Do you remember your first hire? There is so much that goes into building a company, but few things matter as much the quality of the team you assemble. Given the immense importance of team building, we wanted to create a series where we ask entrepreneurs who have been there and done that, to share their stories and lessons with the community.” with “What did you learn as an intern or apprentice? 

Brenda Gerena

When we started Inspector Tony Home Inspections, Tony was the only employee and I was helping him in the evenings and weekends with reports, marketing, and networking. The first person I recruited was Tony’s son. He had the right personality and was willing to learn. The second inspector was referred to us by an agent. Read More>>

Brian Booth

When I first started my business, it was just me. I wore every hat imaginable—producer, engineer, marketer, salesperson, customer service representative, and sometimes even janitor. Like many entrepreneurs, I thought I had to do everything myself because I cared so much about the quality of the work and the reputation of my brand. Read More>>

Lydia Nandakumaran

Building Bridge Montessori was one of the most informative and formative experiences of my career. We started our Montessori preschool completely from scratch—renovating the facility, purchasing every piece of furniture, and designing each classroom with an empty space as our starting point. Read More>>

Allegra Jackson

When you are building a coaching and marketing strategy business, people always see the polished framework, the high-ticket clients, and the masterminds. But nobody starts there. When I was putting the bricks down one by one, it was 100% just me at the starting line. Read More>>

Joshua Okpara

My business had no employee, I was the only employee when I started; and I struggled hard with building a team because I was looking for teammates that were like me. That was my first mistake. I thought if I could find people that had my work ethic, similar values and mindset, that I would be successful, but it was the complete opposite. Read More>>

Danielle Florio

No. My business started with my co-founder and me. We were the sales team, the administrators, the tutors, the admissions experts, as well as the operational managers of the business. What started out very humbly (a small two person team), grew as our reputation did… Within two years, we could no longer accommodate all of the families flowing into the business. Read More>>

Courtney Bentley

For many years, Bold City K9 was a one-person operation. When it came time to grow, one of the biggest decisions I faced was determining the right path forward: building a commercial training facility or creating a team of highly skilled trainers who could work with dogs in their own homes. Read More>>

Autrina Martindale

One of the most important lessons from my healing journey has been learning that healing does not happen in isolation. For years, I carried responsibilities that often felt too heavy for one person—raising children, navigating trauma, searching for justice, maintaining employment, pursuing education, and continuing to show up for my community. Read More>>

Sylvia Gholston

My business was an operation of two. I was the senior designer and my business partner (my husband) was the general manager. It was and still is very hard to sell staging services. So at the beginning I hired a fully commission salesperson. Well, they left without even a goodbye. We were moving the furniture in and out ourselves. Read More>>

Vania Portilla

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about building a team is that culture is everything. At VCREATIVE Miami, we’re a creative agency specializing in brand design, content production, and social media marketing. We’re a small but mighty team, and we’re incredibly intentional about the culture we’re building. We value creativity, reliability, initiative, communication, and intentionality. Read More>>