The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

Rashonda Harris

Starting my own business, Purple Sheep Consulting, was both a strategic and deeply personal decision. After decades of experience in research administration, I saw firsthand the challenges institutions faced in navigating compliance, optimizing operations, and developing their research enterprise. Read More>>

Gabrielle Minion

Photography gives me a profound sense of purpose. There’s something truly magical about capturing fleeting moments and transforming them into timeless memories. My focus isn’t just on the artistry itself, but on the emotional impact it has on others—there’s something deeply meaningful in that. Read More>>

Anne Sciarrone

I never set out to start my own practice—I loved my work and the architectural firm I was part of for 17 years, where I focused on resort, community development and golf club projects. Read More>>

Jessica Camerata

I started my fashion blog back in 2011 before blogs were really a common thing. I was working at Norfolk Southern in the revenue accounting department thinking it was the start of a corporate career I dreamed about my whole life. Little did I know, I’d hate every second of it. Read More>>

Brandon Marshall

I wanted freedom, a legacy, and to take care of my family on my own terms. I’ve always been creative, and I realized that what people now call “content” is really just art, storytelling, expression, connection. And if you know how to use it right, it can attract the right people, build trust, and create real opportunities. Read More>>

Lexi Jones

During the lockdown, I was living in California, and with everything shut down, I had a lot of time to reflect on my life and what I truly wanted. At the time, I was involved in network marketing, but I realized it wasn’t something I was passionate about, so I decided to step away. Read More>>

Dominia Glaspy

Dominia Travels Globally (DTG) is a travel business which specializes in tour packages primarily for trips to African countries or to international prides for LGBTQ clients. My primary focus is Affordable Travel!! You can work a 9-5 and still afford travel. Most companies focus on luxury traveling to yield higher profits. Since the US dollar multiplies the currency of most countries you can actually travel quite affordably if you go outside of US based tourism places that’s where we come in. Read More>>

Marcus Frazier

I would say if you are someone out there that start trying to start a business make sure it’s something that you believe in something that you can run with your own knowledge and try your best not to depend on others until you’re at that point to where you’re ready to expand into other fields of your business. Read More>>

Ernesto Santisteban

In the field of art, many times the most valuable scenario is found in the experience that the viewer will have with the work, that is, that communion with the artist’s vision. However, the material process of the work is very important since it turns it into something real Read More>>

Naim Kishun

I’ve always wanted to be on my own timing so I can spend as much time with family and friends. Money isn’t the most important factor to me, it’s time. Read More>>

Diana Rojas

My thought process behind starting my business was honestly taking a big risk! I have always wanted to have my own business and wake up every day doing what I love to do. I love being an Esthetician and helping both men and women feel amazing about themselves. Read More>>

Javier Rodriguez

Well, I didn’t necessarily start a business—more like a nonprofit. I’ve always thought about starting something from scratch. Really, I feel like it was God who led me to it back in 2023. I was fasting and praying, and one day, I just started thinking about my dreams. I felt God say, “Well, when are you going to start?” I thought, Maybe later in life, but I felt God say, Start now so you can get prepared for later. Read More>>

Supreme Understanding

I wanted to change the world. I knew the stories I told could save lives, so I began writing a book. I was married then (I’m a widower now), and my incredible wife Mecca Wise encouraged me to self publish the book. So I started a publishing company and she became my business partner. We sold and shipped thousands of books around the world working together. Read More>>

Ashana Kaiulani

I love this question! It wasn’t so much a thought process, as a natural unfolding that happened once I *allowed.* In recent years, I had done EVERYTHING in my life from a place of deep thinking, over-analyzing and trying to predict every outcome. It was exhausting! Not just physically (though I did basically run entirely on caffeine), but also mentally — small setbacks would cause me to spiral into insecurity and second guess myself. Read More>>

Keke Strain

Just start! A movie quote from the Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” This is my mantra! So many times, we delay our dreams because of fear and self-doubt. I have learned that patience and timing is of the essence. My first college professor told me that it was very important for me to remember that “everything that we do is connected to everything we do in life. Every job, internship, sport, volunteering, or act of service shapes where I am today. I pay attention to the good and the bad from these experiences, which help shape me into stepping out to start my own journey with my podcast. Read More>>

Nadia “toni” Clarke

For 13 years, I had the privilege of working alongside my godmother, learning the ins and outs of the industry. But eventually, I was ready to step into my own—ready to be Batman, so to speak. I wanted to see what I could create, to build a space where stylists could collaborate, share ideas, and bring their unique talents together in a kind of salon utopia. Read More>>