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.

Shannon Ritchey

Early in my career as a physical therapist, I suffered from chronic pain. I was overexercising – doing intense workouts too frequently. I thought my constant back, hip, wrist, shoulder pain was a “normal” part of being fit. I thought that it was because I wasn’t stretching enough, or that I needed to get more massages. When my very fit physical therapy patients were experiencing the same issues, I told them the same thing: that joint pain is the “price” you pay to be physically fit. Read more>>

Heather Geraghty

Although my passion + love for creation + design has always been an inherent part of me, I kicked off my career in Interior Design in 2002, right after graduating college. I’ve always been a free-spirit + although I was living in Oregon after graduating, decided on a whim to pack my bags + move to San Diego. It’s here I spent the following 18 years of my life living, eating + breathing my career in commercial interiors. In 2016 I had my son, + I think that’s when I realized something in me was shifting. Read more>>

Shirley Henderson

This is a question that many people ask, because the business combo – coffee shop & hair salon – is not one you see every day. When we first came up with the idea we were met with some trepidation and doubt from friends and even our perspective landlord. The short answer is, as a couple we wanted to work together at something and I had a back ground in coffee and my partner has been a hair stylist for over 20 years – so the combo made sense. Read more>>

Jermecia Jackson

My now oldest son – Jamsion, was about 1.5 years old when we were watching cartoons on television. There was a moment in that time that I was so in love at seeing Jam so intensely engrossed at the animations but wondered why there weren’t any characters that portrayed boys such as him in their exact image. Characters that were rich in beautiful brown tones and were not manipulated to be some strange animal or anything other than a playful black boy with an imagination to be extraordinary things. Read more>>

Tara Koestner

I started out as an assistant to an exclusive wedding planner in my hometown in the gorgeous Flathead Valley Montana which is in the top ten wedding destination areas in the country. I ended up behind the bar last minute at one particularly gorgeous wedding I was coordinating because the bar service was inadequate, and I had experience in bartending. After that, I really started to notice that the bar not only was an integral part of any successful event, but was also the main hub for information and support from guests, clients, and vendors alike. Read more>>

Jasmin Suayan.

The idea of Do Good Swimwear was incepted in 2017 after going on a surf trip with one of my surf sisters and realizing just how much waste was actually floating around in the ocean. Our boat guide would actually take us to different surf breaks and have us scoop out trash and litter from the water as we went along, which was eye opening. We would see fish and dolphins and other sea life swimming and playing all around us, but we’d also see empty soda cans, plastic bags, straws, boat trash, and other miscellaneous waste floating around too. Read more>>

Laura George

As a mother of four boys and an entrepreneur, I have learned to manage many responsibilities and obligations and have gained insight from them all, which has helped me to stay nimble and strengthen my creative and leadership skills. All the valuable experiences I have gained in life – working in a small, women- and minority-owned advertising agency, serving on the Northwestern Kellogg Admissions Committee for two years as a full-time MBA student, providing customized ACT/SAT tutoring and college and MBA essay coaching/application consulting as a sole proprietor for a decade – led me to founding and growing my college consulting and tutoring company, Laura George Consulting (LGC). Read more>>

Traci Williams

I’ve always been into fashion and considered myself somewhat of a fashionista. Over the years “life” happened and I started to gain weight. As I transitioned into a curvy plus sized woman I noticed a distinct difference in the clothing options available at my current size. Don’t get me wrong, plus size clothes are everywhere but quality fashionable plus size clothing isn’t. Read more>>

Raelle Reid.

About 6 years ago, our parents entertained the idea of owning a Photo Booth as something to do in their free time. At the time we dismissed the idea because they didn’t have much free time in their schedules. A few years later, my husband and I entertained the idea again after having a few poor experiences. After a few months of research and discussion, we evolved the idea into a business. I love photography and planning events for loved ones; my husband loves technology and helping others. Read more>>

Jane Magri

I truly believe that my business was dreamt up by the countless hours I poured into my yoga, meditation and herbalism practices. The idea of launching my own herbal tea line came from the deep connection I had formed to the plant world when managing my own health issues. As I became stronger and healthier, I began to dive deep into plant medicines. Learning and growing with botanicals calls on stillness of the mind and an open heart . Read more>>

Stacey Weismann.

It was back in 2018 and I was sitting at my desk job, ordering dairy products for a Fortune 500 company when I started asking myself the hard question, “Is this what I want to continue to do with my life?” I sat there thinking and knew deep down I was put here for other reasons than spending most of my life at a corporate job since I had no passion towards it. Read more>>

Lyord Watson Jr.

The Penny Foundation is a community chest based out of Birmingham AL. The concept for the Penny Foundation began back in 2003. I joined a group of friends to start a giving circle named the Birmingham Change Fund. Through that process I began to learn about organized philanthropy. In 2007, I went to seminary, and as I was completing my studies, I began to study models of ministry from various pastors. Read more>>

Aarron Loggins

I won multiple pageant since grade all the way up to international level. Then, I became the first black hold Mister Deaf International title back in 2014 in London, UK. Deaf King birth in 2010 all the way to 2021 renamed into Deaf King International. Read more>>

Teria Herndon

I started my two daughters hair and coworkers as needed. Although, I really didn’t know how to. What started as one client turned into seven. I then became a full time, wife, mom, employee and entrepreneur all in one. My husband was my biggest cheerleader. As I would send photos of my work, he would push me to no end. He would tell me how great of a job that I was doing despite needing more practice. He was that motivator for me. Read more>>

Natalie Estevez Hall.

Prior to founding Balloon & Bash in 2020, I’d spent years growing my entrepreneurial spirit, but quite frankly, the right inspiration eluded me. I had some promising ideas through the years, but none of them felt like ME. When I had my son in 2019, it was truly life-altering. People tell you having a child changes everything and that being a parent is hard, but for me it didn’t sink in until I had my newborn in my arms. Read more>>

Eyvette Walker

vette Walker, an entrepreneur, founder, owner, creator and visionary of Spicy Mama Spices, Inc is extremely dedicated to and passionate about quality ingredients and healthy eating. She indulged in foods from various cultures but found herself craving a spicy kick at times but wasn’t a fan of the vinegar-based hot sauces readily available. Eyvette’s cousin, Dina, then introduced her to Sriracha seasoning which became her go-to at the time for that spiciness she desired. Read more>>

Rikki Poynter

Doing YouTube and starting self employment was really out of necessity. Society wasn’t looking to hire me as a deaf person, even when I applied for the simplest of jobs. Like the typical jobs that people out of high school or in high school would apply for. So four years of dealing with discrimination and only ever having one interview that didn’t make it to the second one, YouTube seemed to be my only real option. Read more>>

Rachel Dellasala

One I graduated from my local community college and started my bachelor’s degree, I realized that marketing is where my true passion lies; helping companies grow. I felt like I was at a crossroads though. I knew that I wanted to pursue this new path in my life, but there were so many questions left unanswered. How do you get started? What does it take to get hired in this field? How do you find your first job? I knew that I had a good idea and was passionate about it. Read more>>

Chelsea Rose

Chelsea Rose (the brand) was born in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. An extremely bored creative needed a new hobby to keep her busy during those lonely quarantine months. I truly had no idea what I was in for and what was to come for myself & my brand. Read more>>

Tina Jarba

I came up with the idea of bringing balance to Nature (Earth) by Promoting creativity one day laying in bed. I am a creator, I write poems, philosophies and draw. I think when we create we connect with our inner God/Goddess. We as humans have created a lot of amazing things in the past without thinking twice, today creativity is not valued enough. Read more>>

Leeatt Rothschild.

It was a typical cold winter day in Chicago and I was in the middle of my job as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant. Our office was riddled with the classic corporate holiday gifts – tins of popcorn, boxes of food, and more. All of them were amazing, but as a CSR consultant responsible for helping executives effectively invest dollars to do good, I felt these gifts were missing an opportunity. Read more>>

Ysahai Honor-Marie.

I was born and raised in the hospitality industry in Bermuda and moved to the US for University. I completed my Masters Degree in Michigan and I am currently living, working and loving Detroit. Once I moved into Downtown Detroit, I fell in love with its revitalization and entrepreneurial spirit but I also realized that women of color especially African American women were rarely seen in this Downtown Detroit food industry revitalization. Read more>>

Kate Shanahan

Below is from our About Us page: Shortly after adopting her newborn baby in 2019, Sweet Peach Tree cofounder Kate shared with cofounder Tasha her frustration about the difficulties of finding high-quality hair and skin products for her Black daughter. On a continual quest for her own family with teenagers, Tasha shared that the challenge doesn’t end with age. Read more>>

Kry’Stell Lewis

One day I want more for myself. Iam currently in school already. I wanted to be my own boss also. I was tired of working for others and working on a schedule. So, without guidance wothout help I just started coming up with business names, shopping for apparel, just different things to make my business come together. Now I have successfully came up with my website all because of GOD and iam well appreciated Read more>>

John Guerrero

I’m laying in bed next to my wife and I’m telling her I wanted a very unique name for the company. I wanted to be different and to stand out from the rest. At the same time I wanted the name to mean something, that way when I heard people say it I could smile with pride! We threw a few funny names out and eventually we came up with the name “EZ Installations.” The “E” represents our youngest son at the time “Ezra.” Read more>>

Camille Serrano

Growing up, I often felt lost – lost in society’s expectations, family trauma, and understanding my sexual orientation. During adolescence, I learned about astrology. What made me fall in love with astrology is how personalized it is based on one’s date of birth, time, and location. For the first time, I felt heard without having to say any words. I started accepting parts of myself that I was shamed for and I started implementing solutions in my every day life that were recommended in my astrological birth chart. Read more>>

Asia Walters.

I have been working since I was 13 years old. I have worked in restaurants, customer service, retail store, security, housekeeping, front desk jobs, personal care givers and more. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances I can’t work my dream jobs and the jobs I have always wanted to do since a child, so I have been stuck with working the bare minimum jobs, jobs that want you to give them your full undivided attention, jobs that want you to put them first and above anything for the less amount of money. Read more>>

Geraldine Iheme.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020.. During the Covid Era, I was stranded in the United States.. The Borders had closed … where I worked at that time, had stopped paying me salary because “I had exceeded my maternity leave” Read more>>

Tresean Sharpe

I remember the first day I EVER held a video camera was when I was in my second year of college at Allegany College of Maryland, me and my buddy decided to record our schools basketball game. The feeling that I got when I was standing on the corner of the court was indescribable! Seeing the players fly around the court and compete from a different perspective felt amazing and I knew I wanted to have this feel for the rest of my life, Read more>>

Madeline Bodoh.

About 7 years ago my husband of 18 years was diagnosed with PTSD, after serving multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. We were in New York, visiting his parents when we decided to go Axe throwing, he really enjoyed it, and he said it calmed him and reduced his anxiety. So we decided to open one of our own and he has really thrived and made a lot of leaps and bounds with his depression and anxiety. Read more>>

Shadejah Harper

Well one day my friend and I were running business ideas to each other. Then that’s when the idea of making candles came about. I love candles, when I say love candles I mean I LOVE them. for example I will take the time to smell each candle at a store like Walmart and forget what I ordinally went to the store for. So, I thought why not make my own line of candles? The next day I went to Michael’s and brought a candle kit and followed every step then BOOM that’s when I knew it was for me. Read more>>

Eyvaine Walker

I contacted various traditional publishing companies to inquiry about publishing a book and they first wanted me to submit my raw manuscript for review for approval or denial. After submitting a manuscript for review, I was denied from a well-known publishing company. Read more>>

Tamara Irving

I came to the classroom from a background in marketing and professional dance. My educational journey started when I left the Us National Tour of The Lion King and needed to find stability while still utilizing my gift of dance. Due to limited support in many school districts for arts educators, I was led to create a consulting firm that supported arts education programs. Read more>>

Emily Hinners

Before we lived in Savannah, I had a job in North Carolina working in the greenhouse of a large family-owned garden center. It was one of my favorite jobs I ever had, and I was good at it. I learned so much working there. When we decided to move here in 2018, I started looking to find a similar position––but the job I wished for didn’t exist here! Read more>>

Clarice Burse

August 2, 2019 I lost one of my favorite great uncles. The bond I had with my Great Uncle Charlie was great, we both were the life of the party. Well i started to think what can i do to honor our bond. What i can remember from when i was younger there was always one or two family members stuck serving the alcohol drinks. Read more>>

BJ Durel

First and foremost I’m a father to 5 amazing kids. Our two oldest are adopted from Foster Care. I also own a soccer training company in Cincinnati, OH. My love for soccer and the foster agency created the idea of a Footy Gold tournament to raise money for the kids in foster care. During the process of chairing this event, creating it, getting sponsors, making calls, etc. I reached out to a major branded training equipment company to donate to the cause – it fit in line with what their website claimed. Read more>>