We asked some fantastic entrepreneurs and creatives to tell us about their first job in their field. Check out their stories below.

Mary Ann Garcia

I remember walking into the ER thinking this was everything I ever wanted, feeling overwhelmingly excited to be able to care for patients. My dream of helping people was coming to life, I was the tender age 0f 19 working in a Level III Trauma Center being exposed to every type of patient, not knowing what I was in for. Read more>>

Heather Fletcher

My first job in the health and wellness field was as a physical therapist tech. I initially thought I wanted to be a physical therapist, so to qualify for school, you must have a certain amount of hours working in the field. I worked in a nursing home with the patients assisting the therapists with their treatments. Read more>>

Stephanie Sorensen

The first job I undertook in my career was teaching prenatal and postpartum yoga at the Bodhi Yoga studio in Provo. When I had first started my yoga teacher training I was quite certain I would NEVER teach yoga. The very idea of standing in front of a roomful of people who were looking at my body to guide them in their practice felt terrifying beyond belief. Read more>>

Jaime Carson

I feel very lucky in how I landed my first job out of school because it happened to be an a position in a high end Upper East Side facial spa that I was definitely not qualified for at the time. I had taken a part time job working the front desk as a receptionist at this particular spa while I was going through school and was able to impress the owner with my work ethic. Read more>>

Chris Covington

I have had a passion for horses since I was very young and I knew early in my high school years that I wanted to be a counselor, but I hadn’t dreamed of being able to merge the two in to a career until I took an Animal Assisted Counseling course in graduate school. I was well aware of counselor working with therapy dogs, cats and bunnies but when I got to the section about horses in counseling, it was like a brand new career option was revealed to me that I didn’t even know I was looking for. As part of every counselors education, we must also attend counseling sessions ourself. Read more>>

Maxx Miller, Megan Moore

Megan and I came into our field of practice while navigating through our own issues with pain; with Megan breaking her back and myself not being able to walk at such a young age we needed to find answers to our problems instead of just putting a band-aid over multiple symptoms in our bodies. Read more>>

Chef Melissa Hinton

My name is Chef Melissa Hinton I am an exclusive private chef based out of New Orleans Louisiana I primarily work with professional athletes whereby I am there in-home exclusive Chef.  Read more>>

Lily Braidich

Hi everyone, my name is Lily and I am currently a Licensed Esthetician in the state of Tennessee! I just graduated in March of this year from Paul Mitchell the School in Nashville. It has been a great ride so far since I have been nothing but determined to achieve my goals! Read more>>

 Jessica Smith

It has been a process for SURE. And it sounds woo-woo, but it all started with a decision. I heard a speaker talk about how he just decided he’d be an investor, and that’s what happened. I had never heard anyone speak about these things with such conviction. But I made a decision, believed it would happen, and committed to it. Read more>>

Darius Barnes

My passion for automobiles, strived me to go to the extreme to make my vehicle look better. I honestly had no intentions or plans to run a mobile detail service, I just wanted to use professional equipment and products on personal vehicles and it started a empire from there. Read more>>

Renuka Gulati

We started 3 years out of our home kitchen. In our network, a few family friends were in need for having regular home cooked healthy and tasty food. Since I have always taken interest in hosting family and friends, having bigger gatherings around food, I saw the opportunity to help out my network. Read more>>

Neal Kielar

I’ll admit that when we opened ten years ago, it was more a leap of faith than a well thought out business plan. There was definitely a bit of planning, but it was just for a three-month popup – an experiment that might or might not work or suit us. The minute it became clear that we had caught onto something, that we were offering something unique in our market, that’s when my buttoned up business background kicked into action. Read more>>

Gabriella Saenz

The Connect Travel started as a hobby. I would sit at my dining room table writing blogs that highlighted my favorite travel tips and hacks. On a good day, a friend or family member would reach out for help building their itinerary for a nominal fee. Read more>>

Emily Howell

When I first started Emily Grace Designs Co. in July of 2020, it was more of a hobby in which I made custom college stickers and t-shirts for my friends. However, one of my friends suggested that I list my products on Etsy. When originally listed my products, they were all made-to-order, as I did not have the capital to have inventory saved up. Read more>>

Brooke Schrager

When I started Lessons By Brooke (there was no “& Company” at the time) in 2016, I thought it would be myself teaching 30-40 piano and voice students across the Chicagoland area. I started with 10 students, and that quickly grew to 20, 25, 30, 35 etc. At one point, there were more students on my waiting list than I was actively teaching, and I was truly not sure what to do! Read more>>

Ashleigh Wilson

In high school I started doing hair for friends and family members at home. My sister and I would collect hair magazines, and design our own hair salons. I went to cosmetology school in 2007 and I received my cosmetology license in August of 2009, After school it was hard for me to decide what kind of hair salon I wanted to work in. But I always had a vision of what I saw for “My Salon”. Read more>>

Karen Davis

Starting a small business is never easy. I purchased my first Nikon DSLR camera, in hopes to become a sports photographer. Little did I know how much work would go into building up a business, a brand, and getting your name out there. Read more>>

Miguel Sarduy

In the beginning I was unemployed and without any other option of a decent salary. I had no choice but to undertake on my own and start my own business. I soon realized that no one was going to offer me my dream job, my dream job had to be built by myself. So I started with very low prices, I practically gave away my work, because I was obsessed with having clients. Read more>>

Jenna Grap

I started doing photography at a young age. I started doing client work when I was in high school. It started with senior photos, family photos, and then on to weddings and I was so in love with the art. I knew right away that this is what I wanted to do with my life and while I was in high school. Read more>>

Kisma Orbovich

I look at the “insides” of a business as a clear indication of the level of belief, confidence, organization, and trust that the business owner has. I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 13 years old and started giving flute lessons. After decades of performing and working as a professional musician, I decided to open a Yoga Studio. My musician friends flipped. “You don’t know anything about business.” My reply was always: “If I can get a job in an orchestra, I can run a business.” (orchestral positions are some of the most competitive in the industry) Read more>>

Ayianah (Pressure) Dugar

2017, I started my business name as “District36 Eyelashes”. When I started this business I was strictly selling & applying Lashes. Two years later, I changed my business name to “District36 Beauty”. I changed my name to that because I had just Graduated from Esthetician school & was interested in Facials , Lash Extensions & waxing at time. Read more>>

Kate Bannon

Back in 2015, I was working as a production Assistant to the art department on a pilot episode of a an “Urban Cowboy” series. The days were long and many of my tasks were menial but I was thrilled to be networking, learning about the industry and working towards my Hollywood dreams. Read more>>