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.

Jacqueline Rabôt

RABÔT is a womenswear brand reimagining sustainable luxury clothing. I founded RABÔT with the intention of creating a different kind of fashion company, My goal was to create a brand bigger than clothing. I wanted to foster change and create positivity through fashion. Read more>>

Vinita V. Pugal

I had an established master planning and landscape architecture consultancy practice in Southeast Asia with my friends before I moved to the United States twenty years ago. Design is an expression of one’s surroundings through art and storytelling. Moving across the planet to re-establish my life and career made me value the lessons I learned from the people and communities I met worldwide. Read more>>

Alex and Oje Loveman

The “100 Pajamas Coloring Book” characters were created for children in our family and extended/created families to color during Covid lockdown in 2020. These illustrations are full of joy. The characters are unique, drawn perfectly imperfect, and are a collaborative manifestation of finding fun in times of turmoil. Our nephew was very late to coloring within the lines. His sisters were both perfect colorers. He didn’t like to color, because he was unable to stay within the lines. Read more>>

Marshay Wells

As a writer and creative its always been important for me to showcase my activism through artistry. My apparel brand, Saint Shakespeare Apparel Movement, is more than cool concepts on t-shirts. I’ve purposed my brand to become a sounding board, and our customers as walking billboards; each slogan has an affirming power in itself, inspired by the culture for the culture. Slogans such as, “Thank God I’m Black”, “I See Black People”, “Black is Light”, and “Black Privilege”, all scream out boldly without making any noise. The idea to use words to counterattack social norms was inspired by the need for self-love, self-care, and self-awareness within my community.  Read more>>

Catherine Jackson

I have always been a lover of people, after doing my BA in Sociology, and Anthropology I wanted to do my Masters in Social Work, but God had a different plan for me. After working as a marketing executive for over 20 years, I realized I still had a burning desire to help others grow in a more meaningful way. Too often people have goals and don’t know how to accomplish them. I am great at helping others figure out the HOW. I became a certified John Maxwell coach, trainer, and speaker. Now I coach middle managers to strengthen their effectiveness, maximize their impact, prepare for their next role, or overcome a challenge they’re facing. Read more>>

MARQUITA JONES

I had my first son in 2012, and soon became a single mother afterwards. I would find jobs that wouldn’t really fit the schedule I needed. The last job I had ended up firing me, due to me having to take off 2 days in a row. My son had been running a fever for 2 days and I had no one to keep him. After I got fired, I sat down, and just kept asking myself, how could I make money from home and still be with my son. Read more>>

Kevin Iwanusa

I have been coaching lacrosse a long time and watched the parents get worse and worse and they literally drove me out of coaching at one point. As I began coaching again, I saw how some of the best programs and teams managed the difficult parents and realized there was a need for something standardized in the sport for all teams. I really wanted a common sense way to help. About 2 years ago, I was coming home from family vacation after hearing how my little niece was playing travel lacrosse up in Maryland and her team was having all kinds of problems with opposing parents, one specific knucklehead I knew of. My wife and I talked thinking there has to be a solution and this idea came to me for a class. At that point I started research and development. Read more>>

Doc Murphy

I came up with the idea of Widman University / The 8:18 Division as a passion to help coach others in Business and Marketing. Below is a small backstory from my Book “Go Ready Set”. Back in the 90’s God called me to the world of business. I call it Kingdompreneurship. I had no experience. I had never read a book about business, I didn’t have much money to invest, and I didn’t have a business coach to advise me. I just got out there and launched all kinds of businesses. Read more>>

Chris Bush

One day, amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, I returned home to an unexpected sight—several beehives placed on my property, accompanied by a note from my elderly neighbor. The message revealed that her daughter was relocating him to Florida, and with a touch of reluctance, he asked if I could care for his bees. From that moment onward, I dedicated myself to mastering the intricate art of beekeeping, leading to the establishment of what we now proudly call Hive Works Honey. As I delved into the world of beekeeping expertise, a desire to contribute even more to the community stirred within me. Collaborating with like-minded individuals, we brainstormed and developed our unique work program. This initiative focuses on empowering kids with disabilities by providing them with valuable job skills through hands-on experiences at farmers markets and various events. Read more>>

Cheryl Snyder

I came up with my idea for my business during the pandemic. Spending more time a home I found myself on social media more. I was on Instagram and came across live crystal sales. I’ve loved rocks and crystals since I was a child and enjoyed the live sale experience. It was fun to shop online and chat with others in the live sale. I saw how the live sale rooms connected crystal lovers and how easy it was for community to develop in an organic and fun way. One of the crystal sellers was sharing her story and I could relate to her love of rocks and crystals from a young age. I thought to myself if she could do it I surely could too. Read more>>

Danielle Sidock

I’ve always been fueled by the passion for event planning. A few years post-college, I landed my dream gig orchestrating events at a prestigious Michigan hotel—an experience that thrilled me. Working on grand conventions for several years brought immense joy until the world ground to a halt with the onset of Covid. Read more>>

Paloma Soledad

The inception of Krysalis Kouture is deeply personal, stemming from my own battle with stage IV metastatic melanoma, which lasted five years with three occurrences. During the rigorous treatment journey, I faced a daily ordeal trying to find clothing that could accommodate medical tubes, body changes, and the discomfort from surgeries. As a fashion designer, I had a closet full of clothing that I had collected or made for myself over the years, but now every single item became impossible to wear. Read more>>

Angela Rivers-Harper

I am an individual who loves fashion. I have always been curvy and I was fed up with the unflattering clothing I would see. I also did understand why there were no plus size models in fashion shows and ripping the runway here in Ohio. So, in 2013, I came up with Cincinnati Full Figured Fashion Weekend. A weekend dedicated to the plus size man and woman featuring designers from all over. I changed the name to Ohio Kurvy Fashion Weekend in 2015. Everyone was using full figured so I wanted to be creative and set apart, henceforth, OKFW was created. Read more>>

Edmund Masi

This wild idea about having music/film/broadcast production company functioning as an educational nonprofit came to me in a dream. I woke up on January 19, 2019 with a blueprint in my head. I am a session/touring drummer and have owned a music production company in San Francisco, but this was a different model entirely. We are creating our own programming and doing our part to restore integrity to the entertainment business. Read more>>

Kati Johnston Casey Truglio

The idea came to us organically upon seeing the environment created by policy makers towards education. Once we saw how many books were removed from school shelves, we decided to place books throughout the community via Little Free Libraries to make sure students still had access to literature. As former educators ourselves, we felt like this is our way of giving back and having a positive community impact outside the classroom. Read more>>

Chrissy Ras

I have been a musician since I was 6 years old, classically trained on the piano. After college, I drifted away from playing music and focused more on dancing through my college years. I worked for Disney for several years and had a blast connecting with so many talented artists while I was there. Read more>>

Britney Moon

It has just passed the 3 year mark since my life started changing. November 2020 I had to have a hysterectomy due to having endometriosis. I’m not sure what exactly changed but it felt like a switch flipped. I wanted to start doing things more naturally. I got off ALL my medications and started to naturally heal myself. (*******I do NOT recommend doing this without talking to your doctor.**********) Medication was never a long term solution for me and my doctors all knew that. So after the surgery I dove into natural healing. I started small. I started with what I had on hand or what I could go and forage. My very first herbal thing I made was Dandelion Salve. To this day it is still my favorite. Read more>>

Katie Wodtke

I had been leading paint parties and managing a paint and sip studio for several years prior to COVID lockdowns. When everything shut down, I found myself unemployed and questioning my purpose and next steps. Another brick and mortar paint studio didn’t seem like something there was a demand for. Plus, the cost of rent and utilities was risky. Read more>>

Kayla Sandersfeld

I decided to start The Naked Rose through a combination of personal experience and market research. I’ve always been passionate about using natural ingredients for my own skincare and had seen significant improvements in my skin’s health. This sparked the idea to create a brand that prioritizes clean, natural ingredients. I also conducted extensive research to understand the growing demand for such products and identified gaps in the market. The convergence of my personal passion and market opportunities led to the creation of The Naked Rose. Read more>>

Trisha Howell

Artly International emerged as a concept cultivated after years spent in the ever-evolving landscapes of both traditional and digital art sales. It emerged from a recognition of the challenges that face the art industry – challenges that are experienced by the artist, gallerist, and collector alike. Working within the traditional and digital art market, a need became palpable—a space where collectors worldwide could discover truly exceptional art without navigating an overwhelming sea of options, and artists could trust their work was being well-represented. Read more>>

Iqrama Muhammad

The PEACES Collective is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to embrace and promote our heritage as makers to build leadership and thriving communities through cooperative economics and education. In 2010 the media company that I worked for was downsizing and I found myself without a “job”. The good news was that I was faced with the opportunity and blessing to choose to do something I loved, spend my days building and serving my community. Read more>>

Lillian Brummet

The concept of being an entrepreneur sparked after an experience I had working for a hotel company. You see, after attaining hospitality management certification, I took on a small section of the hotel – I gave them my all, my everything. I was there when they needed me, when an employee didn’t show I’d fill the spot… but when I had been hit by a car and needed a year of recovery time, they were not there for me. Read more>>

Shanya Roberts

During the global pandemic of COVID-19, many businesses were shutting down and products and services were being provided virtually. When I decided to become a Virtual Assistant and build an agency with other virtual assistants, I was working for two separate companies. With one company, I worked as an Executive Administrative Assistant and the other as a Front Desk Receptionist before being promoted to General Manager. Read more>>

Dr. Kylie Victoria McBride

Pieces to Peace, LLC was born out of the necessity to grant individuals without a voice the opportunity and education needed to appropriately express themselves in a non-judgmental and healing environment. This demographic includes but is not limited to those who have experienced abuse, racism, poverty, grief and other trauma. Read more>>

Steve Sgambelluri

I had an idea in 2011 for a television sitcom. Like most ideas that pop into our minds, I tried to dismiss it quickly but for some reason, this idea just stayed in my mind. At the time, I was a Middle School Principal and varsity boys basketball coach so my plate was very much full. I jotted down some notes, created some characters and came up with a story line. From there, I essentially shut things down and had the ever popular “this was a cute idea but it’s time to move on as this would go no where.” Read more>>