Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Jonathan Quinn | Video Storyteller

I come from an entrepreneur family. While raising four boys, my mother built and currently runs one of the best preschools in the Midwest. My oldest brother is a extremely talented balloon entertainer who created his own business with that talent. And my second-oldest brother run his own marketing business. So for me, starting my own business wasn’t a question of “if” but “when.” Read more>>

S. Marie | Artist and Author

I always knew that I wanted to work for myself. Ever since I was a child, I was determined to become a self-employed artist. I’ve always written and painted. I’ve always been creating. I knew in my heart that was the path for me, but as I faced adulthood, the reality of being self-employed was daunting. To help prepare myself for this, I took business classes in college. Read more>>

Felicia Engdahl | Founder & Wedding and Event Planner

It was a leap of faith, I recently had my daughter and decided that there is more to life than fitting the mold of a 9-5 job. I’ve always dreamed of becoming my own creative boss, offering flexibility to homeschool my children and to cultivate what matters within my community and within my home. Read more>>

Orsolya Szánthó | Multimedia designer, filmmaker

Chilean actor and artist Attilio Rigotti and I founded a company a few years ago to carve out more space for ourselves as young international and multidisciplinary artists trying to create genre-defying work. Our arts company, Glitch, was really our response to the two constant challenges we were facing: we both were seeking a deeper engagement with technology in the theater than what most of our projects allowed, and we were almost always in different parts of the world. We wanted to discover our own model for a company, and find more flexible and inclusive ways to create artistic work. Read more>>

Jackie Jacobs | Candle Maker

Entrepreneurship was no foreign lifestyle to me, as both of my parents are entrepreneurs. With no solid idea of the hows, my childhood desire to be a boss is what led the way. I spent three years trying to figure out what I wanted my business to be. I loved making candles but was unaware it would be life-changing. I was giving my handcrafted candles as gifts and my friends loved them so much they were demanding I sell them. When I finally stopped searching for what I thought would make me a business owner and let it find me, Ignite Within Candles was born. Read more>>

Marques Grant | Personal Trainer & Owner of Just Train Ques

Well, I learned at an earlier age, if you learn how to make money with your talents and your passions, it will never feel like work. After a successful career in IT, going to work started to feel like work, but at the gym and training it felt like home. So why not wake up and enjoy doing what I love, all while changing and saving lives? Read more>>

Macca Edwards | Fashion and lifestyle Blogger

The thought process behind starting my own business stemmed from years of loving fashion. It was a long journey of discovery. Fashion has been a hobby of mine for many years but never viewed it as a career option. As a child I loved dressing up. I cared a lot about my clothes. Some of my fondest memories revolve around fashion. Every year in July my mom, sister, grandma, and I would head to during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. We’d browse the isles. Read more>>

Angel Marie | Host and Content Creator

We wanted to provide a platform for Philadelphia locals to have their voices heard and to highlight them as creatives in the art of entrepreneurship and music. In our city, we often hear “Philly doesn’t support Philly” and people often feel the need to move to New York or Los Angeles to become successful. Read more>>

Felicia Baxter | Entrepreneur, writer, podcaster

I started my own business as a mechanism to protect my wages or earnings, when I initially started out as a contract physician. And also to decrease risk legally, and also threw the IRS.. then as I moved on and healthy vending, and then again to protect my intellectual property as I expanded the reach of my blog and podcast all of these, things, were important to protect through my s-corp Read more>>

April Johnson | Women’s Boutique Owner

My idea for Kraze Boutique came from my love for fashion. I’ve always loved fashion and wanted to have my own boutique. After being in the medical field for over 10 years, one day I decided I wanted to do what really makes me happy. So I started doing my research and 2 years later I’m the owner of my very own boutique and loving it. Read more>>

Diana Maione | CEO of Richi-Dee’s BBQ

My friend Richi and I enjoyed good food, friends and family. We were invited to a friend’s BBQ party one summer day and were asked to assist in the kitchen. We had ribs to work with and peaches straight from Georgia. So we brainstormed on what to make, we came up with a Bold Peach BBQ sauce to accompany the ribs. It was absolutely delish. The aroma that filled the air, of sweet peaches, spices and tomatoes. Read more>>

Kimberly Hairton-Neal | Certified Professional Organizer

In 2010, I made a significant life decision and married my life partner. Our union produced a beautiful blended family of 5. Like most women, I prided myself on excelling in my secular career while also maintaining order in my household. Outnumbered from the start, I struggled in my new role. My desire was to create order in my life and home again. Read more>>

Kynnesha Lupoe-Horsley | Owner/Creator Black Soap Queen, LLC.

My ultimate thought process behind starting my own business was one word LEGACY. As a wife and mother of 6 children it became of utter importance for me to leave an amazing legacy behind with financial literacy and stability. In our community very rarely do we see or know of people leaving behind financial stability for their families after they’ve passed away. Read more>>

Ginger Batton | Graphic Designer & Illustrator

My business started as a way for me to contribute to raising awareness about social injustices against the Black community in America. During the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in June of 2020, I was experiencing a variety of feelings; hurt, fear, and a longing to help. I have always felt compelled to create, and I knew that I could use this strength to create a positive impact. Read more>>

Holleylujahh | Music artist & Entrepreneur

From a young age, I always found myself thinking of how I can create something for myself. I would always look at companies or concepts and would generate ideas for how I could make it better or what I would have done if I was in the position. My thought process grew into an obsession of trying to figure out how to make these ideas a reality as well as find out the information to make this obtainable. Read more>>

Ken Makimsy Middleton | Alcohol-Conscious Writer

I don’t have my own business, but my inspiration for writing Bamboozled was related to my desire to help others recognize the tremendous number of ways that alcohol was holding them back from creating the best version of themselves. Read more>>

Renita Canady | Medical Support Hypnotherapist

I first started using hypnotherapy about 4 years ago, to help me feel less anxious while giving presentations at work. I was amazed by how fast hypnosis worked. I’d felt anxious my whole life and within weeks my anxious feelings were hugely gone. I felt like a whole new person. I learned self-hypnosis then used it to feel happier in my relationships and to have the confidence to go after and get a big promotion in my tech career. Read more>>

Rachel Davis | Concierge Aesthetic Physician Assistant

I was working full time in plastic surgery when the pandemic hit. I went to take one of my kids to the doctor one day and was told I had to leave the other kids at home. It was cheaper for me pay copays for the other kids to be seen by the doctor than to hire a babysitter to watch them. That is when it dawned on me that mothers are being encouraged to find time for self care but can’t always do that with their kids in tow. Read more>>

Shakiria Johnson | Eyelash Technician

My business idea came to me when I woke up one morning. I was laying in bed thinking to myself and praying to God asking, ” What Can I do for a side business?” “What’s something I would love doing everyday? That’s when Eyelash Technician came through mind. I was already known for wearing cute lashes all the time, I’m almost not ever wearing eyelashes. So why not?! Read more>>

Caroline Mott | Owner

I started The Peachy Lettering Co in 2018. I had recently left my full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom and start the foster care licensing process. A few friends reached out and asked me to address their wedding invitations and design some signs for their weddings. I had so much fun creating the designs, I thought hey – there might be something here! Read more>>

Reiko Brown | Founder, Buddy Pass

My business began as a dream. A local reporter interviewed me about the success of my company in the dream. I awoke and laughed about the dream. Days later, I attempted to purchase tickets for a local symphony concert. The tickets were sold in pairs only. I didn’t want to take a girlfriend, but I also didn’t want the pressures of a romantic date. I wanted to attend with someone who would enjoy the concert and not feel dragged along. Read more>>

Emoni Yates | Founder of Yard Fairies Savannah

Yard Fairies is actually A joint business with my mom Shelly Jenkins. As much as I would love to take the credit, this was all her. She had A vision and I helped to bring it to life. I was extremely nervous because I always think about what could go wrong but with A mom like mine, she’s going to help me see the positive and talk me off of the ledge of nervousness. After about 2 weeks of discussing; we sat down together, made A plan, and executed it. Read more>>