We reached out to some of our favorite entrepreneurs and asked them to think back and tell us about how they decided to start a business. Check out their responses below.

Koya Webb | Holistic Health and Wellness Coach

Lifestyle Design is all about being intentional about living a healthy lifestyle and working in areas that are in harmony with your purpose. My mission is to live this lifestyle and inspire others to do the same. Read more>>

Tiana Barnes | Licensed Massage Therapist & Wellness Advocate

I always knew at a young age I wanted to be involved with health & wellness some kind of way . After my second son was born with sickle cell disease and I was extremely unhealthy from my pregnancies, I needed to change my life. I wanted to be an example for my family! I didn’t grow up rich, but I did take any opportunities that came my way. Read more>>

Daniel Graham | Bassist, Vocalist, Songwriter | Great Wide Nothing

Great Wide Nothing came about in phases. I demoed out the tracks that would become our first album, “The View From Olympus” on an outdated MacBook in the spare bedroom of an apartment my wife and I were renting back in 2015-2016, chiefly as an outlet for a lot of emotional and spiritual upheaval I was going through at the time, but also as an experiment of sorts – I wanted to see how much I could do, as a songwriter and composer, totally on my own. Read more>>

Kayla Veronica | Event Stylist & Creative

Growing up, my family threw parties for any and every occasion. Coming together and celebrating life was apart of our culture and one of the many factors that inspired me venture into owning my own business. I decided to start my event styling business because it perfectly aligns with my core passions and strengths. From a young age, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for creativity and the art of bringing people together. Read more>>

Susy Oludele | Ceo of Hairbysusy & Creative Artist

I really wanted to do hair and art since I was a kid I’ve always used to do hair on my dolls and I used to take pictures of creative people in my neighborhood. I’ve always used to sell clothes. I was always creating tutorials on YouTube and one day one of my videos went viral and the rest was history. I started to better myself growing up with Nigerian Parents they tell you to be a lawyer or a doctor, so I definitely wanted to start my own journey. Read more>>

Ellie Friese-Cave | Luxury Travel Designer & Adventurer

I had traveled in both 2017 and 2019 to Europe and experienced a sense of freedom and empowerment that I had never felt before. Since then, the only thing I could think about was traveling and experiencing new cultures, learning about history, and delving into new cuisines. I had a knack for organization, research, and planning and thought “how can I monetize this?” Hence, Ellie’s Travel Bug was born. Read more>>

James and Natasha King | Parents, Authors & Entrepreneurial Couple

The thought process behind starting our own business came from a desire to function in our purpose. We knew that God gave us an incredible vision to meet a need in other people. From that point, we’ve identified vehicles that would support the vision. Read more>>

Tanya Andrews | Social Media Marketing

I wanted to start a business where I could help fellow entrepreneurs by using my following to promote their business. Small businesses are so underrated and it’s time to put Jersey on the map. Read more>>

Coley Lee Evans IV | Student Entrepreneur

Throughout my childhood, I was inspired by my mother’s entrepreneurial journey as she carved a significant name for herself in the business world. My fascination with entrepreneurship drove me to experiment with various business ideas, always seeking to understand the mechanics of running a successful venture. The core motivation behind launching my own business was to have all control of the ideas, taking risks, and being able to be my own boss. Read more>>

Erin Stieglitz | Founder & Chief Rescue Officer, Bagel Rescue

Bagel Rescue was born to help solve two problems: bagel waste and food insecurity. But I didn’t wake up one day and decide to start a non-profit with bagels. In fact, I didn’t really know anything about running a non-profit. It all fell in my lap during the holiday season of 2020 when my family wanted to provide a breakfast for the doctors and nurses at Northside Hospital who were working hard and risking their lives to take care of COVID patients. Read more>>

Shimica Carter | Business Consultant

To me, the toughest part of starting my business was the support system. Because you need a support system and your support system is not always there…. And secondly I would say business funding Read more>>

Dominique Ambrose | Licensed Florist

My thought process behind starting my own business was freedom because I didn’t want the gift God gave me to just be stuck in the corporate world without having the freedom to reach new people and also enjoying the fruit of my own labor. I also wanted to introduce the people to the energy of flowers and nature. Flowers saved my life when I was dealing with anxiety and depression after the loss of my daughter. Read more>>

Kenia Rosales | CEO Amealco Mexican Kitchen

The thought about opening a business came up since I was little, me and my family used to travel across Mexico very often and we loved talking, and I specifically remember one time asking my dad what was the best idea to own a business, I remember he told me whichever business could be succesfull as long it provides it’s best. At that moment I was around 13 or 14 years old. Read more>>

Dr. Crystal Edwards | Doctor of Epidemiology & Home Healthcare Business Owner

My thoughts behind starting this business were that I wanted to be one of the reasons why people began trusting healthcare, healthcare professionals, customer service and personal patient oriented care again. I feel like the world has lost its faith in the healthcare system and I wanted to put that trust back into the world. Therefore, I began this healthcare business to do just that! Read more>>

Anthony Mobley Jr. | CEO

I come from an entrepreneurial family that taught me the importance of business and hard work. My grandfather is one of my biggest role models who taught me the basic principles and techniques of business planning and management. I will forever be grateful for the wisdom he poured into me. Read more>>

Ruth Naomi O’Bryant | Author & Mother

Ever since my daughters were little I’ve loved to write. As they got older, I noticed there was very little representation of little black girls in Children’s Books. Thus, I wanted to change that narrative for my daughters and other little black girls and boys. I wanted black children to see themselves and learn to love themselves. In truth, I never wanted to start a business. Read more>>

Lindsay Morris | Inventor and CEO

It was completely accidental. The concept came to me, I made a prototype out of scraps from my backyard, and my friends liked it so much I made a better one. And then an even better one. About prototype number seven, I realize that they would fit nicely over doors and windows in anybody’s house, and I said to myself “hey, I could actually sell these!” Read more>>

Cashmere Perkins | Security guard, bouncer ,ceo , director , content creator

When I started my own reality television show I was thinking about starting a platform for young black female entrepreneurs. I wanted to provide a platform where they can build a sisterhood without the violence and finding a way to communicate without bringing one another down. I want to change the cycle and change the narrative of all woman reality tv shows. Read more>>

Alexandria Davis | Creator

In the beginning, I didn’t know where to start. I was unsure about every step to take to find a product but I pushed through my doubts and just started. As I continue my journey I am still sometimes stuck on where to start next. My company is still in the beginning stages but as I start my next step I plan to add team members so they can help me through my journey. Read more>>

Adam Weldon Fox | Founder & Realtor®

It’s no secret that the Real Estate + Home Design industry is saturated with many talented and passionate professionals. But for me, I’ve always been a firm believer that the best way to be happy is to find something you’re passionate about and something that you can use to make a difference in the lives of others, and then find a way to earn a living doing it. Read more>>

BJ Armstead | CEO – Apollo Sports Counseling, Inc.

We wanted to create a safe space for athletes to express emotions as well as educate them on the importance of mental health. There are a lot of distractions high schools and college and we wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to be educated in anxiety, depression, stress, and trauma. Read more>>

Stephanie Mays | Web Strategy Consultant & Website Designer / Developer

Entrepreneurship was ingrained in me at an early age. Growing up, my parents taught me the importance of working for yourself. As a teenager and into my early twenties, I worked with my family’s construction business and learned the ins and outs and ups and downs of business ownership. During my time in college, I got the opportunity to experience working for other companies outside of my family’s business, and though I learned a lot and respect the necessity of policies and procedures, I was not fond of the restrictions that come with working for someone else. Read more>>