A dad can’t find a bakery to make a birthday cake that can accommodate his daughter’s allergy-related needs. Two freelancers realize they need a way to organize all of their client contracts and can’t find software that adequately handles their use case. Necessity is often hailed as the mother of innovation – but not all ideas come from necessity. Unfortunately, in our experience, often media coverage of the ideas that powered amazing businesses and projects often stops at a very superficial level. The founders noticed a need and boom – idea. Often the ideation process has a much longer, more complex story and so we’ve asked some entrepreneurs and creatives we admire to go into detail about their ideation stories.

Jodi Kaye

Well, first and foremost, I’m a mom to three amazing girls. When our oldest daughter was about 8 years old, it hit me that we were getting ready to start a time of growth and change unlike any I had ever encountered as a mother. Read more>>

Anza Goodbar

My business has served online service-based business owners for the past 14 years. During that time, I have witnessed many changes in online marketing and advertising strategies. There have been changes in privacy laws that have resulted in online ads manager platforms reducing the amount of data available to define an audience of potential buyers. Read more>>

Amber Schryver

I knew very early on that I had a passion to organize events. Growing up, holiday parties were held at my family’s home, so I was always playing mini hostess: straightening the table settings, starting the music, greeting guests, and gathering everyone to the kitchen for the meal to begin. As the only daughter and middle child, I was in love with the spotlight. Read more>>

Marquis Ross

Fugal House Nursery was born with a need to help people keep the crops growing and the cost low. I wanted to be a competitor in the game but I didn’t want to overcharge because its not fair honestly. I also wanted to show people ways of using common things you might have around the house to assist you in the garden. Read more>>

Amanda Thomson

I wanted to party without the alcohol. I was obsessed with good Champagne so for me the perfect Champagne with the cold bubbles, the pop of the cork, that first glass – denoted the start of a special moment shared amongst friends or team mates. Read more>>

Shawn Speidel

Unspoken gradually formed over time, it wasn’t an over night thought by any means. I technically started Unspoken back in 2013 when I was still just a freshman at Neshaminy highschool and have grown and adjusted the brands purpose and vision as we grew over the years. Read more>>

Gemma Downes

Music Of The Future was an idea that kind of fell in my lap but with a lot of hard work with it. I found that independent music artist across the globe were finding it difficult to get PR because of pricing so I worked with an artist not far from me named Jessica Bell then it went on where I helped a band then decided I wanted to create something where bands and artist could share their music using a platform for an Interview,review or one of of other features we other and continuously create new ones to stand out all for free. Read more>>

 Jewells Hingorani

After graduating from David Pressley School of Cosmetology I took my talent to New York where I was hired at the prestigious Garren Salon in Manhattan. There I made clip in extensions for clients and models. I had to sew tracks together to make them thick enough to look real. I realized the industry did not have a thick good quality clip and hair extension. Read more>>

Ravyn Whinehouse

Transgender Empowerment Alliance (TEA) was formed as a support group for transgender and non-binary individuals. I started TEA in Jacksonville, Fl. There weren’t support groups for our community and I was at a lost trying to find one. I felt defeated when I couldn’t find one. I decided to create one due to the lack of resources for our community. We deserved to have our voices lifted higher. Who was better to do it than a marginalized black transgender identified individual. Read more>>

Nicole Rosania

The idea to create a travel blog first came to me during my semester abroad in Florence, Italy. I studied abroad at an age quite younger than most – I was 19 years old and it was the fall semester of my sophomore year. Read more>>

Casey Richardson

I came up with the idea to start BLAZE GROUP LLC while I was in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic and a simultaneous crisis where images of Black bodies being slain were perpetuated in many news cycles in 2020. Read more>>

Tamika Johnson

For 20 years I’ve been living life like I was a Superwoman. Being a single parent, going to law school, starting and running my own law firm, volunteering at my daughter’s school, practices, games, recitals, orchestra concerts, 10-year unhealthy relationship, and more – all while acting like everything was great to everyone else. Read more>>

Erik Simmons

I always wanted to see myself on a billboard growing up because that was a sign that you made it big! So once I became an entrepreneur and had businesses to promote on billboards I wanted to get one asap. Read more>>

Laura Meyer

One question I get asked a lot is,” Why Lemon, why that business name?” and I just love when they ask because it provides a learning opportunity. Stay with me here, this one will blow your mind. Humans do not function in isolation, or separation of their parts. If something is not working properly, it can not be broke apart from the rest, “fixed” and returned. Read more>>

Livvie Malviya

I have been living in the US for the past 14 years. I am the recipient of Presidents Volunteer Service Award and Community Leadership, Entrepreneur Year of the Award. I work full time for the last nine years, currently working with one the best International Law Firms in the USA. Read more>>

Allison Paige

From a young age, I had a passion for story telling. It started with taking photos and then quickly transferred into writing. I was obsessed with the idea of another world full of magic, dragons, and infinite possibilities. I had nightmares and dreams about every wilder places that both terrified and captured me. I would wake up in the middle of the night and write as quickly as I could in hopes I’d never forget what I saw. Read more>>

Daniel Powell

Before leaving Atlanta, and relocating to Tampa, Fl. with my family and joining my parents’ church. I created a sauce that I called the “Marley sauce” which I named after my daughter. I hadn’t started my business yet and I was still working at one of the top restaurants in Atlanta. I began to allow my friends and family to taste the sauce and everyone loved it. That’s when I knew I had to keep going. Read more>>

Yasiara Ortiz

Do you remember being 17 and having to decide what to study? I was 17 and really confused and what I wanted to study and what college I wanted to attend, my mother who is european was talking about me going to europe my father was talking about me talking to staying in the Us or going to Canada and I was really confused, I wish at the time that I had had who I can speak about my aspirations and how to organice my ideas, and also what it meant to go to college in different states in the Us and even internationally, as someone who suffers the college application process it’s now my mission to help other figure out what is their best match for them. Read more>>

Jonathon CarranzaC

I have always has a passion for bbq, as a kid growing up in South Texas, my dad would have the bbq pit going almost every weekend. The idea of Meat Shack Barbeque started in late 2019, we primarily wanted to be a private event caterer/BBQ Trailer. Unfortunately due to covid, we were forced to shut down the catering. Faced with the tough choice of putting my dreams on the back burner or pressing on we decided to gear towards our BBQ Sauces, BBQ Rubs and Hot Sauc Read more>>

Carolyn Saunders

My idea came from attending the, de Mayo celebrations. Though they were nice celebrations, I thought something was missing. I envision people in the streets but wearing masks,( my masks), while having a great time. Read more>>

Melrow Combs

Hello, we are Lgendary and with are 3 members, David, Augustus and Melo, we had the same passion for creation and for fashion. Lgendary, the name, came about because we know with our favorite brands it’s a feeling you get when you wear certain brands and Lgendary was a feeling we wanted our consumers to feel. Read more>>

Kwan Bruce

In 2014 several couples asked us to do their wedding flowers because they heard I learned floral design from my family business back in Thailand. After a number of weddings all from word of mouth, we started Bliss in Bloom. Read more>>

Matt & Ryan

The Finding Fire Company started because of a missing piece within both of our lives. We (Ryan and Matt) both worked at regular 9-5 jobs, and although successful at those roles, we kept having the same conversation “there has to be something more out there”. Read more>>

Liz Danerys

My photography journey started while taking many pictures of Texas landscapes. My husband and I love exploring nature, camping, and going on lots of road trips. I was fascinated by Texas’s great geographic diversity, which led to my decision to capture the places and document them on my Instagram @lizdanerys. I have always been interested in learning more about photography but had never enrolled in any formal course. Read more>>

Tamika Watson

I suffer from Ptsd, anxiety, and depression which caused me to have horrible self esteem. Once I learned to love myself I wanted to create a line that would show the world that I loved myself and wanted to make that love I had developed for myself a whole worldwide movement. That is also what sets us aside from other brands. We use fashion as an outlet…as a way of showing the world that despite anything we have been through…we are constantly “Loving the HER that is You!” Read more>>

Tekeisha Bledsoe

Fresh out of college, my husband and I had what you would call “bad” credit. We could not get approved for a home or car after moving back to St. Louis. After paying money to 3 other companies to help increase our credit with no luck, I told my husband that we should try this on our own. Read more>>

C.J. Stewart

I have been a professional baseball swing coach since 1995. In 2005, I had a conversation with one of my clients, Charlie Culberson, which I believe changed his life as well as mine. He was a sophomore at Calhoun High School and loved baseball. In as much as love is an emotion, it is also a decision. He was committed and disciplined in several areas of his life, especially baseball. He practiced with a passion that existed only in those players who wanted to be the best. And the best compete in the MLB. Read more>>

Desiree Riniker

Veterinary medicine is an unusual industry in that we do all the things regular doctors and nurses do, but for MUCH less pay and appreciation. Burnout is common, and suicide is rampant; in fact the CDC recently named veterinary medicine one of the highest risk industries for suicide, right behind military and police. Read more>>

Tara Little

Loving all things home decor, I started painting furniture, as a way to redecorate my own home. I would show friends and family my projects and began having friends ask if I could do pieces for them. After a few years of this, I decided to attempt to repurpose furniture pieces and sell them on Facebook marketplace. I was very nervous and feared no one would be interested. My first piece sold within a matter of 5 hours. This gave me the confidence I needed and I have not looked back since. Read more>>

Phene Wardlaw

My whole life, I have struggled with mental health and anxiety. In 2018 my anxiety was at a high, and I started a prescription to try and manage it. But then my good friend, Alex Valley, told me about CBD. I tried it and found that it was a much more natural and effective way to manage my symptoms. Read more>>

Kahley Schiller

I first discovered Pilates in 2000 while I was a dance major at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Pilates courses were required to complete and also offered as a certification for those who desired to become an instructor. Read more>>

Tracie Hess

Having always had a love for fashion and gift giving it was natural that I wanted to study Fashion Merchandising and so I did but midway thru my studies I lost my brother and my already weak support system completely fell apart. I found myself in survival mode,gave up my studies and found myself a job.Luckily I had a friend that needed a retail manager and receptionist in a high end salon so I began my career in the beauty industry.I was fortunate that this industry kept me close to fashion and fed my creativity. Read more>>

Dion Green

The Fudge Foundation was developed after the loss of my father, Derrick in the senseless Oregon District mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio on August 4, 2019. It was night that changed my life after holding and watching my father die in my arms. From that night, I have worked tirelessly to turn my pain into strength by authoring the book “Untitled: Act of God. Act of Man.” Read more>>

Corlis Nichols

I grew up in my home and witnessed domestic violence. I later experienced the same thing when I dated a particular individual. I didn’t have a safe space to release all the anger, hurt and bitterness that I was harboring in my heart. The weight of the burden became too heavy to carry. Read more>>

Craig Callaway

I’ve been in the gymnastics and cheer industry for decades and lost my passion for the competitive side. I took a sabbatical for several years, traveling around the world coaching, training coaches, writing for two magazines, speaking at coaches conferences, and judging. Read more>>