzheimer’s disease, I learned that in life you may forget, but you absolutely cannot forget to care. Read more>>

Alexis Mitchell

Lumi is definitely a unique concept in that it is not your traditional day spa or med spa- it’s something in between. Lumi Skin Bar is an open concept facial bar & aesthetic boutique. We offer top of the line skin and beauty treatments provided by extensively trained experts, inclusive pricing and service timing with the goal to create confidence in our clients. Our most unique feature is our open concept facial bar. Read more>>

Mya Dixon

The inception of MAAD Hair Boutique was born out of a personal struggle and a burning desire to fill a void in the market. This entrepreneurial journey began during my college years in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Read more>>

Christina Kalnas

The idea of my business started when I was just a stay at home Mom with my two babies. I realized I needed a little more in life to do some thing on my own that was for me to have a little more income for myself. Although, my husband works extremely hard for all of us, it’s always nice to have that little bit of fun money. I decided to start doing lash extensions because it was kind of the newest craze at the time and I could still do it from home while raising my 2 kids. Read more>>

David Melzer

My entrepreneurial inception germinated from my professional background within the insurance industry. I recognized a distinct opportunity to offer specialized services aimed at advocating for and representing homeowners grappling with the aftermath of flood and fire damage to their properties. In many instances, insurance companies, driven by cost containment, tend to undervalue and underpay legitimate claims. Read more>>

Andrea Chernin

Illuminate Educational Therapy Group consists of a curated range of Educational Therapists, Learning Specialists, Executive Functioning Coaches, and Educational Interventionists, At Illuminate, we mindfully connect a student with the specialist who best meets their unique educational needs, who has the skill set that a student would benefit from, and whose teaching style matches their learning style. Read more>>

Antonio Simon

When I was in school at Georgia Southern University, I began to cook for myself because that was just the more cost-effective and convenient thing to do as opposed to relying on a meal plan. As I learned to cook for myself I began to enjoy it more and more and grew a desire to want to try to cook and eat more from my own kitchen. This led me to bake my first dessert and favorite dessert, brownies, which I initially made for myself but would later share with friends and family. Read more>>

Brian Adams

I started out as an elementary PE teacher but after our second child was born, I knew I wouldn’t be a teacher forever. I was asked to DJ a party, and from that party someone asked me to DJ once again. From that moment I knew I wanted to bring joy to people by being part of their celebrations! Read more>>