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.
Marquita Toliver
Tell us the story of how you came up with this Idea for your business?Paint the picture for us so we really understand the context, circumstances, the emotions etc. . In 2019, God gave me a vision to go out and do what I love, encouraging women to feel and look beautiful despite the challenges life throws at you. In 2020, H.O.O.D -Having.Overcome.Our.Despressions QueenZ Cosmetics was birthed! Read more>>
Zissy Coronado
It was my Christmas gift in 2020 for my daughter to be born 4 days before Christmas, my husband knew it was going to be a transition to become a mom of 2, he bought some candles from Kylie Jenner, which I love her products. Fast forward to March, my uncle passed away in Peru, with no passport to travel, the only one who was able to go was my mom. Read more>>
Fayez Nowar
I had always seen many individuals on Instagram post pictures of food, but I never really thought of starting my own page until I went to NYC a couple of years ago, and my cousin encouraged me to start it and see how it would go. I am blessed to have such a fantastic platform to showcase the good and bad of different restaurants in the area. I believe that being honest when reviewing restaurants is most important because it gives credit where it is due. Read more>>
Kathleen Kastner
I came up with the idea of my first children’s book, Karma Cats to the Rescue, after my soul mate cats, Julian and Oliver passed. I had them for 17 and 20 years and they were the greatest friends I’ve ever had. After they passed, I felt empty inside and wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be happy again. Writing the book helped lift my spirits and brought me back to life, knowing their story was going to help kids and animals. Read more>>
Brittany Demetrius
After battling with my own skin & health issues, it made me dive deep into holistic wellness trying to find the root cause which sparked my self development & wellness journey. I quickly became obsessed with holistic health and the life changing results I found through it. Passionate about personal growth and striving to be the best possible version of myself, I wanted to share what I found and empower people. Read more>>
Janeice McCree
Top of 2018, I was working at a school on the west side of Chicago where I was the dance coach. We had previously won 6 competitions between the years 2015 to 2018. One of my colleagues suggested I open my own dance company like the 3 women who own Chicago Contemporary Dance Theater (Chi CDT). Read more>>
Laura Martin
Hello Everyone, Read more>>
Daneyel & Tommy Walker
The Mental Bar was created so that underserved communities could have the opportunity to experience a coffee shop that they felt comfortable in and connected to. We wanted to break away from the typical feel of the corporate environment of coffee shops. Read more>>
Valencia Hicks-Harris
Empower All was birthed during when we all were faced with the pandemic of COVID-19, Social Unrest, Educational & Racial disparities. At the time, I had recently stepped away from teaching to pursue my doctoral studies at NCSU in Educational Equity. While reading the powerful works of bell hooks, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Paulo Freire, and so many impactful scholars, it is like I woke up and knew I had to do something completely different to at least scratch the surface with assisting with the success of our black & brown youth. Read more>>
Dr. Delesslyn A. Kennebrew
I did not know how exhausted I was until I stopped. I had been serving in my first professional ministry job full time for about five years when I resigned. It was my first “real” job with salary ad benefits and I was fully determined to give it my all. I was serving above and beyond because in my mind that was what I was supposed to be doing, after all, this was all for God. Read more>>
Lanee Slaughter
In the summer of 2020, I purchased a resin ABC set for my daughter from a resin maker. It is important to me that the businesses I support have value alignment, so I messaged the owner regarding George Floyd and BLM as we had already established a friendly banter via direct message. Read more>>
Yari Copt
When I was 19 years old I decided to open a skateshop in my town. I was a passionate skateboarder and I was missing a shop in my own town (Lugano, Switzerland), so I decided to open one myself. Some years after that I pushed the city to build the first skatepark and together with my crew of friends we funded a skateboard company called Warriors Skateboards. Read more>>
Rochelle Mann
Throughout High School & College, I always had a natural knack for business administration and creativity. Add in a dose of being a techie and not having any brothers, being able to navigate through media and technology was second nature. I grew up classically trained in piano. Ok, there goes the musical element. Read more>>
Samuel Johnson
One day I was with my aunt helping her clean out her room and I noticed some beaded jewelry I’ve never seen before. She told me someone she knew made them and was selling them. I was instantly amazed and hooked on the fact that someone is out the world wearing her creations. Read more>>
Yolanda White
AnointedKreationsLLC is a rebirth, which came about while going through the time of my separation and divorce. I honestly had no thoughts about creating anything at that time, however customized beaded jewelry was on the rise and my little sister kept asking me to make pieces for her and her daughter. Read more>>
SalsaQueen Zapata
I found myself newly divorced and needing to provide for my 7 children. Since I had no work experience and never even finished high school, my options were limited. I’ve always had a passion for food so I decided to try salsas. First, my boyfriend at the time (now husband), would do Facebook posts offering salsas. Read more>>
Polly Bryant
I have always loved photography. From being behind the lens to the editing process, I love it all. I used to watch my mom use other peoples’ photographs to make a beautiful VHS for their special event whether it be a wedding or milestone birthday. I was hooked. When I got my very own DSLR in high school, I was on cloud 9 and could not wet to dive and learn the ins and outs. Read more>>
Kirsten Smith
Actually the decision to start this business came about because of health issues I was having. I was managing the support staff at a local outpatient mental heath clinic when I started experiencing worsening health issues over the next 6 months. They got so bad at one point that I was on short-term disability. My doctor’s finally discovered that I had gotten Lyme disease from a tick bite. Read more>>
Curtis Scott
Coming up with the idea for the product (The Orbit Performance Harness) that I’m hoping serves as the backbone of my business (Orbit Performance Solutions LLC) was really a deeply mental process brought about from the physical work I do on the gym floor as a coach. Read more>>
MaryEllen Picciuto
On May 18, 2010, my United States Military Academy/West Point classmate Colonel John McHugh was killed in action while serving our country on Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. His military convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber who drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy. Read more>>
Arvell Anthony
I’ve been an entrepreneur, project manager & business strategist since 2008. Read more>>
Charmaine James
The Not In My City@ movement came from interceding about the racial issues in the United States of America and in the local churches across this nation in 2016. The desired outcome from NIMC is to heal the racial division that causes us to have preconceived ideas that are not based on actual experiences or evidence about each other. As a church we wanted to deal with the issue of racism and prejudice in the four walls of the church. Read more>>
Cameron Lee
When my wife, Sunny, and I had our first child – I found myself tinkering in my garage while our newborn son napped. I have enjoyed working with my hands for many years through woodworking projects but grew tired of constantly cleaning up sawdust and I was ready for a new project. Read more>>
Yvette Freeman
The idea for The ENVOY Guide magazine was really a culmination of several things. First, I realized in 2020 that after living in Western North Carolina for 10 years, I could count on two fingers the number of times I had seen a minority on the cover of a local magazine. There weren’t even any minorities as regular feature subjects, as writers, or even members of the editorial staff. Read more>>
Angelica Caudillo
I feel just as almost any small business it started during the early stages of COVID. My older daughter didn’t go back to school after spring break so I knew I needed to find something to keep her busy. I was on Amazon and I found a candle kit. We started working on that and just like any little kid she got bored of it, but I on the other hand enjoyed it so much. Read more>>
Kristina Rauscher
I have been sewing professionally since 2014, my products really spoke to whatever season of life I was in; I started making baby blankets and burp cloths, which turned to baby carrier accessories, children’s clothing, and eventually custom women’s clothing. While I enjoyed sewing I never had that spark of pride in what I was making. 2020 came, my kids all came home, and I put my business on hiatus to become a homeschooling mom to my four kids. Read more>>
Keli Hogsett
The inspiration for CoCollect was a slow burn as I experienced the same problem over many moves as I followed my career as an advertising Creative Director and my family from Austin, to SF, to Denver, and back to Austin. I know, I am in a better mood if the space I live in is well-designed, inspiring and interesting to me. Read more>>
Talisa Caldwell
Freedom Creators Co started in the kitchen of my mom’s house. I was about 5 months pregnant at the time, and had moved back in with my mom so that she could help me initially with the new baby. Read more>>
Sunny Love
one day I was home looking up ways to help my sister with her pain because at the time she was battling with cancer and I was seeing stories about how cbd help so many people so I ordered different strains of cbd and made oils and gummies for her and it worked her pain was not as bad so I began to look at other things that it helps with and to my surprise it also help with anxiety something I have been dealing with for years Read more>>
Crystal White
I came up with the idea from honestly just having fun. I was always only familiar with the typical chain restaurants and never really tried to explore the plethora of restaurants here in Atlanta. I started towards the end of 2020 on TikTok and never envisioned where I am with it today. Read more>>
Rahkal Shelton Roberson
I am the CEO of Be The Inspired You, a personal and professional development business created to help people thrive in and out of the workplace. Be The Inspired You was birth shortly after receiving a clinical depression diagnosis. In 2017, life came knocking hard and fast. Read more>>
Eden Davis
When I was in the 7th grade, I started taking french at my school. My teacher was the most wonderful, giving, and creative woman and on top of being a teacher she also worked for a sports photography company. Read more>>
Sandra Soogrim
Island Love Cakes was an idea that originated from my mother’s kitchen. Every Christmas my mom would make Guyanese Rum Cake which filled the house with the sweet aroma of fruits, nutmeg, and rum. Island Love was created from the love we have for our heritage, our West Indian roots. Read more>>
Tiese Roxbury
I am an avid traveler and I watched as selfie places began to pop up across the country and I wanted to visit a them. One in Miami and one cool pop-up in New York. Then when my cousin was senselessly shot and killed in Wilmington on Christmas day in 2020, I was looking for pics of us and didn’t have many. Read more>>
Cindy Thomas
Fabric and making. These have been my loves for as long as I can remember. Before I was able to sew, I would cut fabric and tape or glue together to make Barbie clothes and then when I was old enough to learn to machine sew, my world exploded! Bucket hats, frogs filled with beans, spaghetti strap tops with accent trim, bags and purses, more doll clothes and then eventually a QUILT. Read more>>
Kylie Fite
This business kind of feels like an inevitable for me. I have been cooking, hosting, and making cheese and charcuterie boards for many years and my work has always been well received. I always believed that the people who ate at my table were relatively biased seeing as they were my friends or family but I always believed that I was pretty good at what I did. Read more>>
Devonte Hodges
I wanted to create something that Recognize, Empower, and inspire parents. Parents play an important role in our lives. Sometimes I feel parents don’t get the recognition they deserve just cause they’re suppose to do things for us. Parents sacrifice a lot to create a better life for their children. Read more>>
Londa Monnee’
Well, I’ll start off by saying I was never confident about the way that I looked. I used to get picked on for being dark skinned. It actually took me a long time to feel beautiful or even attractive. I started doing makeup when I was 16 years old. I was my first client when I did my makeup for my senior prom. And let me tell you, looking back at those pictures, I have came a long way! LOL. Read more>>
Shelby Rubin
After graduating from NYU’s Masters in Music Business program in May 2021, the pandemic was still wreaking havoc on the music industry and the job market was incredibly competitive. I began doing side projects as a way to pass the time between school and a full time job, rounding out my resume, often helping my classmates with marketing for their newest release. Read more>>