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.

Kai Stone

I didn’t have some lightning-bolt “genius founder moment.” Honestly, I built this business because my life had fallen apart physically. My back was screwed, my shoulders were wrecked, I was in constant pain for years. I don’t like saying I was depressed, but I was damn close. I felt stuck, and I knew if I didn’t change something fast, I’d just stay miserable. Read more>>

Dustin Terry

The idea for TheColdCases.com didn’t arrive in one dramatic moment—it grew slowly out of a mix of personal experience, frustration with the system, and a very real desire to create something meaningful that could outlast me. For most of my life, I’ve been someone who pays attention to people who slip through the cracks. Read more>>

Tunji Ajigbeda

I remember having to deal with debt early in my professional life. I was making good money and feeling good about myself. I felt so good that I decided to take a huge risk, quit my well paying job, and write, produce, and record an album with me acting as the record company with deep pockets. Read more>>

Cherece Mendieta

I created my first lantern after one of the hardest moments of my life, losing my mom to cancer. When she passed I felt lost and I needed something that kept her memory close. Creating my first lantern became my way of holding on to her and her memory. Read more>>

Desiree Cooper

On a dim afternoon in February 2006, I stepped inside an old two-bedroom bungalow on Detroit’s east side. At the time, I was a columnist for the Detroit Free Press and had come to hear firsthand the forgotten story of a local civil rights pioneer. Read more>>

Cheryl Mix

We moved to Fort Worth approximately 12 years ago. Once we settled into our neighborhood, we noticed quite a few requests for children’s clothes by foster parents. I have grandchildren who had outgrown some of their clothes, so I dropped some off at one of the requests address. She also needed dog food and cat littler for a local animal rescue. Read more>>

Allison Zaluski

I came up with the idea for an all-natural hard sour adaptogen candy because of my person experience with a panic disorder. It was specifically bad from 2020-2023 where I would get panic attacks almost every day especially while driving. There were many times where I’d have to pull over for a few hours, or have someone pick me up just to calm down. Read more>>

Katie Andrews

When people ask how I came up with the idea for Katie Andrews Travel and eventually the Hidden Gem Escape series, I always say it wasn’t one defining moment. It was a journey. I started out the traditional way. I earned my degree in Travel and Tourism and became a travel advisor right out of school. Read more>>

Chloe Ellis

For most of my life I lived in industries that rewarded masking and punished sensitivity. I was pushed to be smaller, quieter, and easier to manage. I was dismissed, spoken over, and at times deeply mistreated. I kept trying to fit into spaces that were not built for people like me. When I was finally diagnosed with AuDHD everything clicked into place. Read more>>

Emil Bedretdinov

The idea didn’t come from a business plan or a lightbulb moment. It came from necessity, then evolved into passion. At 15, I was washing dishes at IKEA to help support my family after my father fell ill. By 17, I was handing out flyers for nightclubs, and that’s when I saw the potential. Read more>>

Kennedy & Reagan

We started our hair business back in 2014 when we were just sophomores in high school. We’d always been passionate about hair and wanted a way to make money since we weren’t really allowed to have traditional jobs during high school. Our first idea was actually to sell candy, but we ultimately chose hair—and it was the best decision we could’ve made. Read more>>

Brandon Jones

Hastings was a huge part of my formative years. I spent countless hours at the store renting movies (on VHS and DVD), buying music, merch, and books. It was sometime in 2016 that they went out of business. A year later, I got the idea to start selling comics in a local flea market. Read more>>

Tiana Kamil

My business wasn’t something I randomly woke up and created — it was the result of a long, connected journey that I didn’t even realize was preparing me for what I do today. It really started in high school, in a broadcast journalism elective. That was the first time I was introduced to the world of media production. Read more>>

Isaac Berry

How Instant Car Fix Was Born — The Story, The Emotion, and the Logic Behind the Revolution Instant Car Fix didn’t begin in a boardroom or from a stack of market research reports. It started with one customer—five years ago—standing outside his vehicle frustrated, overwhelmed, and completely at the mercy of an industry that had become synonymous with inconvenience, markups, and uncertainty. Read more>>

Padu Merlotti

I came to dirt bikes embarrassingly late in life, well into my forties, when most people my age are settling comfortably into routines. My world was still the tech world: fast-paced, high-pressure, and increasingly draining. I needed an escape hatch, something that would force me out from behind the screen and remind me that adrenaline and joy still existed. Read more>>

Janette Habashi

Child’s Cup Full (CCF) got started in 2008 when Dr. Janette Habashi, a Palestinian native and professor at the University of Oklahoma, traveled with her students to the West Bank on a small fundraising mission to support grassroots education programs for refugee children. Read more>>

Demetria ‘MzMetchi’ Brown

The idea for The Blueprint Live was born out of a deep desire to create a space where real conversations could happen, conversations that inspire, educate, and empower. Back in 2018, I was watching how social media was shaping narratives and realized something: so many voices were being drowned out by noise. Read more>>

Ali Yilmaz

I came to the United States for my master’s degree, and at the same time I was working full-time as a product manager. Life got very busy very quickly. At twenty four, I was promoted to senior product manager leading a team of engineers and designers who were older and far more experienced than me. On paper it was a dream. Read more>>

Blima Ehrentreu

My journey began in Toronto, where I grew up and earned my Master’s in Interior Design. I started out at an architectural firm, where I learned how ideas move from drawings into built spaces. From there, I partnered with another designer in Toronto, which opened the door to new opportunities and gave me the chance to take on more complex projects. Read more>>

Dolev Schreiber

It was a natural progression that I accidentally fell into. I had a side project developing an online interactive travel planning tool for independent travelers – those who want to build their own travel itineraries without going through a tour operator. I knew there was a demand for such a tool since my full-time job at the time was for a tour operator. Read more>>

Carmen Maendel

I have owned and co-owned four companies in the last twelve years (Genoa Denim & Leather Apparel, Carmen Maendel Photography, Maendel Fitness Gym & Spa, and Nate’s Property Maintenance LLC. I was a Stock Broker and Financial Advisor for eight years and a Special Education teacher for five years prior to that. Read more>>

Rachel Kelley

After spending over a decade in the style industry, I knew I wanted to create a customer experience different from a typical shop. I envisioned something more personal — a boutique rooted in elevated service and genuine connection. I wanted more than a clothing store; I wanted a space where women in our community could feel seen, valued, and empowered. Read more>>

LaSonda Carrizales

It all started in February, 2020. I had a hysterectomy and experienced hair loss from it. No haircare products on my shelf helped regrow my hair. I was left devastated and lacked self-confidence, I went to a dermatologist & trichologist to see if my hair follicles were still alive. I looked at the labels and had an ah-ha moment. Read more>>

Sierra Porter

Ebony Emotions was born from my pain, struggle, and eventual clarity after being diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. After nearly a decade working in media and journalism—and volunteering with nonprofits like Usher’s New Look, FUTURE NOW Media Foundation, NAMI, and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance—I realized that my love of writing, storytelling, practical resources, and mental-health advocacy all belonged in one place. Read more>>

Stefan Frank

We have noticed a true absence of professional online services that provide a genuine connection with a Doctor who can answer all the customers questions Read more>>

Ray Abram

The idea for GreatNight came from a very personal place. A few years ago, I realized something surprising: even though I had lived in Atlanta for years, worked in entertainment and tech, and had a wide network, I still found it difficult to figure out what to do on any given night. Read more>>

Alexis Nichols

At the peak of COVID, My mom and I were standing at our kitchen island and we were bored out of our minds. My mom brought up our adventures while in Europe and the wonderful cuisines we would often indulge in while on our travels from various countries. Read more>>

Isaac Ameyaw

Every day, society moves in a rhythm that feels almost preordained—a cycle of waking up to alarms we resent, commuting to jobs that drain us, and returning to homes that feel like temporary pit stops before the next round begins. Most of us live this way, caught in the invisible gears of a rat race we never truly consented to join. We trade our time, our energy, and sometimes even our peace of mind for careers that do not ignite our souls, for schedules that lack meaning, for routines that slowly erode the vibrant edges of who we are. School trains us early for this rhythm, filling our days with electives and assignments, with no true sense of direction, leaving our mental reserves depleted while whispering that this is the only path to success. Read more>>

Matt Thurston

I got my first body shop job at the age of 19. It was fun and cool because I grew up with a car loving father and I was into cars. That summer job turned into a 30 year career and at the age of 49 I was ready to do something new. After being a car guy all my life and moving to a small town that had a very strong car classic car culture, I wanted to do something on that path. That’s how Chop Shop Hair Garage was born. Read more>>

India Lee

In 2021 I wanted to write my life story, but I did not want to publish it on a platform that would not fully represent me, my story and my vision. my mentor Gerita Cook has her own publishing company and Magazine. She inspired me and gave me the idea to start my own Publishing company. At the time me and my Fiancé Toderick Fitzpatrick Jr. who has since passed away, had already founded a record label called CSB records a record label and a publishing company would go hand in hand. Read more>>

Kat & Tom Vaughan-Johnson

Back in 2013, we started a collaborative art project together, using Tom’s illustration and Kat’s photography. We called this project Split Arrow. Every in-person event we did we would consistently get asked where we got our work printed. Our answer was that we did. We both had a bit of a background in traditional and digital print methods before we started to collaborate. Through creating our collabrative work we developed a strong relationship with print by using multiple print techniques mixed together and how to consistently achieve high quality work that had an authentic “original” feel. Read more>>

Octavia Traylor

The idea for my business wasn’t born out of a business plan, it was born out of brokenness. Out of survival. Out of deep pain and even deeper purpose. Read more>>

Kristen Jacoby

Socials to Social actually started completely by accident. I was so tunnel-visioned in real estate at the time — head down, focused on clients, closings, and building my business — that I didn’t even know much about the event industry. TikTok became this creative outlet for me, a space to just be myself and have fun again. I started vlogging my life, sharing little moments, and connecting with people online in a really casual, authentic way. Read more>>

Claudia Arango

The idea for MiniArt Childcare Center was born from my lifelong passion for early childhood education and my determination to create a nurturing environment where children feel loved, valued, and inspired to learn. Growing up in Cali, Colombia, I always knew I wanted to work with young children. Despite my father’s encouragement to pursue more traditional careers like law or medicine, I followed my heart and studied preschool education and child psychology.  Read more>>

Maddi Kligerman

Remeinz was born during my own self-discovery — an exploration of what it truly means to embody heaven on earth. It became a reflection of rebirth, something I’ve experienced many times throughout my personal and creative life. I started taking jewelry-making classes to reconnect with my hands and create without pressure, and when the name came to me in meditation, I knew I had to follow it. Read more>>

Dora Jenkins

Sole of Blaq Pearl was born out of a deeply personal experience. I’ve always had larger feet. I was wearing a women’s size 7 shoe in the 5th grade. By middle school and high school, my foot had grown into a size most stores didn’t consider “standard.” I loved fashion. I loved expression. But when it came to shoes, I constantly felt overlooked. Read more>>

Jessica Lorello

The story of how Lifetime of Love Nannies – Charlotte came to be is one of those moments where timing, and community all aligned. Read more>>

Paul Marcelin

After years of helping people with insurance and real estate, I realized most agents and entrepreneurs were great at making money but not at keeping or multiplying it. That’s what inspired me to create The Hybrid Wealth System. Read more>>

Heather Broman

For years, I’ve had the privilege of working with women-owned small businesses to bring their visions to life through branding and design. Over time, I began to notice a pattern. Many of the women who reached out to me were passionate, mission-driven, and full of great ideas, but they were just starting out and couldn’t yet afford professional design help. Read more>>