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.

Shaque’l Wilson

The story of 6 Figure Chick™ Consulting is truly one that only a millennial can say, it all happened because of a #BlackGirlLuxury TikTok trend. I stitched a video where someone was asking Black women how they were living such luxurious lives. Now I felt like I was a little boujie enough to qualify so I decided to add my video and mention how I worked in tech making over $150,000. That video got about 3,000 views and I was like “OH! I’ve made it. Read more>>

Carmen Allen

I was inspired to craft custom jars when I noticed many of the glass jars I used needed recycling. “The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it.” (Do something.org). I thought, “that’s too much waste in our environment”. So, I began re-using the recycled glass to make beautiful custom jars and beeswax candles. I’m inspired by beautiful yet simple things. So, each jar is hand foiled with a unique gold leaf design. Read more>>

Julien Bournival

I believe most people never start a business because they are waiting for the perfect idea. They are taught they need to find something they are passionate about or that it needs to be revolutionary. From my perspective, this is wishful thinking. You’d be better off learning how to play the hand you’ve been dealt than waiting for the perfect one. At least that’s what I did. Read more>>

Gabrielle Wyant-Perillo

In the silent language of animal communication, my journey into this unique endeavor began with a deep connection to the beings around me; humans, animals and those of the Spirit world. The rustle of leaves, the dance of sunlight and the silent whispers of animals sparked a profound realization: a rich world of unspoken communication lay beneath the surface. Read more>>

Luigi Crespo

I had a rewarding event planning and senior protocol career in the US government. While planning big events, I picked up a camera to document some of my event details like handwritten place cards, table settings, and flower arrangements. It had been a while since I took photography in college, so I dusted off the old camera and started taking photo safari workshops. I came cross a local pinup and boudoir class in Louisville, KY, and I was hooked into the genre. Read more>>

Sara Olsher

I first started Mighty and Bright in 2013, when my daughter was three; I was coping with a pretty brutal divorce, and she was showing signs of anxiety. My background was in adult psychology, so I started researching child development, and got us in to see a trauma-informed therapist. I became fascinated with how kids learn and communicate, and created a visual co-parenting calendar that completely shocked me by how much it helped her anxiety.  Read more>>

Jeremiah Drake

CuttDifferent was first a clothing brand, supporting the mental health of athletes. I was a college athlete who dealt with a career ending injury. Mentally, that was one of the toughest moments in life I been through. It’s hard to understand the depression and anxiety you go through during that time, unless you have experienced that. Being an athlete in general is mentally taxing! My goal of the brand was to bring awareness to the mental struggles athletes face within their sport. Read more>>

Bryce North

Let’s cut to the chase. My journey into PR isn’t your run-of-the-mill, climb-the-corporate-ladder story. It started with me in angel capital. It’s raw, real, and packed with lessons learned the hard way. I dove headfirst into the world of startup funding, making my mark in the US and Canada. It wasn’t just about writing checks; it was about mastering the art of the pitch, navigating investor psychology, and structuring deals that made sense. Read more>>

Xander Kazanowski

I founded Wurk Services after I fell in love with my wife Anna Marie. Anna and I met when we were undergrads at Miami of Ohio. The moment we made contact I knew she was the woman of my future. It was then I decided to get to work. I decided against reenrolling after my freshman year and began couch surfing attempting to come up with a plan. Wurk Services was founded out of sheer necessity; I had to eat. The concept was simple, people need things done and I am capable of doing things. Read more>>

Karen Brace

The idea to create an opossum-themed retail store was a couple of years in the making. I’d started as a wildlife rehabber in 2012 and raised and released squirrels, bunnies and groundhogs. Then, about nine years ago, someone brought me a box of eleven baby opossums. I knew nothing about them, other than they were the cutest things I’d ever seen. I reached out to an opossum rehabber friend of mine, she agreed to help me learn to care for these babies. Read more>>

Sarah Amaro

My passion for writing and drawing inspired me to work on the Illustration field. This passion led me into publishing my first poetry book for children two years ago and it is also what is guiding me into my future career as the writer and illustrator of books. From my poems and short-stories I illustrate; then I think about of the format that this story can be represented and I layout the text and the art in InDesign. In the editorial world of book creation I found all of my abilities blooming; where the essence of the story influences the format of the book. My wish is to create stories that transform readers from all ages. Read more>>

Donna Granberry

I’m blessed to be a multi generational cosmetologist by trade. I grew up in salons and Barber shop as a kid. I have always been an observer of people and how they style there hair.I am the proud mother of a 21year old man who was given a life expectancy of 7. Our family has had 15 hospitalizations at least and countless doctors appointments. The year my son turned 10 we had his last major hospitalization and mine. Read more>>

CATRECE SMITH

In the journey of entrepreneurship, I, Catrece Smith, embarked on a path driven by a passion for learning and a deep-rooted desire to empower others. This led to the creation of my business, Team-BMG, and the inception of my nonprofit, One Woman and a Broken Pencil. Read more>>

John & Elise McDermott

We’ve lived in Austin for over 15 years and during this time we’ve witnessed the incredible transformation this city has gone through. Along with this transformation came an abrupt change in the housing market. Putting it just out of reach for most people, including us. So, we decided to buy a fixer-upper. We thought it would be just like TV. We could remodel the whole house in 12 weeks and have it ready before our move-in date. We ripped out the kitchen on day one of owning our first house. We ended up moving into it 12 weeks later, still without a kitchen. Read more>>

JaEllisa Patterson

I have always loved to create things. I started small and sold tutus and bows throughout college but I always knew I wanted to take it to the next level. I started doing research on how I could create different thing that people wanted personalized. At that time everyone was buying a cricut but I knew I didn’t want that. I invested in a machine called a silhouette and an industrial heat press. From there I would only create cups. One day my god brother asked me to do shirts for his birthday party and from there my business took off! Read more>>

Lindsey Horner

I was over at a family member’s home and they had a hand knit chunky blanket on their couch, I absolutely love blankets! I asked them where they got the blanket and they told me someone made it and that person said it was not too hard to make them, so I decided that night to search how to make a chunky blanket. I bought yarn, tried it, and loved it! I became hooked and made a few more for close family members to get practice and then had other family members ask to pay for me to make one for them, then it all began! Read more>>

Alyssa Stewart Casey Jessen

I (Alyssa) started to realize I wanted to own a bookstore when I was in college, but after being discouraged from someone I looked up to, I decided that it wasn’t the right time and that I would have to wait until later in life when I had more money to pour into the business. In 2020, I still didn’t have the money, but when I was furloughed from my corporate job, I began reevaluated what I considered as stability. Read more>>

DANIELLE Perdue

Life wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. I battled depression, self-loathing, and feeling like a victim of circumstance. But one day, a whisper of hope arrived at a holistic festival. Drawn by curiosity, I encountered the magic of crystals, and a Citrine, the stone of joy, became my talisman. Wearing it, I felt a shift. A flicker of self-belief, a spark of possibility. This sparked a fire within me, and I dove headfirst into the world of crystals, spirituality, and holistic healing. Read more>>

Randa Ayoub & Shalisa Wilson

Shalisa – While working as a cocktail server at the W Minneapolis, I decided I wanted start a business centered around people, celebrations and hospitality. The idea morphed many times over from a collaborative concierge list, to a social media cocktail page, local tours of instagram worthy bars, to the the final concept – a for hire bartending company. Read more>>

Sauywanna Davis

As a math instructor at the St. Louis Job Corp, I taught students 16 – 24 years old. Some of my students shared difficulties with many of the same subjects. I had to find a creative way to get them engaged more and excited about math. One day, I was at Walmart, finding myself walking down the craft aisle. I purchased a Bead Kit and had my students make keychains for Free Fun Friday while I graded their work. Soon, the students became bored with making rabbits, cats, dogs, and cows. Read more>>

Jasmine Gaulding-Hill

My business started December 2019, after the loss of two grandmothers and the birth of my son. Jars by Jas is a fusion of two of my grandmother’s dessert recipes packed conveniently in a mason jar. I picked up baking to cope with their passings and being a new parent. I began packing jars full of cheesecake for lunch to take to work with me, coworkers asked me to make them desserts. Four months later the Pandemic occurred, I had been furloughed and had to apply for unemployment for the first time. My mind did not accept that moment. Read more>>

Taneisha Thorpe

Yoniesencia was established die to personal issues I encountered. I fought to find a solution to tye ongoing issue and landed on boric suppositories, from the results received Yoniesencia came about providing all natural effective solutions for both male and female. Read more>>

Tiffany Brown

The idea first came to me when I was a senior in high school. However, I was a shy timid teenager so I decided not to think twice about it. Then when I was a freshmen in college for LIU the idea came to mind again, but I talked myself out of it because I thought who would actually take me serious. However, when COVID came and I wasn’t having the best luck finding a new job, I decided now was the time. Read more>>

Sieun Lee

While I was working at a showroom in Paris and Oscar de la Renta in New York, the most shocking thing for me was how the waste within the fashion industry was perceived as a norm. Behind all the beauty and extravagance of fashion there are endless mountains of landfills filled with synthetic fabric, and laborers threatening their lives due to unfair treatments and health hazards. Read more>>

Kendra Wheeler

What started off as a thorn in my side turned out to be the biggest blessing for not just myself but for others as well. I found myself allergic to store brought products as well as certain foods which I now avoid. I literally itched 24/7 for over 4 years with no cure. Dr’s prescribed me medication topical and internal to no end until my body had enough. From there I begin to make my own soaps and lotions and GOD allowed me to see that I could help many others like myself. Read more>>

Jamal Hinton

Well, the idea formulated in my head because I noticed that small and mid-sized companies rarely focus on the three components I am focusing on until it is too late. This was sort of a trend I started to notice as I talked to friends who are business owners and they told me their main problems. At that moment the light bulb popped into my head and I told myself you need to do this. I come from a background in finance and I have been in the industry for about 6 years now so it was a no-brainer. Read more>>

Chelsea Lairson

My love of taking pictures started long before I started my business. When I was little about eight or nine years old my momma bought me Kodak disposable cameras to take with us on vacation to the Gulf of Mexico. Once I got the film back and saw all of the pictures, I took it became an instant obsession. I learned from a young age I could freeze memories with a single click of my camera. I have a photo album of all of my first pictures from when I was younger. Read more>>

Michael Harris

It was like I had been given the Golden ticket! I remember seeing the stage play Cats run across the television screen, and no one was home but me. I dashed into my mother’s bathroom, trying to recall the makeup application as best I could. At the time, I was only 8 or 9, but seeing that makeup unlocked a piece of my mind. I went on to be enamored with shows like America’s Next Top Model and many other makeover shows. Read more>>

Zarius Fletcher

Auhlot means above limitations or limitless. The brand name Auhlot comes from growing up in Holly Grove, AR and feeling caged in because I could always see myself doing the greatest things in life despite where I grew up. Holly Grove is a small country poverty struck town with around 450 population. Growing up there is what made me realize that there had to be way much more to life than what I was seeing daily. Read more>>

Dominique Olowolafe

I’m a former pro athlete turned costume designer/supervisor for TV & Film productions. As a seasoned traveler, I knew I wanted to continue exploring the world even after I had kids. What I didn’t anticipate was the overall lack of support for families on the go. I ran out of diapers at LAX in 2017, on my daughter’s very first flight. It was traumatic. I couldn’t understand how I was flying out of the 4th busiest airport in the world, where I could buy Chanel or Hermes but there were no basic hygienic essentials readily available for tiny humans. I was deeply offended. It was the catalyst to me obsessing over all pain points related to family travel. Read more>>

Maddie Charlton

It was the beginning of 2023, I slid one of my dusty books titled, “The Green Witch” back in the spot on the bookshelf. It was shortly after that I realized I had been studying similar books my entire life. I had no idea those books could intersect with my career. I decided to open RITUALS on a whim. I had been creating tea blends for family and friends for years. I never saw myself going further with it, but I decided to pour myself into it, signing up for every small business market and farmer’s market I could find. It led me on a path I never imagined. Read more>>

Taylor & Justin Wiley

First let’s rewind to 2020, the year that took us by surprise & made us cry, laugh, and gave us plenty of time to ponder and rethink our life plan! Amidst the pandemic, we said “I do” at Four Seasons Troon North in October of 2020. I (Tay) had graduated that spring from the University of Arizona with a degree in Psychology, and was starting my Master’s program at GCU with the goal of becoming a counselor. Meanwhile, Justin was working as an automotive technician, and was doing it for the income, but it wasn’t the best work environment or permanent spot for him. Read more>>

Danielle Duran

The idea came About because my husband wasn’t a huge fan of Mexican food ., and me being Mexican was not having it . We applied to do dinners at a loft with a platform that would help Us market the dinner . We needed a name for the concept , the idea and to do a tasting menu for them to try . I just had ideas things I thought could work . So my first dish I created was the elote agnolotti I figured if my Husband ate pizza and pasta daily that I had to sneak the flavors into that. After the first tasting we knew we were on to something , the flavors just complemented each other . It wasn’t a fusion it was thoughtful combinations I thought would taste good together .. Read more>>

Chris Cannon

I’ve been around business and personal development most of my life. I wasn’t aware early on that there was a way to do something that included both of them, until I learned about life/business coaching. On my journey, I joined several personal development programs, coaching programs, went through coaching certifications and noticed a theme. These groups were filled with incredible people, but they were either broke or felt guilty making money.  Read more>>

Alan and Juan Founders

So I think like many businesses, ours started in a college dorm room. It was 2021, our freshman year, and a huge snowstorm had hit Austin. If you don’t quite remember, that was the first year where the Texas grid wasn’t really prepared for it, and half the state lost power. Luckily for us, UT dormitories had backup generators, and we got the whole week off from school. Read more>>

Marcus Griffin

The story idea that led me to become a novelist was the answer to a simple prayer. I wanted God to show me…me. I was toward the end of my military career of almost 22 years, and I had planned on becoming a screenwriter after retirement. I wanted something different. During that time, I was searching for something with meaning. I wasn’t in the best place spiritually, although others wouldn’t have guessed. During my spiritual decline, a young airman I had mentored had given me a frame with a poem called A Godly Man. She didn’t know I was jacked up spiritually, and I didn’t share it with her.Read more>>

Nancy Weiss

Five years ago, my husband and I experienced a financial set back and the businesses that we had owned and operated were no longer ours. For seventeen years I helped manage four country clubs, selling memberships, planning events, and my favorite, coordinating golf outings. I had a certification teaching charitable organizations how to raise funds through golf, and I enjoyed helping charities gain revenue. Read more>>

Monique Laguins

I came up with the name Color’d from my abusive relationship. During that time I lost everything and I felt like my “color” in the world and was trying to find a way to gain it back; so I worked hard on finding my purpose in the world and that was making people feel good regardless of what it was and I was always into Makeup so I decided to put the two together and the rest is history. Read more>>

Quanda King

In started working in 1985. By 2016, I experienced so much trauma from toxic workplace cultures that I developed and suffered from PTSD. Living with chronic stress damaged my mental and physical health. When you’re in a state of constant stress, your mind reacts by flooding your body with cortisol, the stress hormone and this constant stress causes chronic illness. In my darkest moment, as I was thinking about ending my life, I heard a voice, “Who were you before the world told you who to be? Read more>>

Ashley Wehby

Aeline Collective was originated in 2020, although the company did not come to fruition until 2022. As a life long lover of fashion and beauty, 2020 was the year that I became a mother. My first daughter was born in January and shortly after the world shut down I found myself in the trenches of postpartum. I was engulfed in motherhood, all while trying to navigate the new state of the world. I was also adjusting to life outside of a 9-5 job as I had just become a stay at home mom. Read more>>

Kristina Perillo

I decided to open a salt spa because it was the only thing that helped my son with his asthma flair ups. There were very few places that offered salt/halo therapy near me. I started doing a bunch of research and discovered not many people knew about salt therapy. I knew once I got people in the door I would have them hooked after one treatment. Read more>>

Allison Heistand-Phelps

In both the quiet and tumultuous corners of my life, where creativity, personal vulnerability and transformation through art and design,, and empathy intertwined, the seed of Inkblottr was planted. The year was 2022, and I found myself at a crossroads, yearning for a professional venture that echoed both my artistic passion and my deep belief in the transformative power of empathy. It all began with a realization – the creative world needed a touch of humanity. Read more>>

Amanda Hagicostas

I graduated high school early and continued my education at Votech cutting hair i received my cosmetology license and went to RVCC. I graduated from there with my associate in human Services pre-social work. I went to Rowan for 2 years and received my bachelor’s in Psychology. At that point, when I was about to graduate, I realized that I wanted to be my boss. I’ve always babysat, housesat, took care of animals, and I thought, why not make this a business? Read more>>

Shay Jones

My passion has always been working with young children. To see their faces light up means the world to me. That’s how I feel about my own child. Children have such huge imaginations, so I thought, why not write a children’s book about it. So that’s what I did. I wrote a book and dedicated to my daughter. Actually the book is primarily about her, but it also gives insight that when children use their imaginations they can make anything come true. My logic for this book is, when you use your imagination, you can make your dreams come true as well. Believe in yourself and never give up hope. Read more>>

Lona Czerwinski

While I was at my last corporate job, I knew that this role was no longer for me; corporate was no longer for me. However, I recognized there were aspects of my job that I really enjoyed and challenged me. So I set off on a path of finding a career that felt more aligned with my passions, my skills, and the life I wanted to live. After doing numerous interviews for a variety of positions, an old colleague of mine was hosting a workshop on what a Virtual Assistant (VA) is and what they do. This was my ‘ah-ha’ moment! I then started my journey of becoming a VA. Read more>>

 

Jiaxing Yang

I have always been captivated by the power of visual storytelling and the ability to bring imaginative worlds to life. Since my early years spent filling sketchbooks with drawings, I developed a deep passion for artistic expression. As I delved into the world of art contests and had my first televised art exhibition as a teenager, I realized that my true calling lies in the digital animation industry.Read more>>