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.

Allyson Lee

The story of Alchinme was started when I was 17 years old and diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Intracranial Hypertension. It completely changed my life. I started burning candles consistently during high pain days as a sense of comfort and a form of self care. I noticed most of the candles were causing my head ache flare ups so I decided to start pouring candles as a hobby. Read more>>

Veronika Verkhoglyadova

The idea to create RCL was born from a mother’s desire to dress her children in a stylish and classy clothing that is made from a 100% natural materials such as a 100% Organic Cotton, Merino wool and cashmere because it’s both safer and preferable for children and the environment (less pollution – healthier air, water and soil). Read more>>

Amir McCall

I started making custom clothes in my room in 2019. I would use a vinyl machine to cut out my designs and use a heat press machine to press and lay everything together. I did that for about a year, selling all my inventory out the back of my car. I did fairly decent that year but going into the new year I knew I was capable of doing more and my creative mind expanded. Read more>>

Hyppolite Calixte

Cremas has a long and interesting journey through out my life. When I was around 5 or 6 was the first time around Christmas time I saw my mom making this drink. I remember it was a long process and she had help from couple of family members. My contribution around that time was to sit around and watch that process. Read more>>

Peyton McElvy

When I was very young— just old enough to paint or draw— I took to art passionately. Then as a kid dreaming of what I wanted to be, a professional artist was always the answer. That was the beginning fuel for my business, and I constantly delved deeper into my artistic skills & expressions as time went on, intriguing a lot of the people around me. Read more>>

Emily Rivera

It was October 2019, I’m a military spouse and like many other families that serve, it was time for another move. I was planning a farewell party with friends and while searching for ideas, I came across a video on how to make polymer clay earrings. I thought this would be a great activity to share with the group while each of us could take home a pair as a token of our friendship. Read more>>

Michael Rubalcava

Truthfully my brother came up with the concept and helped me build a website during covid. Everyone was in a weird spot and nothing felt the same as far as restaurants and the hospitality industry. People started to host private party’s at there houses since restaurants were all closed and I figured it would be a good idea to provide a restaurant quality service in the comfort of there own home. Read more>>

Lorraine Amodeo

My name is Lorraine Amodeo, I am the founder of Bananas Apparel clothing line & a nature photographer. Read more>>

Elsa Janney

I remember being in High School sophomore year; so sixteen years old, sitting in class (the specific one I don’t remember) and the name Wolf Winds popped into my head. I immediately knew that was my business name. The name of my future business which would be full of various healing modalities, dogs, horses, helping those less fortunate, veterans, children, survivors of sexual trauma, and the greater community of wherever I found myself calling home. Read more>>

Briera Nix

My business idea honestly came to me randomly one-day while scrolling through social media. I’ve been playing around with different business ideas over the past two years. I knew I wanted to sell something mental health related, but every idea I came up with didn’t feel right. Read more>>

Tyrike Brown

I’ve always been a creative person, and when I was younger I had a lot of emotion and anger that I tried to channel through artwork. As a young black man living with multiple diagnoses and disability, I was trying to tell a story that I wasn’t sure how to tell yet. Putting those feelings into pictures didn’t always work because I would get frustrated or feel pressure, and I still had a lot more to say that I couldn’t get out with drawing alone. Read more>>

Shonda R.

I want to created art that everyone to love from the vision they have or allow me to be creative. Want to show my kids that handmade items can be a great thing to have in your life. Read more>>

Mandy Nagel

I Thought of You was founded by Mandy Nagel after a visit to a small market in Indonesia led her to meet Yulia, a local woman who made and sold jewelry to support her family. Nagel was impressed with the beauty and craftsmanship of the styles for sale and purchased many pieces to bring home with her to the US. Read more>>

Nick Burchell

I’ve been in business a long time and to be honest, I’ve been thinking a lot about where creative ideas come from recently so wrote about that. Hope that’s OK!! Read more>>

Milan Organ

I fell in love with stationery during the planning of my own wedding. A few years later as I was planning my daughter’s birthday, I realized this was something I wanted to learn to do myself. I didn’t feel that there was a luxury customized option for children’s birthday parties. Read more>>

Mya Alysia

Being a Media Host/Media Personality and creating my own brand was always in the cards! Read more>>

Glend Martinez

Be Good Do Good Publications is my book publishing company. Back in 2020, I wrote a blog about my experience as a young gay teen and my secret boyfriend who I named “X”. I was told by many to turn this blog into a book and when I finally convinced myself to write the book….. I started pitching to publishing companies and they all rejected me. Read more>>

Dagget

I first started Dagget Designs as a way to keep honing my artistic skills and stay in touch with my roots as an artist. Read more>>

Alyssa Manoleas

My greeting card business wasn’t really an idea but more of an evolution that starts from my childhood and my family. You know those books where your parents write your favorite things down, what your favorite colors is, and most importantly what you want to be when you grow up every year? Well, mine always said baker or artist. Read more>>

Jeremy Beckelhimer

We had a pop up in Tennessee about 5 years ago and I had already been thinking of how I could stand out. We got asked to swing by the studio if a gentleman we meet at the pop up afterwards, so we went in my van, loaded to the gills with vintage clothing and goods. They wanted to shop more, so I popped the trunk and started hanging clothes all over the back had the side doors open with clothes hanging off the doors… Read more>>

Bryan Cruz

Project HOPE was born in my heart during a time of my life where I felt that something had to be done with the staggering numbers of children not attending school in Latin America. Knowing first hand the challenges that children face in Latin America to get a free education, I chose to take it upon myself and try to make a difference. Read more>>

Kara Bleignier

I, like most everyone else during the pandemic, decided to try my hand at sourdough. As a stay-at-home mom with three kids 5 and under (at the time) sourdough was my outlet. Read more>>

Emilie Gay

At the very beginning of Emtentions, the main goal was to connect with people in the community over a shared love of nature and sustainability. Starting out, I sold houseplants but ended up pivoting towards a do it yourself business model that allowed people to gain a hands on component that was both interactive and educational by creating the traveling Terrarium Bar. Read more>>

Shauntra Maddison

On 01/01/2019, I lost my best friend, my mommy. She was my biggest motivator and always made me feel like I could do anything that I put my mind too. Whenever she passed away, I felt lost and confused. One of the many things that connected my mom and myself was cooking. Read more>>

Suzy RAD (onsky)

After serving in the USAF, I followed a dream and moved to the Czech Republic, as an event planner, but lost my job to the 2010 economic crisis. Someone said, “Take a hike.” I trekked 522 miles, along the GR-11 in Spain. While hiking I had an epiphany, #1 become an artist, #2 work in the outdoors and #3 work for a brewery. I knocked #2 and #3 as a whitewater raft guide which opened the brewery door as a tour guide at a Colorado brewery. Read more>>

Brittany Keegan

I was home from college for the summer and my sister and I were searching for a dog collar for my mom’s beagle as a gift for her. Read more>>

Kelli Spencer

As a parents of three children, my husband and I have always been determined to provide the best experiences for them. Our three children have truly been a blessing to us. Before being blessed with our children, we experienced what many couples and families suffer with in silence — we went through three very traumatic miscarriages. Through those experiences, we grew closer together and talked daily about what our lives would be like when we were blessed with our children. Read more>>

Adina St John

Moving to Michigan was the first experience I had with Cottage Food Laws. Living within walking distance to a farmer’s market, we used to walk over every weekend. As I got to know the vendors, they would share their stories and backgrounds. I found it fascinating that someone could just whip up jam or baked goods in their kitchen, and then set up a tent at a local market. Read more>>

Martha Santos

I have a PhD in biochem and am very familiar with proteins and how they are the building blocks of life, so naturally when I bought my own shiba home, I was passionate about what fueled him. From the get go, my puppy, Miru, was very picky and would only take premium quality food. Miru can be reactive in higher traffic environments and fearful around some people he doesn’t know, but those fears fade away when we’re outdoors. Read more>>

Fashae Jackson

From the moment I found out I was pregnant with twins at 16, I was counted out. I was ridiculed and told I wasn’t going to make it. Some of my own family were not supportive. They suggested termination, secret adoption etc. It was already known if you were a teen mom of one was hard but having 2 at one time, no one believed in me. I ended up pushing through graduating with my twin 1 year old sons right by side. Read more>>

Jordan Walker Chaisten Salinas

How we came up with The Plughub Network, its actually a funny story.. It was around 10pm at night on August 15th 2017. Chaisten and i were relaxing in the living room after her work shift one night, and I started to tell her some of my random business ideas that i was thinking about starting. Read more>>

 Kristen Randall

The daily struggle of searching for a specific ring or a match to an earring was exhausting. I’d open my vanity drawer to a tangled, unorganized, frustrating mess. It made wearing jewelry a chore. Why was I spending money on jewelry when I could never find it when I wanted it? Read more>>

Rodney Duckett

My life has always been heavily centered around community involvement. In terms of community stewardship, I come from a history of community philanthropy. In 1998, I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and my Army unit made the decision to focus more on community service. We had to search for a susceptible place that required our set of talents. Read more>>

Christine Curtis

I immediately started to research putting a business together online, but I really liked the idea of tying it to a physical location, An Online business was appealing, but I completely underestimated how hard it would be to get customers online. It is still the single most difficult things I’ve ever done from a Marketing perspective. Read more>>

Stephanie Stringfield

It happened after the second worst day of my life. I had a sudden life-threatening emergency; I was told that I had 24 hours left. When I went home, I was standing by the window. I looked down and saw my baby green beet tops. I was growing beets on my window sill and I thought, ‘they still aren’t ready yet.’ Read more>>

Noymenia Lewis

I have always been a Florida girl with love for good food. I worked in the food industry until I became a mother and made a move into Corporate America. During this time, I experienced potlucks and what a hassle they could be. People only wanted to bring plates, cups, and utensils, not food. Read more>>

Amanda Kozlowski

In 2020, during the Covid 19 lockdown, I was having a really hard time. I am an extreme extrovert and my job involved me meeting with people every day. When being with people had to stop because of the lockdown I started becoming depressed. It was one of the darkest times in my life and I needed something to change. I am a woman of faith, so I was praying that God would show me how to change my situation to make me feel that I had purpose again. Read more>>

Jaye Mosby

I am a NICU Angel Mom. My first son, Jordan, was born at 26 weeks. He lived for five weeks. After that experience, I lost three more babies to miscarriage. After years of unsuccessful fertility treatments and being told I could never carry a child, I fell pregnant with my son, Emerson. Read more>>

Serina Roy

In 1999 I was a Mountain Bike Police Officer, and worked part time at a Coffee shop that roasted their own coffee. When the owner sold the business I really missed the peace and serenity that I found while roasting. Shortly after I purchased a small coffee roaster and gave away coffee to coworkers and friends. I gifted some samples to a coffee shop near me and they loved it and asked for more. Read more>>

Katherine Burks

The way I came up with my business is, I love lipstick and lipgloss and I always wanted to have my own business but I didn’t know what. So as I seen people selling the same thing and everyone was doing good I knew I can start my lipgloss and lipstick business. But I wanted to stand out so because my background is kids I also did a line just for kids to. Read more>>

Makeia Warren

You can manifest your dreams and destiny; if you want something hard enough and are willing to work for it, you can get it. I genuinely believe that. In life, you unknowingly begin to gather the components along the way that when the time comes, the dreams and visions, the heartfelt desires, and everything else will go together, and the puzzle will begin to reveal itself to you. Read more>>