Starting a business is hard because it’s a fight with yourself, an internal battle – gaining the courage to get started, etc. Scaling a business is different – the challenges you face are mostly external to yourself. Each challenge has a million mini-challenges. We wanted to create a space for conversations and stories around growth and scaling. Below, you’ll find stories and insights from successful entrepreneurs across a variety of industries and markets.

Kelsey Messinger

Scaling my business is one of my favorite topics because I watched how my mindset and small actions were able to transform my business from a hobby, to a side gig, to a small business, and how a full-blown operation. Part of scaling is to live in your business long enough to understand that it’s a living, breathing thing. If you scale too quickly, you can choke it out. If you wallow in your current place, you’ll never take the leap to create the business of your dreams. My advice is, don’t scale too quickly. Read more>>

Erin Hoy

Two years ago, in 2020, I started from ground zero. I didn’t have a single follower (and my business was actually called Sewing Creations by Erin). I started my business by sewing a variety of different products, including bags, crayon holders and more. I started sewing headbands and scrunchies about 2-3 months into my business and realized how much I loved it! Headbands can be a tough sell–lots of women have suffered from headaches because of headbands. I came into this new niche with the goal to create comfortable and ethical accessories. Read more>>

Kwmaine Ivery.

I scaled up by being humble and doing the leg work! I knew my time would come when god said I was ready. I must say god has shown out for me even in mist of the bad days, when I want the give it all up. Outside of walking in my faith, I scaled out by putting my self out there. I let my work and my customer reviews speak for its self. Scaling up has allowed me to get a dump trailer, it has allowed me to get a employee and more importantly it gives me time to spend with my family. Read more>>

Emily Russell

When I started my business I never dreamed it would become what it has in such a small amount of time. I photographed my first wedding for under 150.00 dollars. I will forever be grateful for that first wedding client, they trusted me and gave me a chance with zero experience. After my first wedding I knew weddings were where my heart was at. The joy and love I am able to document through their gallery is truly an unforgettable experience for each wedding. Read more>>

Anita Darling

The nitty gritty business of business can be a windey road for lack of better phrasing! I think when we form a business we think of gaining income one way. When I began to think outside of that box is when I found a way to scale up. I had initially formed a business that provided artwork to designers, decorators and residents. I knew I still wanted to be bigger and while I had many skills with many mediums I knew it was extremely expensive to attain an even larger assortment. Those factors in hand I knew I needed to find an inexpensive way to put my hands on a more vast medium and scale up while growing my skill, knowledge and providing finished product that fit what a client would want. Read more>>

Dennis Lee

For me being an Award winning Master Hairstylist has been me going out there and getting it all done on my own. I did start at the very best Hair Salon in the United States. Allen Edwards Salon on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills Ca. and then on to Allen Edwards Newport Beach Ca. The education I learned at those Salons , I couldn’t ask for anything better, and Allen Edwards is my Uncle so its legacy for me. Read more>>

Caleb Steffes

My friend Chris and I started work on opening our shop, Promised Land Tattoo, in July 2020. It took several months of work to get things ready and legally able to be open. We built out the inside of the studio, including the walls of the piercing room, and the front counter. We had to paint the entire shop and move in lots of heavy furniture. After doing all this, we still had to go through the usual red tape with the local government of getting several inspections and a couple of hearings. We officially opened for business in January 2021. Read more>>

Lindsey McAlister

I experienced the most success scaling up when I began investing in myself and my business. As a photographer, I knew that I needed images within my portfolio that portrayed the photos luxury, high fashion industry I wanted to be in. I attended a two-day, 16-shoot content series where I was able to create that kind of art. Those days also pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me time and space for creativity. Read more>>

Kyle Ober.

Most new Food and Beverage brands leverage Co-Packers to scale their product. Some are crazy enough to attempt manufacturing themselves. We’re in the latter group. After nearly four years of operating in shared kitchens and subleased spaces with only one piece of equipment, our juicer, we moved into an 8600 sq. ft. facility. We were lucky that the former tenants had invested a lot of money renovating the building into a small food processing plant but we still had a long way to go towards building an operation that could produce tens of thousands of bottles of juice per day. Read more>>

Morale Ocain

Morale Ocain is an Author of Seven Love Languages of Hair, Owner of Suite Morality Salon Suites, Speaker, and advocate for the cosmetology business. She shares her expertise in several business ventures and programs that positively impact her experience and others. Her contribution to one of the wealthiest and long lasting industries includes educating the community with her transparent voice. Her professional brands, Rooted , The Hair Experience Podcast spotlights the online show, The Hair Debate, which is now in production. Read more>>

Daniel aka Diggydmvfreshh Parker

In the words of Nipsey Hussle, my brand and me “we took the stairs” and still taking steps up. I really feel I’ve been scaling up since the very beginning since lil bro and me came up w the slang “gimmeemlaces”. To be specific though, the big scale up was when I invested in my professional embroidery machine. We went from flipping packs from overseas (clothing made from China & Pakistan) and then I bought a small embroidery machine and really learned the craft. S/o YouTube university. Read more>>

Justyce Mosley

time and hard work. It is not something that can be achieved overnight. I started my business in February 2020 during Black History Month. It began as Jaye’s Beauty Bags and later in the current year 2022, will be rebranded to AESTHETIC COSMETICS. The business holds the same values, beliefs, and purpose but with a different look instead. In the beginning, I sold my products to my high school peers. Read more>>

Jhaniyah Holland

I would say my best and most efficient strategy when running my business is being transparent and relatable with my clients. I have never just wanted clients to come to me for the financial gain , I really want them to gain knowledge and actually see results and know why they are getting these results which is why I choose to take a holistic approach when providing services. Doing that has really turned some of my clients that were complete strangers into good friends. Read more>>

Tracey Sanders

Before there was email, cell phones, social media and the electronic transfer of money, I was an entrepreneur. I’ve been in the entrepreneurial eco space for 30 years. From easter baskets, upscale children’s clothing, to a home delivery food service, I have always been ahead of my time with service oriented, problem solving ideas that make life easier and more efficient. My weakness was my impatience and immaturity in believing my businesses were supposed to grow with time, not marketing. After closing five businesses with exceptional potential, Lavender Mobile Spa was my final attempt at being a real business owner with longevity. Read more>>

Reha Habib

I started the design studio, Reha, LLC. an architecture, interior architecture and interior design practice in 2016. I was the first and only employee at that time. I began working on a large scale hotel project and the scale was too large to be able to complete the design work alone, so I collaborated with a talented friend and designer, Eliana Candeias on the project. I approached that first big project as an outsourced collaboration since I did not yet have an in-house team. Read more>>

Tabitha Caver

Starting out as an entrepreneur, you do it all yourself because you have to. Most of us have this story. But what I found was that a lot of new business owners stay stuck doing it all because of a worker or employee mindset. They do whatever they do so well that they stay doing that one thing and never leading and empowerIng someone else to do the work for them, In order for my husband and I to grow and scale our business, first we had to identify our own strengths and weaknesses. Read more>>

Heather Oliver

When I started my business I was barely making four-figure months. Now, two years later, I’m closing out months that are five-times that. But, it didn’t happen overnight! It took a lot of hard work, long hours, and saying “yes” to the right opportunities. A lot of people will tell you to always say “yes.” I think that’s true to an extent; you should never undervalue yourself or your time for the sake of few extra dollars. When you hold out for the real opportunities, it will be so worth it. Read more>>

Robert Carter

Before actually starting to do hair I use to just sell hair extensions while also working a 9-5. As I saw how much much money can be made in the hair business and also having my passion to help people I wanted to do more. So that’s when I quit my 9-5 and decided to go to hair school. While attending hair school I began to do hair out of my home to try and mange my bills and also take care of my foster kids as I was a beginning foster parent at the time as well. Read more>>

James MillIiner

I Start Making Clothes In 2019 my First Brand Wasn’t as Good as I want it to Be I didn’t really have confidence in it so I took a year off. Then when Covid came I went to craft store and bought my first sewing machine my first piece I made was some jeans that wasn’t the best but i was working day and night and I got better by the day then I started to reach out to make other things like turbans ,bucket hats , etc my first artist to reach out to me for was UnoSavage now I’m styling a lot of artists @ around Atlanta Read more>>

Laura Karol

Three years ago I sat in my kitchen at midnight, probably my third coffee of the night. I had sore fingers and arms from blowing up balloons by hand (before I realized there were devices for this). That was the night I started my business. I am now 2.5 years into it and I own 3 balloon machines. I realized the next day when I got to showcase me hand blown 8 ft balloon garland I needed to scale up. Read more>>

Kayli Kinkaid

We started off super small- my husband and I got a few clients and cleaned every house ourselves. We researched products and cleaning methods, tried things out, and learned the best way to clean in an eco-friendly way. After a year, we were getting so much business through word of mouth that it was time to hire an employee. We found someone we were able to trust and taught her everything we knew. Read more>>

Heidi Akpaette

The first way I really expanded my business was by investing in advertising. My husband encouraged me to take the risk, and so I spent actual money for the first time to get my name out there! The initial step helped to double my business. From there, the growth started to be exponential because of referrals and reviews I collected. The second biggest way I was able to grow my business was joining networking groups. Read more>>

Tammy Schuster

My husband and I have been together for 29 years. The first 4 years I held a deep secret that I had kept hidden my entire life. I was tired of living in the shadow of my secret. I was afraid that if my children had the same ability that I had, I didn’t want them to feel ashamed. I decided I was going to give my husband the biggest surprise of his life. I said, “Keith, there is something I haven’t told anyone. I’m not crazy, but I can see and hear dead people.” His reaction…”okay, what does that mean?” Read more>>