Starting and growing a business is hard, but often deciding to start the business in the first place is even harder. We asked some successful entrepreneurs from around the community to open up to us about how they thought about starting a business.

Mr. SOC | Creative Director

For starting my agency, the origin was like an epiphany almost. Peak pandemic I thought to myself that it was vital that I furthered what I’ve already started, but this time I wanted to package everything into one. The idea of creating a creative agency came with much thought — after a year of contemplating when to start, I just decided to take a leap of faith and April 2020 the LLC was created, Mr.SOC & Co., LLC. Read more>>

Mia & Donald Fulton | Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate & Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student

Mia and Donald started Scholarly Scouts to introduce a life-changing institute that will help scholars shatter all barriers. Coming from a small rural community in South Georgia, access to research opportunities and learning how to pursue a career in science and psychology were limited. Our goal is to mentor students to propel them to succeed in high school, college, graduate school, and beyond. Donald and Mia designed their programs to increase accessibility to college/grad school preparation tools and research opportunities for students worldwide. Read more>>

Mitchalene Brown | Hospitality Consultant

My thought process behind starting my own business stemmed from my extensive background in hospitality. With a degree in hospitality and tourism and over 10 years of industry experience, I noticed a troubling decline in health inspection scores and customer service standards. This prompted me to leverage my expertise to make a positive impact. I wanted to teach and guide others in the industry, ensuring that food safety and compliance standards are met and exceeded, ultimately improving the overall quality of service and customer satisfaction. I was a Residential Dining director for a large university when I moved to GA. After about 6 miserable months I realized how unhappy I was. I started bartending PT and made some business cards advertising Servsafe Classes. One day I went to work and gave them a resignation notice effective Immediately. This was 6 years ago and was honestly one of the best decisions I ever made. I started Bartending FT and just focused on building my brand and business. I used to call different restaurants, and just introduce myself. My first official ATL client was Chef Harper one of the owners of Toast. He connected me with people in his network and the rest is history. Now my clients reach out to me and 90% are word of mouth. Some of the services I provide: Read more>>

Shina Hasan | Founder of send a PRAYER, a Stuffed Animal Care Package Co.

It all started with a prayer, a love for stuffed animals aka “plushies” and an observation! I commit to doing a 21 day fast every January. That’s my time to clear the clutter and be intentional about seeking God for wisdom. You see when you are fasting, you can see things more clearly, you typically would not pay attention to otherwise. I began to notice praying hands emoji’s were present throughout social media, text messages, and inbox messages. When someone passes away, what do you see?…. Praying hands. Starting a new business….. Praying hands. Having a baby…. Praying hands. So this got me thinking… Are people actually praying for others, or are they just talking about something that they are going to do and never do it? This became my inspiration for “send a PRAYER”. What if we could put action behind our words and send a visual reminder that “Yes” we are praying for a friend, a loved one, co-worker and include a personalized note. So I combined the two and created something memorable for children and adults. The perfect gift that sends love and prayer in a box. After all, we all could use some PRAYER!! Read more>>

DeAndre’ davison-Marshall | Founder/Educator/Change Agent

For nearly fifteen years, I dedicated myself to the field of Social Service, advocating through many well-known Social Service agencies in metro Atlanta serving those often forgotten, forsaken, and overlooked. My final stint in the business world included serving as the Director of Training and Programs for the International Human Trafficking Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, for three years, until its sunset in 2021. During my tenure, in the midst of a pandemic, and under the coaching of my mentor, I successfully led a team of Ambassadors to train over 60,000 people in Georgia, across the nation, and internationally, empowering them to Learn, See, and Do Something about Human Trafficking. Read more>>

Adelle Rogers | Plant Mom

During the height of the pandemic in 2020, I was stuck at home like most people. I was not working during this time, so I had plenty of time and energy to learn about new things I found interesting. Somehow, I got into the Instagram algorithm of plants, and I could not stop wanting to learn more. The apartment complex that my husband and I lived in during this time was rather large and hand some good landscaping. During our walks, I would come across some succulents and cacti and decided to sneakily take some cuttings to attempt to propagate the plant. Some attempts were successful; others, not so much (but that’s how we learn!). Lucky for me, we had just recently moved into this apartment, and my mother in law had gifted us with a couple of plants for our new sunroom. So I decided to attempt to propagate those as well. I found it very addicting to keep propagating plants. There is just something exciting about finding success in trial and error. Read more>>

Beverly Johnson | Health Coach and Investments Manager with NASA

My path to business ownership was unconventional. Before launching, I’d been a group fitness instructor. People were aware of my connection with health and wellness, so they weren’t shocked when I decided to complete my certifications and start a business. It was a natural progression in my journey. Read more>>

PINHEAD

I wanted to call my own shots. Rap about what I want to rap about. Dress the way I want to dress. Release music when I want to. Control my masters and publishing. Be in charge of my own creative control. BO$$ of my own destiny!!! Read more>>

Leigh LaRie | Podcaster & Community Advocate

Starting Dirty Roses Podcast was a natural evolution of my passion for storytelling and community engagement. For years, I had been collecting hilarious, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking stories from friends and colleagues about their dating experiences. Initially, I envisioned (and still do) turning these stories into a book, but as I shared them on social media, the idea of turning these stories into podcast topics formed. After several years of research, planning and preparation, I embarked on creating a platform for open and honest discussions about love, lust, and perception. Read more>>

Shelby Smith | Editorial Writer and Social Media Manager

Simply put– more creative control. I’ve worked in social media management for going on five years. Though I’m grateful for the experiences and opportunities, I realized how quickly those environments suffocate creative individuals. I also realized that there’s only so much one can do for one brand with corporate restrictions. Therefore, I decided to start my own social media management and writing company. Because, why limit myself? I was way too young to feel so disconnected, grumpy and unhappy about going to work. For me, there was no better time to take the risk. Now, I contribute to different brands in various capacities and feel much more fulfilled with my work. Read more>>

Isiah Miller | Fashion Designer

The thought process behind starting my business was I loveeee fashion and style basically me wanting different clothing in my style due to me not finding it in stores. So I got up one day and said “Isiah you finna teach yourself how to sew” and once I made pieces everyone was asking where I got it from and I said I made it and they wanted it that’s what made my sewing brand pop off! Read more>>

Megan Crane | Graphic Designer | Entreprenuer

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, beginning with my first business at 19 when I sold my own baked cupcakes. I thrived on the autonomy and responsibility that came with being my own boss. After college, I thought it would be safer to work in a corporate job for stability and benefits. But over time, I grew unhappy with the monotony of a set schedule and eventually decided to leave when Covid hit in 2020. This experience motivated me to take my entrepreneurial aspirations seriously. I launched Crane Design Company in 2020, and it’s been incredibly fulfilling to set my own schedule, be present with my family and 3 year old daughter, choose my clients, and have unlimited earning potential. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and dedicate myself to helping others pursue and achieve their own business dreams. Read more>>

Daniel Wilkins

SuperFly BJJ is not the first business that Jake, Wade or myself have owned, but it is our first venture together. The three of us have been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu together for years and over that time we would often talk about the little things we would do differently if we had our own school. The concept for SuperFly started about seven years ago but the timing wasn’t right due to our other professional commitments at the time. The thought process for starting SuperFly, at its core, was based on wanting to create a martial arts school that felt safe, inviting, and reflected our style and personalties. Read more>>

Peter Samuel

Being the youngest in an Indian family, you’re kind of thrown into the event/party planning when dealing with older siblings getting married, and the family is the free labor. Being a creative and understanding the chaos that happens for wedding, led me to get my MBA specializing in Project Management. Realizing that every wedding is a project, I have the education, and unless you have yrs of experience corporations won’t hire you, we’re all the perfect storm for me to start my own business. Throw in the fact I didn’t appreciate friends and family being taken advantaged of during their wedding planning process, I felt as an event planner who is justice and ethically minded, I could atleast utilize my education and work experience to serve my clients. To make their wedding or event my own, and curate it as such. Read more>>

beatriz didier

after the pandemic everything became very difficult and i lost the job i was in. i’m a trained architect and i’ve always loved art and communication, so i decided to do something different from what i was used to! i started some courses for social media and i went deeper into the area, i saw that i still had a lot to learn but i started from scratch and i went looking for clients, nowadays i basically work with people who work outside brazil. i got a good demand from clients who work in several different areas and i managed to grow in the business and my tendency is to continue to grow even more. Read more>>

Jui Patil I Architect & Educator

“Love what you do, orelse dont do!” has always been my thumb rule in life. Creativity was in my nerves since i was a child. Creativity and freedom goes hand in hand. I realized back in my college days that I need to be given a freehand to practice as a designer and that I can never stand a controlling boss. Thats where the idea of practicing independently began to grow in my mind and i decided to form my own company. Read more>>

Sean Hanford

The decision to start my own business, The Hanford Group, stemmed from a blend of passion, ambition, and a desire to create something meaningful and impactful not only for myself but for future generations. Read more>>