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.

Jayla Davis | Business Coach & Entrepreneur

My thought process for starting my first own business was definitely self ambitious without much purpose or true identity of why I was doing it. As I’ve developed my other two businesses they came from a place of me wanting to spread who I am which is a visionary and encourager who just enjoys seeing others win and walk in purpose! Uplifted Apparel says… Love Have Faith & Hope!While my other business Jay Sade Creations helps others who are building rather it be a business or ministry to have active solutions that they would be able to apply to guide them to success . Read more>>

Amanda Korkoryi | Master Cosmetologist, Certified Life/Relationship Coach & Reiki Master

The thought process behind starting A Natural Connection, began with the idea that I had much more to offer my clients than just a great hair service. After being behind the chair for more than a decade I knew it would be amazing to be able to sit down face to face and coach clients or offer reiki. Connecting and supporting clients is something I had naturally done throughout my years as a hairstylist. So, it just made sense. Read more>>

Oskar Gutierrez | Tattoo Artist & Publicist Art director

As an artist I know that I will not be able to work in the art world for the rest of my life and I work designing and painting with my hands. That is why I thought of creating a brand and being able to position myself in the national and international tattoo market. And thus to generate profits. Read more>>

Kristy Fleming-Smith | Brow Artist

Everyone wants a job or career that is rewarding and enjoyable. The kind of career that doesn’t feel like work at all. We all search for purpose. It is a blessing to recognize that my purpose and my career interests align. The many friends and family who have asked for my assistance over the years helped me to take notice of my skill. I have taken steps to further sharpen that skill so that I can market it to the public. My brow business was started from my natural talent and my desire to help others to enhance their beauty. Read more>>

Damon D-Blue” Allen | DJ and Uplighting Professional”

When my wife and I got married the DJ we hired was pricey and did what I felt was a mediocre job. So over time I noticed that when we attended events the entertainment was subpar. I had a cousin who was really into music but more recording and producing rather than DJing. So I got in the studio with him and learned the different equipment and programs. I initially started recording and overtime as my equipment grew and family and friends asked me to play at small events I realized I liked it and I was good at it. It was at this point I started taking larger gigs and watching other DJ’s at events. There was clearly a need in the Athens area so this was the start of Blue Up Entertainment LLC. Read more>>

Kiara Quick | Fashion Designer & Content Creator

Honestly I didn’t have a thought process!!! The business formed itself. I was making clothes for myself to feel confident after giving birth to my daughter. I was trying to lose the weight so I would design my own workout gear to wear to the gym. People started asking where did I get my apparel from and I would say “ME” and they would ask if I can create an outfit for them. I never thought about having my own business, but me creating my own Athleisure wear blossomed into a beautiful business. Read more>>

Valencia Weaver | Children’s Book Author

Initially, I was not concerned with starting my own business. I just wanted to write short children’s stories based on the likeness of my granddaughter. However, the many books I wrote thrush me into opening my own children’s book business. Once I realized I had a vision for my stories and a genre that I wanted to write about, it made it easier for me to develop my business plan. Read more>>

Tiffani Baker | Young Entrepreneur & Fashion Designer

I started my business in the summer of 2020. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit however I had never fully tapped into that gift until that summer. I had plenty of time on my hands so I wanted to start something that was going to be impactable. I also wanted to enjoy what I was doing so I evaluated what my interests were at the time. I have always had an interest in specifically natural hair care and since the natural hair market is very diverse I knew I could start a business in that realm. I brainstormed and researched what products I could sell that was centered around that idea and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to sell satin bonnets and satin scrunchies. Read more>>

Samantha Ann | Licensed Cosmetologist and Skin Care Specialist

Working as a dermatology nurse I saw the disparity of accurate treatment, as it relates culturally and scientifically, to various ethnicities. However, I never thought that I would start a business to change that. To be honest starting a business was never my original plan. I’m a single mom and in 2020 I was in school to be a physician….then the COVID 19 pandemic hit. My school shut down and I had to complete my classes virtually. I quickly realized continuing online school just wasn’t something I could successfully accomplish. Read more>>

Erica Harris | Baker

I never envisioned being a baker. It was something I did for fun. God really just sat this in my lap and I’ve had a really good experience in these two years of being in business. It started when I decided to make cupcakes for my daughter’s 3rd birthday and got quite a few requests to bake cupcakes afterwards. A few months later my siblings and I threw my parents a surprise birthday party. I made two cakes and everyone kept asking where we bought them from. Things just took off from there. I started getting so many requests, my husband and family encouraged me to start turning a profit. Read more>>

Iman | Certified Herbalist & Small Business Owner

In 2002, when the idea of Essence Body Products came to fruition, we recognized that there was a lack of stores that sold all natural body products with few ingredients. And not only was there a lack of stores that sold these products, there was a lack of all natural products, period. So, we decided that instead of waiting for these products to be made, we would just make them ourselves! Read more>>

Lauren Ellis | Pastry Chef and Bakery Owner

I just wanted to be able to make and showcase the pastries that I was craving. I didn’t see many pastries with the flavor profiles that I was doing in my hometown of Detroit. It feels good to give people something new to try and possibly broaden their taste buds. Read more>>

Mary Elam | Author and soon to be Publisher and Writing Coach

I am a generational entrepreneur. My grandfather and father both owned their own businesses. My grandfather had multiple businesses that actually had during the depression. So for me, business ideas come as downloads from heaven and I recognize that it is legacy. Read more>>

Joni Dubriel Harris | Entrepreneur

Ever since college I had always worked in retail, particularly in the beauty and fashion space. I had a lot of success in the luxury retail industry which lead to opportunities to work for an independent fashion blog. I worked behind the scene helping a the blog build and operate an e-commerce site. When that job ended and I took a similar position with anther start-up, I began to ask myself, why do I keep working so hard to help someone else make money? I decided it was time to do this for myself. Read more>>

Eddie Everette | Owner of EZ Custom Printz and More LLC

My thought process behind starting my own business is why am I working so hard for others making them money and not being appreciated, when I can use that same energy and work for myself and make money to support me and my family. Read more>>

Rasheed Hamid | Founder of Extra Hands Virtual Assistants

My thought process behind starting Extra Hands was simply to position myself outside of the employee workforce. To create a position in which I could create jobs for others and run this business from anywhere. The initial approach was to be the virtual assistant myself. In the beginning, my thought process did not involve a team. As the business began to grow, it become evident very quickly that I had tapped into a service that many entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses, and even non-profit organizations and special interest groups needed. Read more>>

Jeri Perkins | MSW, CEO/Founder/Owner Impact Action Network Advocacy Consulting Agency

As a Black woman who has strategically navigated racist and oppressive systems of higher education and institutions of academia to receive a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree I knew early on in my career that I was going to have to use radical solutions outside of systems and institutions to create change. In terms of career path and life trajectory I knew that in order to have the impact I desired I needed to blaze my own trail and change the narrative about our Black/African American, Native/Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian Pacific Islander communities. Read more>>

Kyndle Moore | Online Personal Trainer and Pain performance specialists

I started my business because I had a background and education in athletic training and exercise science. As I progressed into my early 20s I found exercise, health, and wellness very exciting and. intriguing. I would find myself at my job or in class studying workouts, looking up new ways to improve my health and wellness, etc. It started to consume my life. I saw lots of different people on Instagram doing exactly what I thought would be really cool to start doing so I stepped out of Athletic training and working in a high school in Winston Salem, North Carolina to begin online training. Read more>>

Sarah Downing | Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Yoga Teacher and Reiki Master Teacher

Before I became a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Yoga Teacher and Reiki Master Teacher with my business Lime Green Lotus, I overcame chronic illness and worked as a thyroid patient advocate and blogger to help others in my situation. These interactions with both patients and other healthcare practitioners really opened my eyes to the importance of holistic health (the mind-body connection) and the challenges so many patients face in their efforts to achieve this. I learned so much from the many practitioners and doctors I encountered on my own wellness journey, which inspired me to use my natural gifts to help others. Read more>>

Kierston S. Lewis | Multimedia Producer

Initially, I simply wanted to provide a service that made production and post-production easy for the unaware. I’ve been apart of productions for majority of my life, so the stage and the ‘behind the scenes’ came naturally to me from a young age. I wanted to expand my skill set ; while maximizing opportunities to provide resources and education to many people that do not know that ‘it takes all of that’ in social/production strategy and execution. Read more>>

Buddy Hale | Social Entrepreneur, Program Manager, Drum Bender

When starting The Library Of MusicLandria, the goal was to create something new, that was inspired by my personal interests, music, community, libraries and the sharing economy. I thought about what kind of non-profit business idea would bring me joy, would have a positive impact on the music community, and most of all, what resource did I wish existed when I first started exploring music. Read more>>

Paulina Cardiel | Owner & Founder of Oofnik Printing, LLC

We wanted to be our own boss, to have the flexibility of starting our family while working and we were plain tired of working 60-80 hours weekly for someone else. Read more>>

Naomi | Traveling Aerialist/ Aerial Fitness Instructor

Honestly, I never wanted to work in an office. I remember thinking about different careers as a child, and none of them included being in a cubicle, as I got older, I went into psychology and forensics, but after 3 years of clinical and a very difficult time trying to balance a full time job and full time grad school, iced I was stressing myself out more than I felt the reward would be to continue in that field. Read more>>

Jacqui Jackson | CEO of Ignite Hope, Author, and mother to many

To be completely honest, my thought process was “Hard No.” I am risk averse by nature; however my husband and Co-Founder Jeff – is much more of a risk taker. After a mission trip to East Asia to work in a special needs orphanage, we were both overcome and recognized that we had now seen things that most of the world would never see. You can’t un-ring the bell. Both of us felt deeply that God was asking us to do something. So when God made it crystal clear that we were to start a child-welfare ministry – when I was 4-months pregnant with our 4th child – I said “Hard No.” and my much more obedient and risk-taking husband was all in and said “Yes.” Read more>>

Brittany Avera | Mother & Speech-Language Pathologist

I never thought I would own my own business. It scared me too much. However, after being a speech-language pathologist in a rehab center for 2 years, in private practice for 4 years, in the school system for 6 years, and having my first child, I wanted more out of life. I dedicated everything to my profession. However, now I had a greater mission in my life: raising my daughter. I wanted to spend time with her, teach her how to be a kind, smart, and strong human, and not be completely exhausted at the end of the day. Read more>>

Dominique Perry | Creative Writing and Publications at Corporate Compositions LLC

The thought process behind starting my business Corporate Compositions LLC. was a natural response or a call to action on business to business relationships. I saw a need for wholesome uplifting music in the workplace of corporate America and through the power of creative writing, Corporate Compositions was born. Whether it’s writing a jingle for restaurants, voice drops for media outlets, or songs for commercial use in public settings, I believe that Corporate Compositions LLC. will fill the need for a positive work moral. Read more>>

Bill & Sarah Walsh | Mountain Cabin Rentals – Bed & Breakfast Owner & Operator

Bill ​retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2020 after nearly 30 years of military service, which included over 12 family moves. We initially retired in St. Petersburg Florida and Bill started a new position as the Marine Superintendent at the Florida Institute of Oceanography. This was at the beginning of COVID so it was a challenging position due to restrictions that impacted our ability to operate research vessels with students and scientist. During this time, Sarah’s aunt and her grandmother passed away. Both were in the Blue Ridge Georgia area, a place that we loved to visit. As the pandemic waned on, we found ourselves up in this area more and more frequently to deal with family matters. Read more>>

Kia Conyer | Mixologist & Certified Bartender

For many years I have struggled to find my passion and if I even had one at all. I am a student of life and have had no problem going out and learning something new and/or expanding on knowledge I already have. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology, a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management and spent years in the engineering and project management industry. I love my career and what I do, but there is a difference in loving what you do and pursuing your passion. Read more>>

Simone Busby Regan Jenkins | Balloon Decor Artists

We really went out on a leap of faith. Our goal was to create an enterprise that has the potential to grow and create wealth for our family for our future generations. The whole idea behind starting our business was to create ownership. With that, we created ownership in our brand, ownership in our name, ownership in our product, ownership in our networking, ownership in our income, ownership of our time, and the list could go on and on. Creating ownership allowed us to find motivation in the work we do every day. We are in control of our success. Read more>>

Amanda & Josh Hall | Foodie & Animal lover

We love our rescue furbabies and we love our food, so we thought we would combine our love of both to create ResQue Rubs. Making rubs and seasonings for everyone to enjoy on their food, while donating a percentage of our proceeds back to FurKids Atlanta. FurKids is the largest no-kill shelter for cats and dogs in the southeast. Read more>>

Karen Quintanilla | CEO & Accountant

The purpose WHY? We exist as a company to help trailblazing, game-changing individuals and entrepreneurs build a life with financial freedom by maximizing every tax credit available to them, leaving a legacy, and generational wealth. Read more>>

Shaila Sámone | Certified Holistic Doula

My thought process was a very emotional conversation with my inner self. I had far too much experience with medical neglect and trauma that was causing me to be in a state of deep distress on all levels. I knew I had to do something with not only the pain of those experiences but also the knowledge I gained throughout it all. Next, I had to decide if I wanted a career I could be fiscally successful in or one that I could soulfully succeed in. Head-centered work or heart-centered work? I choose the heart and soul. Read more>>

Jennifer Yokley | Wellness Coach | Personal Trainer

This is very simple. In looking for my own health and wellbeing solution. it became apparent that it was desired and needed. While attempting to recover from an abrupt separation after a 20+ year relationship/marriage i was in dire need of mental and physical recovery. To make a long story short, my recovery consisted of a 21-day pressed juice detox and a consistent fitness regime. Family and friends around me noticed the significant changes to my outer appearance (weight loss), energy level and an internal glow. Read more>>

Baba SOL | Author / Recording Artist / Ethnobotanist

The thought process that I had in starting my business was that I needed to have some sort of value. Value comes from necessity and being a necessity means that your business will always be in business. Therefore, I just like to start businesses that add value to my environment. Also, I like to start businesses that take little to no money, think of it as turning nothing into something. I’m really good at that. Read more>>

Cassandra Powell & Reginald Robertson | Founder and CEO’S

The thought process behind starting “The B Spot” restaurant was to bring back that family dining feel to breakfasts. Sometimes we get away from the simplicity of things like just sitting down eating breakfast in a laid back atmosphere. Also, I am a single mother of 5 and one of the things my children and I always enjoy is dining out and of course have a family size that big the cost can get pretty high. What I find nowadays is how expensive dining out is even for breakfast so we also want people, family, and friends, to be able to come enjoy a great breakfast or brunch at an affordable price. Read more>>

Ieshia Brown Lumpkin | Stylist Extraordinaire

My one thought behind starting my business, was to create additional resources for Curvaceous Women that do not have that many options for fashionable clothes and accessories. My intentions are to be that brand for Sophisticated Curvaceous Women to also OWN the runway and have great options to choose from as well. Read more>>

Staccy Gabriel | Esthetician & Business consultant.

my thought process behind my business was to be able to be financially stable so I can help other people who doesn’t have the luxury of taking care of themself. Read more>>

Tatika Johnson | Production/Set Designer/Post-production Supervisor

My thought process behind my business was a long one. I wanted to reach and show creatives how to make a film set beautiful without having a huge budget. Making sure the quality remains strong. Read more>>

Valerie Davis | Non- Medical & Post Op Concierge

I am a nurturer. I find joy in taking care of people, assisting people when needed to ensure they are stress free. The key to the quality of Life is being refreshed, renewed and energized. My late but great Mother came to live with me when my children were younger many years ago, she became ill a few years later and I had the pleasure of taking care of her. While taking care of my Mom, I had a surgical procedure that at the time required me to need a bit more assistance at home for both myself and my Mom. My children, sisters, friends and my Mom CNA’s had to care for me for a while. Read more>>

Crystal Miller | Author, Entrepeneur, & Interior Decorator

I wanted to create my own lane. Some people are meant to lead, and others are meant to follow. Creating my own path and journey has always been important to me. We all have a purpose it is up to us to figure out what that purpose is. Once I was old enough to make decisions for my life, I knew everything I did I wanted it to be different from what everyone else did. Read more>>

Noah Stenhouse | Founder & Creative Director, Third Culture

Honestly, it came down to seeing a need and trying to use what we had. I was seeing from my travels how interconnected the world was becoming, and the need for authentic, cultural bridges to be built. When it came time to choose the medium, I picked up a camera and just started shooting. Music videos, travel footage, you name it. But the goal was always to keep it purposeful and unite it with the talents of our team. Read more>>

Jasen Thomas | Co-Founder of The Havit Brand

I think the thought process behind starting The Havit Brand was simple. When you feel that you have a vision that you want the world to experience and you’re wholehearted vested in its ideology or concept it becomes easy to produce. Read more>>

Cathie Wright-Lewis | Executive Director and Instructor, Power in the Pen Writing Workshop

My initial thought process was to give back to the community that molded me. Growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn during the Civil Rights Movement and The Black Arts Movement taught me that we could empower and educate our youth within our community. We are gifted artisans in one discipline or another, and through our art, we unite and uplift one another. Mighty community activists taught me to fight for my rights and those of my community. I promised them I would always return to teach others what they taught me. I’m a writer and an educator, so those are the skills I share. Read more>>

Lord’Kala Dawson | Multidisciplinary artist & Designer

I’ve always wanted to have my own business, since a kid. The idea of doing something I love while still being able to take care of myself was a dream come true. I took a web design course in the fall of 2019 and by spring 2020 I decided to try designing for clients. From there I fell in love with the process of being creative while helping someone else realize a goal they had for themselves. Read more>>