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.

Chelsi Katz

In the beginning, my journey wasn’t much different from many other entrepreneurs. I was hustling and pouring every ounce of my energy into building my businesses, yet despite my relentless efforts, it felt like something was missing. It was like I was trapped in a maze, walking in circles, with each step promising progress but leading to a dead end. I was running, but running in place. I was maintaining, but missing what (more importantly, who) I needed to be scaling. Read more>>

Diana Care

I was working as a performer in Los Angeles and had done competitive synchronized swimming growing up and in college. I saw that there were limited styles of synchronized swimming for entertainment. It was either Old Hollywood or Cirque du Soleil. Being from Las Vegas I always admired the original Vegas showgirl and thought there could be a water show but with showgirls! Synchronized swimming had never been performed with different campy themes or had been shown as sexy. I wanted to change the game and provide different styles of synchronized swimming from Hip Hop to EDM and more! There are so many events in Las Vegas that take place by a pool, we also have world renowned Dayclubs. I thought these venues would be perfect for the shows I wanted to produce. I wanted to give clients the option to book entertainment that would work best with their theme and provide something that was highly entertaining and not just your Grandmas water ballet. Read more>>

Yvette Perret

I have always had a passion for photography. I grew up in a family that loved to take photos and video of everything! It was second nature for me to pull out a camera at gatherings and want to freeze time. After having my children and looking for a new lead on life…. I found myself back to photography. My husband encouraged me to look into photography and he bought me my first professional camera, lens, lights etc. Since that day, I have not looked back! My hobby, my passion has turned into SO MUCH MORE! I meet new people every day. I could not see myself doing anything else for work. I truly love my job. Read more>>

Jenna

I have been traveling by myself since I was 8 years old. My mother and I immigrated to the US when I was 7, but I would go back to Venezuela every summer to stay with my grandmother until I graduated high school. It meant a rather cosmopolitan childhood and a lifelong love of travel. I started traveling by myself to places I didn’t call home in my early 20’s while I was in graduate school getting a degree in history. I went on to earn a PhD in World History and so my fate as a lifelong learner of other cultures and traveler to foreign places was sealed. Read more>>

Elizabeth Read

In the Fall of 2015 my mother was diagnosed Pancreatic Cancer and given a year to live. In this moment my entire world collapsed. I was a mother of an almost two year old little girl and I lived about an hour away from my mom. My mom was so amazingly brave during her battle with cancer. She choose to only do chemotherapy but handled all of the ups and downs and side effects like a champ. My father who was still working rearraigned his schedule to be able to take her to her appointments and my parents were able to hire a house keeper and someone to mow the lawn. This meant that I was able to come down and truly spend time with my mom. Time spent watching her be a grandmother. Time spent laughing, hanging out and treasuring every moment we got together because we knew our time was limited. Fast forward to Summer of 2018 when my mom passed away. She defied the odds and made it almost two years longer than they initially gave her. I was devastated. I was now a mom of two a 5 year old and a 6 month old and I had to navigate this new world without my best friend. So many things changed in my perspective of the world. Work seemed meaningless and I began to, after navigating my grief, decide what I wanted to do for the remainder of my work life. I knew I wanted to explore the non profit sector. I had never worked in the non profit sector before but I knew my new career path needed to give back to people. Then my friends mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and she worked the entire time she was fighting retiring just six months before her passing. Between these two experiences I started to remember what my mom often said during her fight with cancer. How do people who still have to work or people who don’t have a support system navigate this hard difficult journey and still find the time and energy to do these everyday tasks that I am lucky enough to have done for me. Read more>>

Ahriana Edwards

I always had an extended shoe size growing up. In fact, I was already in the double digit shoe sizes by the time 8th grade came around. Therefore, I’ve always struggled finding footwear that were appropriate in my size. Fast forward, I found myself in college majoring in Business Administration and always having to show up as my best self professionally – but I couldn’t do that! It one of those feelings where you have all of the main ingredients in a recipe but you’re missing that one key ingredient. That was me and my fashion wardrobe. I found myself having all of the blazers, trousers, accessories, but I could never find the shoes. I always find myself dressing down in my outfits for business because I didn’t have the appropriate shoes. In fact, I had ran down black flats that was the only thing that could fit my size 12 shoe. It was a pain having an event or internship coming up and not having options. Read more>>

Giselle Williams-Thomas

I’ve always found solace in simply taking pen to paper and just writing. On the rare occasion of getting a seat on the train heading to my 9-5, I would whip out the my latest magazine subscriptions, find a page and just write. If there was an ad for Chanel, Tom Ford, Fashion Fair or whatever brand, I took the opportunity to put my own spin on it with my handwriting. I would write the name repeatedly with the aim of having each one look different. It definitely put me in a good mood before heading in to work. Instagram was also new. So, like most, I would post my handwriting just for the fun of it because it was the new and shiny social media platform to post daily passions. Read more>>

Maciah & Mariah Strickland

Loc’d N Vegan was born from our passion for health, fitness, and compassionate living. As twin sisters, we embraced a vegan lifestyle, experiencing the powerful impact on our well-being and the environment. Our quest for delicious, animal and soy-free meals led us to create Loc’d N Vegan, a meal prep service dedicated to providing nourishing, flavorful, and health-conscious options that prove healthy eating can be both enjoyable and satisfying. The idea took shape as we recognized a gap in the market for delectable plant-based meals. We aimed to dispel the misconception that taste must be sacrificed for health. With my sister’s expertise as a personal trainer, we saw an opportunity to offer a holistic health and fitness solution, empowering others to embrace a more wholesome lifestyle. The desire to make a positive impact and influence people’s perception of veganism excited us, fueling our determination to create a platform for positive change. Read more>>

Janaye Johnson

I’ve worked in the health care industry for ten years, and four of those have been as a registered nurse. I enjoy taking care of people and supporting them throughout their healing process. My calling has always been to nurture others and to inform people about the healing process. As a healthcare professional, this disturbed me because at that point in their journey, I could no longer assistance them beyond their hospital stay. Patients in the hospital sometimes worry about recovering because they don’t have the support or resources they need to get well. I decided to start a home care company because it allows me to assist patients outside of the hospital and obtain the resources they require for their recovery at home.. Read more>>

Heather TenHarmsel

I worked in the medical field and we had to wear scrubs daily. At that time, the only “fun” clothing/ accessory item we could wear were our socks. I decided to start making earrings for friends, family and co-workers. This added a little jazz to our scrub outfits. I have always been creative and was continuously coming up with new ideas and designs. This added cheerfulness for our patients and ourselves! After about a year of this, I started to wholesale my earrings to other businesses and ended up in about 30 stores in Michigan. I then decided to leave the medical field to pursue The Poppy Peach. We opened our own brick and mortar (expanded into clothing, home decor, other accessories (as well as the earrings, of course) and gift items) and I still have my wholesale side of the business as well. Read more>>

DeAndra Craigman

Oh, let me tell you the heartwarming tale of how my business came to life—it’s a story of creativity, passion, and a quest for immersive experiences that truly connect with people. As a trained fine artist, my passion for creating immersive experiences was always at the forefront of my mind. I’d often wonder how I could bring even more magic to those who admired my art—whether through installations or sculptures, something fresh and exciting. Read more>>

Alex Sher

During each underwater photo session, I take around two thousands shots. I edit 10-20, and the rest stays waiting for a second review – which never happens. Over the last decade these photographs formed an enormous archive. I never thought I would have a time to review them – until the COVID. Read more>>

Jamie Corcino

(How I started my cake business ) Ever since I was younger I always loved baking, after I graduated high school I went to the institute of culinary education and that’s where it all started.When I did the cake course I absolutely fell inlove and I knew that’s something I wanted to do.My parents were my biggest supporters I started making cakes for family and friends and all of a sudden my cakes became popular and I had from 8-10 cakes a week.I would make them all by myself. Read more>>

Patrice Gant

Starting any business can be a daunting task, but when it comes to starting an Intuitive Coaching and Reiki Practitioner business, it requires a special kind of passion and dedication. In my case, the idea came from a deep-rooted desire to help others in a meaningful and profound way. While attending graduate school for M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling I truly began my self-healing journey and I graduated in 2020. Read more>>

Andy Nolasco

It started in high school funny enough when I was asked “what do you want to do when you graduate’ I had never given much thought till then, but i always loved listening to music and was really set in the old saying do what you love so i started doing some research. Discovering that most artist didn’t own the rights to their own music or had overly complicated contracts that not only left them with little to no royalties and in most cases ridicules contract lengths. I thought that was the most absurd thing ever especially because it is the artist creativity that we enjoy when listening to music, so the fact that artist getting little to nothing for something as unique and moving as music didn’t sit right with me! So i had a mindset of starting my own record label where the artists and artistic freedom are at the forefront. Setting out to tackle the problem you hear from most major artist of creativity being limited the pressures that come from the executives breathing down their necks and the ownership of music a model completely unheard of. Striving to changing a formula that has been the industry’s standard for years. Read more>>

 Ben Ross

I wanted to give a gift from my heart to family and friends which reflected how much I loved them and how much they have and continue to have an impact on my life; while incorporating a touch of the outdoors. Truth be told I have had a love affair with the outdoors all my life and since 9 or 10 years old I have crafted fletchings for arrows and fly fishing flies from feathers I procured during my time outdoors. So I settled on a bowtie made from turkey feathers bc one day I had a bowtie and a turkey feather laying on the dining room table and it was here that I noticed the natural shape and tapering of the feather fit the bowtie perfectly. That was the light bulb moment where I decided to make and gift a turkey feather bowtie. That was over 15 years ago and since then too much is never enough for me when it comes to details, products, purpose and meaning. I pour myself into everything we do at Brackish putting my heart and soul in every endeavor at Brackish. I think that when you listen to and follow your heart it always will lead you to where you are supposed to be. Never in my wildest dreams did I think way back then that gift would later launch a company and change my life forever. Read more>>

Rich Westerberg

Our “business” evolved from a personal choice to find a small farm where we could grow better food for ourselves.

We were living in the city and wanted to move into the country to have fewer neighbors and more fresh air. I have always been a gardener and wanted to see if I could raise a lot of the food we would eat. We planned on a large garden and to raise chickens for eggs. Read more>>

Doc Wilson

Once upon a time, in the aftermath of the tragic murder of George Floyd in May 2020, a group of passionate and resilient cyclists felt an overwhelming desire to bring about positive change in their community. Among these determined souls were the co-founders of Peace Peloton, a movement that would transform into something much greater than they could have ever imagined. Read more>>

Miriam Pranschke

growing up, my family was never ~that~ well off, so we would shop at thrift stores generally. i imagine for both economic and environmental reasons. in middle school and into high school, shopping at thrift stores aka thrifting, became more of a hobby and choice rather than a necessity. thrifting allowed me to try out wild (ask my mom) styles while living off of a part-time old country buffet paycheck. i quickly became interested in learning about the labels and makers behind the things i would find and definitely sought out particular designers, at the time.

 Miguel Del Villar

The story of how I came up with the idea for my business, a Virtual School Nurse Staffing Agency, is based on my experiences while working at a school district and facing a healthcare staffing shortage. Read more>>

May Borras

A few years ago, my oldest daughter woke up screaming in the middle of the night. We rushed into her room and it was immediately apparent what had happened – she’d yakked. Everywhere. Sheets, blanket, side of bed, the rug – nothing was spared. My husband brought her into the bathroom to get her calmed down and cleaned up and I got to work on her room – yikes. Nasty stuff, ya know? I got a new set of sheets onto the bed and cleaned everything else the best I could. There was a big bad load of laundry to start in the light of day. She went back to sleep, we went back to sleep, and then 2 hours later, the exact same thing happened. Everything I’d just cleaned or replaced had been hit again. As I was changing her sheets for the second time, I realized I didn’t have more sheets to go to if she nailed them again. I wondered to myself, “why isn’t there something I can just cover her whole bed with so I don’t have to do this at all?”Read more>>

LVonne McMillan

About seven years ago, I was approached to write a chapter in and be a co-author of a book called “Women Thriving Fearlessly”. I didn’t think I had a story to tell, so I turned down the offer from Erika (the person who had contacted me). Thank God that she didn’t take no as an answer. Read more>>

Chelsea Nwasike

Oh, absolutely! As a writer I tend to find myself working on several freelance work and I’m thrilled to share the incredible journey behind my most recent one titled, “The Ones Before.” For a while, especially after covid and experiencing a very traumatic season in my life. What I had done for many many years— writing —became my lifeline and I knew the next project I was going to write had to be the one that got me out of that dark place. So I collaborated with my writing partner, Oluwaseun Olowo-Ake. As two Nigerian women, one Igbo and one Yoruba, we wanted to infuse our authentic voices into this narrative. We knew that telling our stories with pride and passion would empower and captivate audiences, while shedding light on the depth of our heritage. Read more>>

Arian Khoroushi

As an artist who has studied biomedical engineering and Film & Digital production, my founder journey has been a fascinating blend of creativity, technical knowledge, and a passion for creating meaningful experiences for myself and others. My journey began with my studies in biomedical engineering, where I learned about the intersection of science and technology in the medical field. While I found the subject intriguing, I also had a strong desire to explore my artistic side and express myself creatively. This led me to pursue a degree in Film & Digital production, where I honed my skills in storytelling, visual aesthetics, and the technical aspects of filmmaking. Read more>>