Getting your first client is an exhilarating experience, but it’s also an experience that far too many aspiring entrepreneurs never experience. Sometimes, the difference between an idea dying in the idea stage or going on to change the world is getting that first customer – the first tiny win that creates the momentum to make an idea real. So, we connected with some of the smartest folks we could and asked them to tell us the stories of how they got their initial clients.

Kevin Rigby

The funny thing about the start of my business, I didn’t even know I was starting a business. In May 2020, we received a grant at my full-time job to purchase new camera gear so that we could transition our content online to meet the needs of our audience during the pandemic. I began my employment with Youth to Youth, a leadership and drug-prevention organization fresh out of high school in 2007. Read more>>

Lucy Milligan Wahl

Once I came up with the plan to start a professional organizing business, I started talking about it to anyone I met. I did it for a couple of reasons. First, it provided me accountability. Once I started talking about it, it was real to other people, and friends and family would start asking me about how it was going. And second, it let me do some informal market research. Read more>>

Piya Samant

I’ve been a visual artist for as long as I can remember painting portraits of people and pets who caught my attention. I enjoy capturing the personality of the subject in addition to their likeness. I had gifted some of these drawings and paintings to the subjects and pet owners. A friend of one of these portrait recipients asked if I would considering doing a commissioned painting of their granddaughter who is a ballerina. Read more>> 

Alessandra Saggese

Well my first client was actually through Instagram. I managed my Instagram in a very organic and natural way. I posted a lot about behind the scenes of the design process and all the obstacles that one encounters along the way. I think that made me connect with my audience. Read more>>

Nat Aubry

My first photography booking came totally out of the blue, and yet it was really special. It was a high-ish end restaurant set in the beautiful English countryside. I was shooting more analogue at the time (as well as digital), and they were looking for a mix, something a bit different. Read more>>