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.

Molly Lee

As a side hustle, Optimistic Soap’s biggest limiting factor is time. This is a tiny business that has grown in the slivers of hours found in between a demanding day job and caring for home and family. After years of working hard making soap at odd hours on weekends, I came understand the African proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” Read more>>

Sade Page

One way that I’ve been able to scale up is by being more present on social media. I remember a younger version of myself stressing about not being on a physical stage as often as I’d like then someone told me, “you’ve got the whole world in your hand”. I began to post more content, and use the tools that were easily accessible to me. By doing so Ive nearly doubled my fanbase, and create more opportunities for me to be on physical stages. Read more>>

Lila Ealy

Creating a business with a strong foundation is hard. It takes so much of your time, especially if you have littles and a crazy schedule at home. I know my business has so much growing left to do but it’s rising, and that’s what matters. I started my business in 2021 and offered slots for free mini sessions to all my friends/ family on Facebook. Read more>>

Porsha Kimble

My original business was baking cakes from my home. As that became lucrative, I took my talents to teaching cake decorating classes. As that was local for a few years, I decided to elevate by traveling the US and then Internationally teaching hands on cake classes. Once I got that under my belt, I started a new venture in the cake industry by creating a line of flavoring elixirs for bakers to use in their desserts. Read more>>

Lauren Lerner

I love this question because people always assume that my business was an overnight success and that everything is glamorous and picture-perfect when looking at the world of design. Honestly, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. I decided to make a major career change after the birth of my son. Maybe it was sleepless nights, but I decided to quit a successful career in sales to immerse myself full-time in what had been a passion of mine up until this point. Read more>>

Wilhelmenia Nix

I started my business with just family and friends being my clients then as the months and years went on I built a community of clients that keeps vowing cause u have to push yourself there’s sometime I’m booking a party at 3Am going above and beyond for your clients makes a difference and they will spread your business to there friends and family. Read more>>

Tynnetta Thompson Sharon Reed

Well it all started in San Diego California 2020, working as a Manager for a Franchise Salon and COVID-19 hit and I was laid off. One day I was scrolling on TikTok and saw a small business posting how they started their own business making their own products. I was instantly inspired and I told my partner I wanted to start a business making Hair Growth Oil, being that I was already a hairstylist I figured it was perfect and it couldn’t have come at a better time being that I was laid off due to Covid I could out all my time into the business. Read more>>

Zaniya Barnett

I love this question for the main fact that I stress the importance of this all the time. Currently I am am my own team. I do all my planning, booking, advertisement , clothes, travel, etc… A lot of girls can take pictures but most don’t realize the depths of what that means in real life! Faith is 60% of the journey, while the dedication, studying, and final execution is the other 40%! Both a failing grade without the other. How I did it? Well, I studied my resources and used them to the best of abilities. Read more>>

Maria Alvarez Escalona

I arrived in this country, like many immigrants; In my case, I left my country, Venezuela, leaving the comfort I had and I was already settled with my husband and children. When I arrived, I had high expectations of how to start in this country and I only heard him tell me: Maria, what you studied in your country stayed there, you only come here to clean and work hard, here we have to forget about our professional experience, although I had my doubts I began to believe it; However, Read more>>

Tessa Milne

Face Of A Survivor started as me just networking and speaking on my experience of abuse and overcoming trauma. I started as a Public Speaker, speaking for small events, charities and private support groups. I would put myself out there on social media, network with businesses in the victim services field and create my own community events. After a short while of doing that, people would start to contact me from News Media, Blogs, Podcasts, Magazines and Event Planners for businesses. Read more>>

Hannah Nieves

This is such a good question and I wish more people asked this. Running a business is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do – it takes grit, persistence, commitment, discipline, and trust. We started this business full-time 3 years ago and it started with nothing – just an idea and a vision. Since then we’ve grown this to a small but mighty team of women who support a global clientele and built a multimillion-dollar brand over the last few years. Read more>>