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

Nadia Tabban

I am a great believer that every beginning is hard and the things do not happened overnight. In my case my businesses have being growing steady and constant because I had put the effort to make them go where I want it and need them to go. I started with one of my business not by choice but because everything seems to take me in that direction. I started by myself and now I have a great team that supports me. With my husband we are proudly taking our businesses in the right direction and in both of them helping people and that is why is the most important to us. Read more>>

Ryan James

Like a lot of people who start a new business, I started as a one man shop. I had very little resources in the form of capital, so I started by doing something quite inexpensive and that’s networking. I joined networking groups and met with as many people as I could to explain what I was doing. Over time those meetings became more targeted and eventually I started getting business from referrals. I decided I could conduct two meetings a day and still have time to do the behind the scenes work of running my business. Read more>>

Malia Beane

There’s a perception that when you become successful within your career, that it was easy for you to reach that success. We hear the phrase ‘overnight celebrities’ often; however, almost all of the successful individuals that I know have worked relentlessly to grow their business and to reach the level of success that he or she has. Success is the result of dedication, hard work, loss, lessons and never ending days. If you work in the corporate world, you can almost always clock out at 5:00 and go home; Read more>>

Corissa Barrow

The short answer – many small jobs helped me to land my first job in psychology. Now let me explain. After reflecting on my own wants I desired to have in a work life, completing my Bachelors degree in Psychology made the most sense. I was getting extremely excited to learn about human behavior but nowhere in the literature was it telling me how I could bridge what I was learning in the classroom and get into a position where I could start to apply these concepts. I was getting into my 3rd year of my undergraduate degree and conversations of “What is your plans after you get your Bachelors?” start to come into play. Read more>>

Notoya James

My name is Dr. Notoya James and I am the owner of Gleaming Events by NJ and Gleaming Event Hall. In 2017, I opened my first event hall in Georgia. The Gleaming Event Hall in Cumming, Georgia was considered middle size accommodating up to 100 seated guests. In 2018, I acquired the space next door which allows me to expand and accommodate more guests (up t0 150 seated). During this time, I was a full-time employee and a full-time student. My 24 hours was split in so many ways, sometimes I didn’t know if I was ever going to sleep. Read more>>

Interstar Salaam

You get tested the most when the next steps is greater than the one before. The key is walk with your head high, remind yourself your prepared for this and move like it daily. I’ll be lying to myself and whomever is reading this article that business comes easy. That is far from the truth it takes major investment. You have to constantly cultivate a way to stand out from your competitors. You have to understand you are the brand. You are the business card’s you hand out daily so first expressions is everything. Read more>>

Albert Manero

I was driving in the car and there was a radio interview with the developers of the first 3D printed mechanical hands. I was really inspired by their story and reached out for how I could participate. A local family later reached out to ask if I could help build their son a bionic arm. I quickly put together a team and we went to work building it. Fast forward to today, we are now a full non-profit based at the University of Central Florida and working through clinical trials to develop and evaluate the next generation of bionic arms. Read more>>

Briona Phonhrath

When I was younger, I always glamorized the thought of being in the beauty industry. It wasn’t until 2018 that I went to school to obtain my cosmetology license. The Beautology Lounge, an eyelash extension and waxing studio, was founded in 2020. I started off as a reserved and soft-spoken girl who was confused with life and in doubt of what move was next. Over the years, I have obtained 5 certifications and added on a variety of services to my website. Truthfully, entrepreneurship isn’t easy. In order to succeed, you have to keep pushing and accept any hardships that flow your way. Read more>>

Cecilia Moron

From the moment I began my journey as an aesthetician I had great aspirations for Cici Skincare. I knew that I would not be working in the industry as a solo aesthetician for a very long time, and that I would be embarking on my own business venture. I began learning from the best professionals in the field, while simultaneously building a rapport with my clients. Being one hundred percent clear of my goals from the beginning allowed me to have a clear check list of all the things that needed to happen before I could venture out on my own. Read more>>

Monica Herrera

Our business success was definitely not overnight. When we first started B.A.M. Creations we only had 8 loyal customers throughout the first year. But that didn’t stop us from creating our products. We knew we had to work hard to succeed. When the pandemic hit the world we knew we had to bring joy someway. We created new things and immediately posted them on our social medias. That is when more and more people started to support us. But what really changed our lives was our glitter pens. Glitter Pens were a new product we were trying to make and we loved them. Read more>>

Jessica Bahr

I am a Scrum Master and Agile Coach to software teams and enterprises. This is definitely not what I thought I wanted to be when I grew up! I vaguely remember an elementary school teacher mentioning how prevalent computers were going to be in the future and that “jobs in computers” would be everywhere, so we should “take opportunities to learn more about them.” Read more>>

Theresa Mazza

While I worked in a couple of kitchens prior, my first real sous chef/recipe development job was at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. I wanted out of the kitchen I was in and I saw a Craigslist ad for the arena in Boston where the Celtics and Bruins play. At the time, I lived about 45 minutes outside of Boston, without traffic, but something still pulled me to apply. I sent in my resume and was granted an interview where I met with the executive chef of the luxury suites and boardroom. Read more>>

Dana Benson

Well the way I received my first medical Esthetics position with a dermatologist was that I was actually working for her best friend who was a Denstist. The Denstist had a dental spa, so I would perform front desk duties with hopes that someone would book for a nice relaxing facial or massage. The problem was that no one really associated relaxing beauty treatments with the dentist. Needless to say, I never really got booked for treatments and was not the happiest that I wasn’t using my esthetic license to the full. Read more>>

Jill Volpe

I was in the corporate world for several years and I decided to go back to school for my Master’s degree in Business. Working full time while attending graduate school was fun, exciting and exhausting and stressful. At this time, I was introduced to Reiki by my best friend who would often practice on me. I remember those sessions like it was yesterday. My friend was a single mom at the time. Her son was sleeping in his bedroom next door so the house was quiet and peaceful. Read more>>

MaryMak

I am still growing, I have a lot to still learn and a lot of room to grow. I am just laying down a foundation and trying to see what works for me and what doesn’t. Read more>>

Charles Hawthorne

I think the hardest part about scaling up any business is the time and planning. From when I first started my business I knew this is what I wanted to do full time. I currently have a full time job in the oil/gas industry and work shift work. I knew if I really wanted to do this, I would have to really commit to scale up my business. The first thing I did was become more organized and official. I filled for my LLC, got with a CPA, and set up bank accounts for my business using the profit first method. I knew if I wanted to be able to live off of my income I, needed to be able to pay myself first. Read more>>

Shamerra P Saunders

The scaling happened rather slowly. OMG! It took forever and then BOOM! a gush of fastness afterward. It was risk-taking at its highest stakes. Sure! Growing looks different for everyone. However, the pain from the process, all hurt the same. Uncomfortable and unfitting. Before the highs come all the lows. Growing pains come in a series of dosages. One after one they start to form. Standing in line like a gathering of children for recess. That’s when I knew something wonderful had to be peeking around the corner. The impact of being featured in Voyage ATL Magazine created a huge transition in my life and journey. A shift happened. Read more>>

Deirdra Coleman

I launched my business in 2017, with my own funding & fed up with corporate America. In 2020, I relocated to Georgia & left behind the clientele that I’d worked so hard to build in Chicago. Not only did I relocate during a pandemic, I was literally starting my business over. I had to revisit strategies that helped me before, such as pop up shops & other networking events throughout the city of Atlanta. I quickly realized how different the business scene was in Atlanta versus Chicago & it was I clear I needed to change my strategy. Read more>>

Abriona Haywood

With starting a business takes a lot of dedication, sacrifice and many sleepless nights lol, Being a female in a male dominated field did make me push myself extra hard to show the men that women can do it too. So, I used being a female as a plus to strategize ways to grow my business as a female barber. Now don’t get me wrong I Definitely put out great services and haircuts but me being a beautiful female help pull in the men a little more. So with that being said I take advantage of social media to advertise my business. I mostly post videos of me cutting to attract my clients. Read more>>

Lori Brenneman

Thank you for asking this question Mainly because I spend so much time telling others that I mentor this exact thing ~ that there are so many mistakes, and so much trial and error, and “figuring it out” along the way … that we’ll get there eventually, even if it’s not quite the timeline that we originally thought. My story started with a website. My son always wanted to design a website so he did one for me. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t even have had the confidence to pay someone to create a website for me but my son insisted that he could do it. So he did. I was afraid to mess with it for fear that I’d mess it up but he taught me and gave me the confidence to navigate it and assured me that if I made a mistake, Read more>>

Lett Perez

My entrepreneur life started in 2019-2020. When the world stopped and we were forced to stay in our houses. Afraid and living with the unexpected, I was offered a multilevel marketing business model. I cannot lie, at the beginning with all the bonuses and the hype, I did surprisingly good. This being my first business model, I learned a lot and was motivated. After a couple of months, and as I started learning the dark side of this type of model, I was disappointed and left the company. Read more>>

Tiffanie Saxton

Working in the mortgage industry as a 100% commission employee is not for the weak! Being new to the industry at the time, I had to build my credibility amongst my potential referral partners and clients to gain their business. I started off with heavy marketing. I used my own resources to build my brand through video marketing, social media, flyers, campaigns, etc. I started becoming more active in my community by hosting free home buyer seminar events and teaching the importance of building wealth through homeownership. Over the years, I started becoming my own brand. Read more>>

Anjel Britt

I kept on learning, and working alongside other pro and amateur photographers (and professional models) who have differing interests and points of view … and we shot together in a wide variety of situations for many years. I hired an inspiring business coach, who taught photographers about ‘mindsets’ even more than about business approaches or concerns – that was such a great help! Read more>>

Willie and Kesia Arnold

In order to scale our business, we had to get organized and put systems in place that would automate operations. When we first started our business, we found ourselved duplicating efforts, periodically missing a follow up, and not quite having a flow. It was not until we created templates and processes around our business that we were able to scale and expand without adding unneccessary stressors to our business. Standardization was key! Read more>>

Madison Bissett

When I first decided to start my own fashion blog I was just a high school senior with around 1,000 followers. I am currently a junior in college with over 21,000 followers. The most important piece of advice I can give anyone is to stay consistent and never give up. For almost three years now I have put some sort of content out every single day. While this might seem like a lot, it is what makes me happy. It is so exciting to keep reaching your goals, creating new ones and repeating that process. I have worked with brands I have looked up to my whole life and want to continue to build relationships with these brands and eventually start my own fashion line. Read more>>

ACTS Global, Inc

Networking! We cannot stress enough the power of networking. Every time we took the time to go to a networking event, it benefited us tremendously. We typically always meet someone who wants to help our organization in any way possible, including introducing us to a friend in the business, donating their time or money, providing resources, or sharing more knowledge in the nonprofit field (which is always a win). Read more>>

Evelyn Suarez

How did Evelynn’s Cakes scale up? I honestly feel that I am constantly scaling up, specially in this industry. There’s always a new theme, a new trends new interest that people love to incorporate into their cakes some how; and as a cake artist I must be ready and up the the challenge. But of course initially when I first started I would mostly create cakes for smaller intimate gatherings like family birthdays and holidays. Read more>>

India Jackson

My Scaling up story definitely comes with plenty of up’s and downs. In November of 2021 Popgurlz Events & Design Co decided to take a leap of faith and open up an event venue in Union City, Ga called Popgurlz Event Venue. I did a lot of research but no amount of research prepares you for owning a brick and mortar. My husband and I quickly learned how important it was to have a lawyer to look over contracts, hire a contractor before signing a lease to make sure that the building is good condition and last but not least making sure that the first thing you do is go to your local development of planning (Zoning Department) to make sure that the business that your trying to open is zoned for that particular business. Read more>>

Sherman Jackson

I started my career as a trainer in 2015 at planet fitness. I wanted to work there because I just wanted to get the experience as a trainer and I thought a basic gym like that would be good starting off. Starting off I was a little nervous because I had never trained anyone before but one of my favorite quotes is repetition is the father of learning so I looked at it like the more people I’ll become a better trainer & that mindset worked for me. Read more>>

Dynastee “Honest” Harris

My story all began with comedy. I would go through droughts of happiness and I needed ways to pick myself up. I would always watch stand-up comedy and different movies that would make me laugh in order to give myself a refill of energy. However, I got tired of watching everyone else make me laugh and had skits in my head that I wanted to do. I was home alone and had nothing else to do might as well play around on some apps and make little skits to share with my friends. Read more>>