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.

Andrew Wills

I was already 15 years into my music business journey at the time. I had been a Music Row songwriter with a few Top 40s to my name but I was feeling really unfulfilled. It was becoming increasingly frustrating to rely on another creative (singer) to make my dreams come true. So I began brainstorming on ways I could take control of my own fate. Read more>>

Caiti Loomis

She Captures All Photography was created in the middle of the night inspired by a dream that I had that shook me to my core. The dream consisted of me walking into a beautiful office space surrounded by portraits of people. These portraits were different but beautiful and chocked full of emotions. I took a deep breath when I walked in, as if I was proud of the pictures on the wall. Read more>>

Zinet Kemal

The genesis of my publishing sprouted from a deeply personal journey, one that intertwines the with motherhood, and a newfound passion for empowering young minds through storytelling. Read more>>

Leslie J. Dorsett

When it comes to writing and coming up with concepts for novels and short stories, I find that it comes naturally to me. I have been a storyteller since I was a young girl, and it has always been a passion of mine. I remember fondly how my youngest sister and I would create elaborate stories to tell each other while lying in bed before falling asleep. Those moments of creativity and imagination have stayed with me throughout my life, fueling my love for writing and storytelling. Read more>>

Brandon Pittman

Powdered Wig Machine, which is now a band, started as a webseries 5 years ago wherein I would mix elements of sketch comedy with offbeat cinema that I had seen to make an interview show that was a tug of war between fantasy and reality. I wrote the vast majority of the music for the show and collaborated with dozens of local artists to make each episode. When Mauro de la Tierra and myself created the Patricia character around the time of our 9th episode, I was getting asked by our fans and the art community to do more with her. Read more>>

Erin Calhoun-Dulaney

Erin Calhoun-Dulaney created the SkirtMyPump slip for insulin pumpers. She was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic (T1D) in 1982, at the age of six. Regardless the age of diagnosis, being informed that you are a type 1 diabetic is a life changing experience. At the time of her diagnosis, finger sticks and meters were not available to the masses and things like insulin pumps were such a futuristic idea. Read more>>

Caroline Page

I am an avid traveler and for years I have followed many travel bloggers. Each and every one of them were people who quit their jobs in order to travel the world. These bloggers make money to support their travels by creating content, partnering with brands, etc. For the majority of people who love to travel (or want to travel), quitting your job is not an option. I decided to create my travel blog as a way to not only inspire others to travel without the need to quit their day job, but also to provide advice, tips, suggestions, etc. to do it. Read more>>

Dominic Ford

I owned an adult film studio for about 11 years before starting JustFor.Fans. I had always wanted to find a way to provide a more sustainable, passive income to performers that was not available to them under the studio model (in which they get a singular flat fee for their work). I created JustFor.Fans, the second fan site to exist (we launched about a year or so after OnlyFans) to fill that need, amongst a few others. Read more>>

Chris Mitchell

As a person with multiple disabilities: I am physically disabled, visually impaired, neurodiverse, and a battler of depression there are many obstacles to traditional employment. The first obstacle for many people who are disabled, including myself., is transportation. When you are unable to drive a car, you must find alternate transportation to get to a job or even a job interview. Read more>>

CEO Pachell Francis

When deciding to become a craft designer it started during the rise of Covid. The idea came to me when wanting to explore other options in the designer industry, due to my background as a fashion designer and what can bring happiness to people homes, where we had a massive world shutdown. Us as humans we normally saw the symbol of wreaths during the time of bereavement, but it was actually originated in the Ancient Greek and Rome society where they used the crafting rings with fresh leaves, fruits and branches as a symbol of Victory. Read more>>

Valerie Harris

Silver Lining Promotions and Management was founded in 2014 as a family business with a vision to support entrepreneurs, businesses, and music artists in their growth. With over 15 years of experience in finance, accounting, and marketing, the founder Valerie Harris recognized the potential to utilize their strategic skills to empower others. Read more>>

Karen Riley

The Quilt Asylum was a fabric store in McKinney and also my “favorite local quilt store”. The original owner carried all of these bright, loud and some funky fabrics that you just weren’t seeing in other local stores. And I loved it! I had gone to work for her at her peak time in business. Read more>>

Frey StormCrow

I was started off in Seminary when I was young, I always had an interest in religion, I just had not found the right one yet. I met Judith ‘Jade’ DeFrain when I was 16 and started studying under her in the 90s, not to just be part of an order necessarily, but to learn how to run an occult shop. I had an interest in plant medicines, poisonous plants, and hermatics. I ended up officially working for her in the early 2000s. Read more>>

Shereen Gomaa

I began hosting dinner parties at my home about ten years ago, and people really liked my food! A few different people told me I should open a restaurant, so I started thinking about the idea. Around the same time, refugees started arriving in this part of North Carolina from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. I met several refugee families shortly after their arrival, and wanted to do whatever I could to help them. Read more>>

Taylor Mount

Something Blue and Co. was a vision created between two best friends. My best friend, Alexa Mayewski, was my Maid of Honor for my wedding in October 2022. Throughout the process of planning a wedding as a bride and planning a bachelorette and shower as a MOH, Alexa and myself found a passion and interest that sparked a creative idea. Read more>>

Lauren Ornelas

Our mission at Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.) is to encourage people to see the power of their food choices to help make a difference locally and globally to protect human and non-human animals and the planet. Unfortunately, for many people, eating one meal a day is a struggle. For those who have the privilege of eating several times a day, I feel we have an obligation to be more informed about where our food comes from and who it impacts. Read more>>

Nikki Simches

Elli J. Beauty came to be after a series of necessary pivots in life. I’ve been in the beauty industry professionally since I was 17, from makeup to nails to skin to management to sales. I always hated that artistry, passion, and a commitment to taking care of others took a backseat to numbers and quotas. Read more>>

Eric Mayne

I am an Iowa native, descended from two generations of veterans and manufacturers. My father, a Vietnam War veteran, worked in underground utilities, and my grandfather, a World War II veteran, was employed at John Deere. Read more>>

Rocío Romero García

I have always liked painting, When I was little, in front of my house they exhibited the paintings selected from a painting contest. I visited it every day, it was my first contact with art, from that moment I knew I wanted to Paint Read more>>

Josh Title

Cate & Levi was founded in 2008 after my first son Levi was born. Although I graduated from law school and practiced corporate law, “making” has always been my true calling. My mom is an avid crafter and father a committed and successful small business owner. You may say that I’m the perfect marriage of both! Read more>>

Justin McQuery

The idea came from working as a Law Enforcement Officer in AZ, AZ has about a 30 degree temperature swing from day to night. This is especially prevalent in the spring and fall. I was working a swing shift(1600 to 0200) and trying to decide what to wear under my uniform. Did I want to wear my long sleeve shirt or short sleeve shirt. Read more>>

India J

My Passion For Graphic Design Began In 2018 as a junior in highschool. I began with free flyer designs for my friends & family. My mother encouraged me to evaluate my creative skills to start my own business. The one suggestion expanded my mind to the wonderful possibilities that come with graphic design. Read more>>

Luis Mejia

It all started when I was in grade school. At my elementary school we had an annual school wide project where each student from every grade level would have to write a story. It was mainly designed to encourage kids to read and write. As such I wrote a short fantasy story heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings. Since then I loved the idea of telling stories. However it wasn’t until my second year of college where that passion came back. From there I started writing down ideas and concepts for a fantasy story which after 7 years turned into my debut novel, The Grimalkin Knight. Read more>>

Chelsea Crocker

Hear & Now was honestly born out of an identity crisis. I taught ELA for three years before starting my business. I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was in first grade – it’s what my degrees are in and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Walking away from the profession I thought I would retire in was a really tough decision, but the environment was unhealthy and I couldn’t in good conscience put myself through it anymore. I left in May 2021. Read more>>

Melina Gipson

2020 was a year that changed us all! The three of us (Jordan Gipson, Markus Trujillo, and Melina Gipson) were in discussion about purchasing a property together. The market was looking pretty good, and we thought it was a great time to invest. As we started the process we wanted to really think about what we were looking for, we started thinking of the long term vision. Read more>>

Aly Cardinalli

I founded BearBridge Academy of Witchcraft and Psychic Development with a powerful vision in mind. Recognizing the cultural erasure and stigma surrounding practices such as witchcraft and psychic abilities, I aim to provide a platform that not only normalizes spirituality but also creates a safe and inclusive space for witches and psychics to gather, grow, and learn. Read more>>

Nina Melillo

Gardening is in my blood. When my grandfather immigrated from Italy, he created a tiny garden in his small backyard. He grew mostly fig plants and some grape vines. I can remember walking the narrow path between the arches of trees and vines and enjoying picking ripe fruit from the plants. Read more>>

Erin Noon-Kay

My company Claiming Disability is based on the concept of #DisabilityPride. I have Cerebral Palsy, a neurological condition that impacts my muscles, and I’ve been disabled since birth. Since I was taught growing up identifying with my disabled identity was a bad thing, I didn’t identify with my disability until I was 27. Since we live in an ableist world, finding your “disability pride,” is a fluid experience. It’s okay if you don’t feel disabled and proud in your journey right now. Disability grief is part of the Disability Pride journey. Read more>>

Karen Carlock

In the summer of 2016, my husband and I were on a road trip with our 3 children under the age of 5. Along the way, we came across a great museum in Michigan that the kids fell in love with and we thought was really engaging and creative. The time spent in that space spurred an idea. It occurred to us that perhaps we could bring a children’s museum to our small town of Black Earth that would serve the regional community. Read more>>

Jocelyn Tatum

I have always practiced a style of journalism that goes by several names: literary journalism, creative nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, longform journalism, you get the point. I apply the basics of news writing yet enhance the delivery of news by using literary devices like dialogue, scene-setting, characterization and more. All of the details needed to employ these exciting methods of reporting the news can be found in something we call immersion journalism where we spend substantial time gathering telling and relevant details and getting to know our subject. Read more>>

Stefano Paris

Travel has always been a huge part of my life. Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of reaching distant lands. The Internet wasn’t yet available at home, and hasn’t been for many years. I imagined traveling far away consulting world maps and atlases! Read more>>

Brian Penn

The clean kicks concept fell in my lap to some extent. I’m a Personal Trainer at Avenue X Fitness, located in Grandview. In December of 2022, one of our clients kept complimenting my shoes. She asked me how and where I keep buying new shoes from. I responded, “I don’t buy new shoes, Jess. I just clean my kicks a lot.” She asked me to clean hers and I agreed. Read more>>

Shane Miles

Bright Matter started with a feeling. Specifically, the realization that good design could actually DO good and make a difference in the world. My first experience of that feeling was designing and developing websites and collateral for affordable housing organizations in Fort Collins, Colorado, as part of the talented design and strategy team at my old agency, Toolbox Creative. Read more>>

Asha Banks

My journey with CheerNotes started from a place of personal frustration and a love for creative expression. You know how it is when you’re hunting for the perfect card, but nothing seems quite right? That was me, hopping from store to store, seeking cards that mirrored Black culture and expression. And often when I did find something, it just didn’t feel right – it wasn’t truly me. Read more>>

Queen Royal

During my sophomore year of high school in 2014, I began painting clothes for myself, friends, and family. I continued this hobby throughout college as I transferred my talents to canvas and wood products for purchase; thus the business Royal Creations was born. In 2017, I advertised and sold paintings through my instagram page while pursuing a degree in Sports Broadcasting from Texas Christian University. Read more>>

Amina Rodriquez

Since the age of two I’ve had a dream of owning my own restaurant. Baking was never really my thing but I loved to eat. Like everyone else in 2020, I had a lot of free time so I started making midnight snacks for my family. Trial and error is an understatement LOL. But I realized I had a passion so I kept at it. Read more>>

Tyler Madill

Coming out of college, I knew I wanted to run my own Wealth Management firm someday. I didn’t know if that would be starting a new business, or taking over an existing one. Either way, I needed experience. I started at my first job in January of 2019, as an intern at an Investment Advisory firm. I passed my licensing exam in September of that year and was hired full-time. Read more>>

Elisa Montana

I came up with the idea for Ellie’s Kitchen basically while buying cake pops for my two kids almost 3 times a week. Anytime I would go shopping I would tell them if they behaved in the store I would buy me a coffee and them a pop, but anyone who’s been to a Starbucks knows, they’re crazy expensive and why not make my own. On top of that I enjoy cooking – I always say “fed people are happy people” Read more>>

Kristin Pleasant

The idea for Intimate Travel was born out of my deep appreciation for the transformative power of travel and the belief that every journey should be a unique and intimate adventure. Having explored various corners of the globe and encountered the diverse beauty our world has to offer, I recognized a gap in the travel industry. Read more>>