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.

Ronald Wilson

My decision to start my own business came from seeing a consistent gap between creativity and intention. I’ve always worked in environments where people were talented and passionate, but the experiences being offered didn’t always match the level of care, storytelling, or execution that I felt was possible. I wanted to build something that was thoughtful, elevated, and rooted in purpose rather than trends. Read more>>

Martinique Harden

The thought process behind starting my own business was really about the future. I wanted to be my own boss so I knew I had to choose a business field I could dive into and thrive. I have always been influenced by the beauty industry and have also had my hand in it some how since I was a little girl. Read more>>

Jarrett Boyce

It really started with me seeing other people’s events and being fascinated by how a room could completely transform. I would walk into different spaces and instantly start imagining what it could look like, how the layout could change, what décor would elevate it, how lighting could shift the mood… I’ve always had that kind of eye. Read more>>

Arlene Embola

After four years in the beauty industry, working in multiple salons, I was presented an opportunity to do my own thing that I couldn’t refuse. I had a stable clientele and approaching forty, I itched to see if I could be successful. Many believed I was too radically different to survive. Read more>>

Aisha Bellamy-Shambley

My desire to start Redefine Mentoring grew out of my own high school experience. During that time, it would have been incredibly meaningful to have a Bible-based club or organization where teens from similar backgrounds could openly discuss real-life issues and challenges while navigating high school. I longed for a community that felt safe and non-threatening—not competitive—rooted in unconditional love and free from judgment. Read more>>

Zanna Wolfgang

Thrive Ranch has come to represent what it truly means to take a leap of faith and pursue turning dreams into reality. Life unfolds in the most unexpected ways sometimes. Read more>>

Nikhil Fernandes

Since my freshman year of high school, I’ve believed that STEM education should never be a privilege, but a right. Every student—regardless of background or learning style—deserves equitable access to explore science, technology, engineering, and math. That belief is what led me to co-found Project SHINE. Project SHINE began at our local library, where we hosted interactive STEM workshops for young students. Read more>>

Brooke Atkinson, LPC CPCS

Starting my own practice wasn’t something I set out to do from a purely entrepreneurial place. It really began as a response to a calling and to what I was repeatedly seeing in the counseling world. Read more>>

Lauren Bunch

Starting my own business wasn’t a sudden decision—it was the result of many experiences that God used to shape and prepare me over time. On the health, wellness, and fitness side of my life, movement has always been part of who I am. I played volleyball and threw in track during college, and I’ve always loved being active. Read more>>

Natasha Riley, LPC, CPCS

To be completely honest, I never set out to be a business owner. I valued security—the steady paycheck, the predictable two weeks of vacation. But the pandemic made me question what security really meant. I realized I wanted something deeper: the ability to live life on my terms and design work that aligned with my values, not just my schedule. Read more>>

Kendra Appling

My thought process behind starting my own business was rooted in purpose, not profit. Everything I’ve built has come from identifying a gap between what people needed and what was actually being offered especially for women and survivors whose voices are often overlooked. As a 16-year survivor of domestic violence, I knew firsthand that survival does not end when abuse stops. Read more>>

Heesun Sohn

Starting my own photography business came from a major life transition and a deep desire to create something more meaningful. For nearly ten years, I worked in California as an e-commerce fashion photographer. It was a fast-paced and creative industry, and I learned so much through that experience. Read more>>

Waneka Jackson

I was working in learning and development, supporting people through coaching and training, when I started to feel frustrated by how growth and development were being approached. I worked with young professionals who were intelligent, capable, and motivated, yet completely overwhelmed. Read more>>

Lina Cely

As a Hispanic woman, I’ve always been driven by necessity and a strong motivation to learn new things. God has allowed me to live in different countries and experience diverse cultures, which helped me develop skills and learn to use different tools along the way. Read more>>

Morgan Kamau

Starting Tempo Physical Therapy & Performance was always just a matter of time. I graduated PT school knowing that my ultimate goal was to run my own practice but it didn’t make sense to jump right in. Read more>>

Fredy Sanchez, Fabian Pardo

Starting our own business was always something we had in mind, but we were very clear about two things from the beginning. First, we wanted it to be something we were truly passionate about, because that passion pushes us to keep learning, improving, and staying up to date. Second, we wanted our work to have a positive impact on the community. Read more>>

Lindsay Schwartz

I never set out to be an entrepreneur. Owning a business was not part of some long-term master plan, and it certainly was not something I thought I would be doing when I first started my career. I was working at a company I truly loved, in an industry I respected deeply. But I reached a point where I had outgrown my role. Read more>>

Lilian Paz

I arrived in the United States in 2007, and that’s when I learned the cleaning business from my parents, who already had a regular schedule of clients. They taught me everything I know about the work. In 2008, on my birthday, a friend moved back to Brazil and trusted me with her schedule of houses. Read more>>

Deana ‘Mis’Dee’ White

My thought process behind starting my own business came from a deep desire to create something that felt honest and purposeful. I didn’t see enough spaces that truly celebrated resilience, everyday excellence, and the people who quietly show up and do the work—often without recognition. I wanted to build something that felt like a reflection of real life, real struggle, and real growth. Read more>>

Shawn Brown

Starting Cheesecaked was never just about dessert, it was about purpose. I grew up with family recipes passed down from my grandmother, and baking always felt like love and legacy in action. Read more>>

Colleen Roman

Starting AnimALL wasn’t a sudden leap, it was the natural next step after years of listening closely to what pets and their people were quietly telling me. I have spent my career in the clinical trenches, first as a registered veterinary technician and later as a veterinarian, and I kept seeing the same pattern. People love their pets deeply, but life is busy. Read more>>

Tola Ajibade

Truthfully, I didn’t intend to start a photography business. I took up photography in medical school largely to stay sane. Medical school can be rough, and having a creative project was a good way to relieve stress and ground myself. Eventually, people started asking me how much I charge. Read more>>

Miguel Caraballo

Anna and I met in college about 30 years ago in East Tennessee right up against the Smoky Mountains. One winter we spent a weekend in Blowing Rock North Carolina on the other side of mountains. If you’ve never been there, it’s a quintessential American mountain town. Read more>>

Dylan Armstrong

To be completely honest, it all started because Esteban bought me a 50mm lens. We started taking photos constantly. Random shoots, chasing golden hour, finding excuses to create. At some point, it clicked that this wasn’t just a hobby we were obsessing over. We realized we could actually build something from it. So we created Chasing Stars Media. Read more>>

Lida Xu

When I started SpicyTea LLC, my thought process wasn’t just about “starting a business” — it was about designing a sustainable ecosystem for creative independence. As a digital artist and storyteller, I’ve always wanted to build something that allows art to sustain itself, rather than depending on unstable freelance cycles. Read more>>