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.

Dan & Ashley Wegmueller

The idea of opening our doors to farmstay guests first came to us in 2017. At that time, we were cleaning the farmhouse due to the recent passing of Dan’s parents, while also recognizing that economically, times were changing on the farm. Read more>>

Heerali and Milan Mody

Back in 2016 when we got married we took our honeymoon trip to French Polynesia and we had caught the travel bug. Milan always had passion for photography and Heerali liked to be in front of the camera. Read more>>

Anne Heitman

I have always loved to bake since I was young. When I was in college my Sorority and I created a fundraiser called, “Cupcakes for a Cause.” We would bake cupcakes to raise money for different causes, one of which was to help raise funds for a fellow colleague’s cancer bills. Read more>>

Eilidh Locherty

That’s a tough one, and it’s difficult to put into a few words! I’ve always been that bookworm, the one with a perpetually ink-stained hand from scribbling stories in the margins of notebooks with my thoughts. Read more>>

Inbar Brenner

The idea for the Potty Kit came about the first time I took my then 2 year old daughter (who was potty training at home) to a public restroom while our family was out one weekend. Read more>>

MELISSA DINARDO

This is a little bit of a story! My mom, brother and I moved outside of Ocean City, NJ when I was 15. My father died tragically by a hit and run driver while on his Harley when I was 12. Read more>>

Lisa Mays

Back in 2017 I was working full time for a local chain waxing company. I was back in my groove working in the beauty industry and I quickly learned waxing was my thing. Read more>>

Dimitri Jones

Coming from Gary, Indiana, there’s not a lot of opportunity. You either make something for yourself, have one of the few great jobs, or leave. My introduction to media was through music. Read more>>

Kristen Reddin

I was going through a major health transformation in my life. I had recovered from a 20yr battle with an eating disorder while working in a corporate job where I was traveling 100+ nights a year. Read more>>

Tisha Sparks

I refer to my journey as a “seed story” because it truly grew from a tiny idea and has blossomed into something much greater than I originally envisioned. Read more>>

Corey & Erin Heft

Corey was into all reptiles including snakes since he was a child. I (Erin) was terrified of snakes. We went to a local reptile show many years ago and I wanted to hold a snake to get over my fear. Read more>>

Shae Haning

The drive to work in a creative and tactical hands-on capacity is literally in my blood. My dad is a large-scale metal sculptor, and when I was young I joined him building huge steel, copper and bronze sculptures inspired by nature, cosmic events, and abstract movement. Read more>>

Jhay C

Writing songs/music for tv and film for 7 years at the time, had always been a passion of mine but needed to keep challenging myself and seek bigger horizons. Read more>>

Donna Parker

Blondy’s Baked Goods is born out of a passion for creating wholesome treats that cater to various dietary needs. As a certified health coach and a mother, I set out to make treats for my son that were both delicious and nourishing. Read more>>

Gabriel Edwards

I have always wanted to own my own business, but the catalyst was a conversation with a friend, while eating Tuna Tacos at Next Cafe on South Beach. The desire had always been there. Read more>>

Stephanie Lee Jackson

Practical Sanctuary emerged when my art career, my massage therapy business, and my personal life collided. For more than two decades, I was a committed Starving Artist. My ‘real’ jobs served to keep the lights on so I could paint. Read more>>

Katrina Cryder

When I was a teenager, I worked after school as a receptionist at my chiropractor’s office. Working as a receptionist, allowed me to hear all the patients stories of how they had overcome health issues with the help of chiropractic. Read more>>

Joseph Saner

I grew up around music. Mainly the piano and organ, although, I was able to experience all genres, instruments, live performances, and none better than those we did ourselves, with our boom-boxes up, dubbed over instrumentals, tapes full of recorded radio plays, reworking everything we could, to express our own vibe. Read more>>

Allison Payne

Since I can remember I’ve always loved creating. I’d look for a variety of outlets for my creativity at a very young age. My older brother was gifted a camera by his art teacher and I was so intrigued by it. Read more>>

KIRTI VYAS

“I couldn’t get the kind of job I wanted, so I created it,” I tell everyone who asks. That is mostly true. I had always wanted to be a writer or a published poet since I was in Grade 9, and nothing or no one has been able to crush or cure my love for writing and reading good writing. Read more>>

Cindy McCartney

If I had had to predict in 2020 what I would be doing in my career in 2024, creating a honey business would not have been even a twinkle in my eye. Read more>>

Jerry Houck

After many years in the food/hospitality business, I knew that I wanted to do something that would bring all of my life’s experiences into one place. Read more>>

Nikki Rausch

The idea for my business came from someone I met at a networking event. I was working for someone else then and started attending networking events to get the word out about training courses offered by the person I was working for. Read more>>

Adrian Grant

I have always been a foodie. I was the fat little kid that stayed in the kitchen. Food was what reminded me of home and smiles. My grandmother mother was an avid baker and my cousin was an amazing cook. Read more>>

Josephine Parker

I originally started gardening during the pandemic like many other people. At first, I was just going for it to see where I would land, lol. One day, I was baking banana peppers fresh from my garden for the first time. Read more>>

Dr. Shavona Whitehead

The MORE Experience evolved on its own. For over 15 years I served women within my community and church simply because I had a passion to help. Read more>>