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.

Cassandra Mendoza

Ztylez Studio was born from years behind the chair, not a single light-bulb moment. For over 16 years in Woodside’s Little Manila, I wasn’t just cutting hair. I was listening. People talked about confidence, identity, and wanting to feel like themselves again. Hair was the service, but confidence was the real need. I saw a gap in the traditional barbershop model. Read more>>

Marvin Slater Jr

I came up with my business, ShotByMarv, from a genuine passion for photography and a desire to turn the way I see the world into something meaningful and lasting. Read more>>

Carola Gomez

The idea for my business came from frustration mixed with a very clear realization. I grew up in Spain, did everything “right” on paper, and still found myself surrounded by talented friends who were stuck in low-paid jobs with little growth. Read more>>

Chef James Rucker

JMBC & Co was founded by Chef James Rucker & Mya Rucker in 2004 as J&M Barbeque & Catering. Other sources indicate the business was established as JMBC & Co in 2008. Chef Rucker’s culinary journey began much earlier, at age seven, working at his family’s business, the Rucker BBQ Trailer in Houston, Texas. Read more>>

Hector Lopez

I was working on a Mexican restaurant as their food truck driver. After months doing this job I proposed to the restaurant owner to buy my own truck and trailer to start a food truck business selling his food and share the earnings. Things were not good working together and I decided to go to a different path, starting my own business. Read more>>

Jada Calicutt

My business was birthed from painout of an undeniable need for healing, a gap that desperately needed to be bridged, and a call to raise awareness and be the hands and feet for families who were hurting. I was a 21-year-old woman, 23 weeks pregnant, sitting in labor and delivery triage scared, uneasy, and deeply concerned because I was not feeling my baby move. Read more>>

Mo City Menis

I grew up a huge boxing fan. In my hometown city of Houston there is boxing but there wasn’t much local coverage. I have always visited boxing gyms but I wanted to shed light on the local guys who didn’t get much media coverage. Read more>>

Regina Latrice

Misfits Clothing Boutique was created from my personal journey of resilience, healing, and self-expression. After leaving an abusive marriage and rebuilding my life as a single mother of three, I needed something that reminded me—and other women—that being different is not a flaw, it’s a strength. Read more>>

Brittany Jenkins

Synergy Wellness Alliance Group – Origin Story & Vision Origin Story Synergy Wellness Alliance Group was born out of a very personal intersection of lived experience, clinical insight, and a deep frustration with how fragmented our current healthcare and mental-health systems truly are. For years, I watched clients—and colleagues, and honestly myself—move through systems that treated symptoms but rarely the whole person. Read more>>

Annette Bentley-Smith

Kobe’s Story-Time Plush-Tales began with a moment that changed me forever. Read more>>

Meloddy Gorrochotegui

Bloom In Style didn’t start as a business idea. It actually started as a feeling! I noticed it first in myself. Every time I wore something that genuinely made me feel good, my confidence was at its peak! I felt more sure of myself, more empowered, and ready to take on the day! Read more>>

Anthony Scalabrino

Our story all stems from the matriarch of the Scalabrino Family, Grandma ‘Yoda’ Scalabrino aka Jennie Scalabrino who created the original Sicilian amaretto recipe with ingredients from the grocery store. Grandma would make the amaretto for family and friends during Christmas time and EVERYONE absolutely loved it and wanted the recipe. She shared a lot of things, but never the recipe. Read more>>

Amya Janine

The Don Agency and TDA Modeling Agency were both born out of a very real need I saw in myself and in my community. During a challenging season of my life I realized I had a gift for helping people bring their ideas, brands, and identity to life. Read more>>

Hannah Harrigan

Growing up, I consistently struggled with finding a creative outlet for the ideas I had bouncing around in my incredibly active imagination. No matter what artistic avenues I tried, none of them felt meant for me. It felt as if I was forcing myself to be creative and began to doubt whether or not I had that artistic, creative spark in me. Read more>>

Jamie Seeker

Before starting Seeker Solution, I had spent my entire career working in business operations. I managed people, budgets, processes, schedules, customer experience, and vendor relationships across multiple departments and locations. In my final role working for someone else, I managed a private medical practice and worked closely with other business owners through vendor partnerships and professional networks. Read more>>

Dr. Tracey Hicks-Kearse

AcARRE® award-winning Founder, CEO, and Chief Chemist Dr. Tracey is an esteemed chemical engineer who has worked in product development and marketing for over eighteen years. While working for a skin and hair care company, Tracey was approached by a friend looking for a product that she could use on her scalp. Read more>>

Emma Davis

Mikko’s Choice is inspired by my dog and horse and born solely out of a desire to help more animals. In 2015 I was working in the cannabis industry when my dog, Mo, was diagnosed with liver cancer and given only a few months to live. At the time, I saw how cannabis based products were helping humans–however, there were no pet products. Read more>>

Samantha Hoffman

My journey to starting Joy For Horses and Equine Energetics began in 2020. I was working as a Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor and Program Director at a local Therapeutic Riding Center when the pandemic began. Through my teaching, I had personally witnessed the profound emotional benefits people gained from working with horses. Read more>>

Toks Agosu

The idea for Northwind Illustrations arrived quietly, almost by accident. I wasn’t trying to start a business. I was simply trying to breathe again through a season of profound losses: the passing of loved ones, the end of my job, and the challenge of rebuilding life in a new country. Long walks helped me think. Drawing helped me stay grounded. Read more>>

Jacob Klaven

Magnivents started from a moment at an event, not from a business plan. I was watching people take photos at a traditional photo booth, laugh, grab their prints, and then immediately move on. A few minutes later those photo strips were already bent, left on tables, or forgotten. Read more>>

Kai Ellington

The Golden Elephant was born out of necessity more than anything else. At the time, my bonus son was really starting his basketball journey — still playing AAU and traveling — and I was working in the court system with a schedule that left absolutely no room for flexibility. Read more>>

Steve Heroux

The idea for my business(es) was rooted in my childhood, but not necessarily in a positive way. I had intense social anxiety growing up. I was probably the shyest, quietest kid you’d ever meet. No dates, no dances, no prom. But I was especially nervous when speaking in front of the class, giving book reports, etc. Read more>>

Roi-Anne Walsh

The Story of How My Empire Began If you told me years ago that a simple sketch on a T-shirt would become the seed of a full-blown creative and marketing agency, I probably would’ve laughed. Read more>>

Jalynn Craig

The idea for my business was not born overnight—it was cultivated through years of experience, refinement, and a very intentional season of transition. I began my entrepreneurial journey in the health and beauty industry, spending over a decade in the beauty businesses across Canada, Europe, and the United States. Read more>>

Derek Francis

Ideas aren’t spontaneous. They’re forged. They’re shaped early—Ideas rarely appear out of thin air. They’re forged—early, quietly, and often long before we know what we’re building. For me, ideas were shaped by exposure. By environment. By moments that left a permanent imprint. Growing up, my mother was classically trained in culinary school and worked as a baker. Read more>>

Colleen Cushman

The idea really grew naturally out of my life behind the bar. I had been bartending throughout the Northeast—Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York—for about 15 years when COVID hit. After the shutdowns, the bar world changed, but something surprising happened: my regulars started asking me to bartend their personal events. Birthday parties, backyard barbecues, holiday dinners—you name it. Read more>>

Carla Nikitaidis

Kathryn and I first worked together in 2011 when she joined my New York-based boutique PR firm, CMN PR. We specialized in launching startups and lifestyle businesses across design, art, wellness, fashion, tech, food and beverage. We were eventually acquired/brought in house by one of our clients that was a growing lifestyle/tech startup to lead their communications in house. Read more>>

Heather Taylor

I became a doula because my own journey into motherhood showed me how profoundly birth can shape a person—especially when support, choice, and compassionate care are missing. With my first two births, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I trusted the system, endured moments of gaslighting and fear, and moved through labor without fully understanding my options or how to advocate for myself. Read more>>

Cheznie Treat

Spark & Sol began as a passion project rooted in resilience. A few years ago, I was laid off from my corporate job, and that experience taught me an important lesson: I did not want to put all my eggs in one basket again. I decided to create something of my own and started with a $100 investment in equipment and a small, closet-sized room in a salon. From there, I focused on building a brand and delivering an exceptional client experience. This coming June marks our four-year anniversary, and during that time we have outgrown every space we have occupied. Recently, we opened our own location in Bentonville, which is a milestone I never imagined reaching when I first started. It has been an incredible journey of growth, learning, and perseverance. Read more>>

Kwaku Osei-Tutu

I had always enjoyed writing and most importantly history. I observed during my 27 years of public school and college instruction that there were many lies, much distortion and insane levels of propaganda in history. People and stories were corrupted, eliminated or downright fabricated. The consequence of this decadence was the maintenance of the terrible global status quo. Full time teaching allowed me to correct this but it was limited to the small number of students that I personally could teach the truth to every year or semester but writing books would allow me to expand my reach a larger audience…the only issue was that my teaching obligations did not allow me to write full time. Read more>>

Jennifer Lares

I created Mulling Mortician in 2024, to address the gap in access to education and training that funeral service professionals face. I wanted to bring the learning experience to them (virtually or onsite) and help them elevate their skills wherever needed- from the way they performed embalming and facial restoration, to how they create relationships and serve families directly. Read more>>

Damante Cottom

I’m D’Amante Cottom, a 25-year-old social media influencer and content creator from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, born in Pittsburgh. I’ve built a growing presence on TikTok and Instagram, where I’m known for my food and comedy content, reaction videos, and authentic personality. Over time, my creativity and consistency have led me to work with major brands like kingpalm , c4 energy, Sixstar, Gatorade ,Nike, glo beverages, and Ethika. Read more>>

Beverlin Hammett

First, I must share that I started my first job at 14 and launched my first business at 16—an entertainment service that helped high school student singers and dancers get booked and paid for when they performed at high school and college events. After a couple of other kids, because we were indeed kids found out about how I wasn’t scared to ‘demand’ that the performers get paid, word just got around. So, from an early age, I learned how to identify needs, create solutions, and empower people who had talent but lacked structure, strategy, confidence, or support. Read more>>

Luciana Black

I didn’t come up with the idea for my creative services business in a conference room, with a clean whiteboard and a cup of coffee beside me. It came to me in the middle of a storm — the kind of storm that rearranges who you are at the deepest level. Read more>>

Christian Humphrey

Creating Silky Athletic Wraps started with a personal need. My hair and my hygiene. As someone who is constantly working out, I found how normalized it is to use towels, or wipes to protect at the gym, when in reality their not exactly truly protecting you from the sweat, germs and grime from everyone before.  Read more>>

Jahan Taila

I started working in a restaurant at just 14 years old, washing dishes at a 24 hour diner in Louisville. At such a young age, I embodied the same principles of hard work, tenacity, and grit that I still have with my business today. As a result, I was able to quickly climb the ranks, eventually becoming a server. It was around this time that I started my first business venture: Codera, which taught kids how to code in a fun and engaging way. Read more>>

AnnaMarie Missisian

I’m the Founder of a local non-profit that serves those affected by breast cancer. In 2016 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and quickly learned how chaotic and grueling going through cancer was. My treatment included chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation. The doctors and nurses were wonderful at administering medicine, but there was so much information left out. Read more>>