Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

Courtney Vickery | Website Designer & Dietitian

I am a Dietitian Nutritionist by trade, but I have always enjoyed creating digital designs and websites. I remember in graduate school I even made a website that served as a digital resume (which was not typical at that time!). When I started my nutrition private practice, Vickery Wellness, I found that I was spending (and enjoying) more of my time creating digital materials and constantly updating my website. When others discovered that I had done all of my website and branding designs myself, they started asking for my help with their projects. Read more>>

Nebi and Lindsay Berhane | Chefs/Owners

Sugar Loaf is the manifestation of a long time dream of ours since we first met. We met while working as professional dancers, and have since been honing our skills as culinary professionals in kitchens throughout Atlanta, Chicago and New York. ​We both have a close connection to the food of our cultural heritages (Ethiopian and Albanian) from cooking alongside our moms growing up. While traveling as professional dancers, we were exposed to a variety of street food around the world, and took a lot of inspiration from that as well. Nebi was raised in Georgia and Lindsay in Virginia, so that is why our food is southern inspired with a global influence. The name of our business was inspired by the street Lindsay grew up on in Virginia, Sugar Loaf Court. Read more>>

Cornecia Harris | Smart Girl CEO

I wanted to create a brand for women / Girls who was driven by education, determination, love , and hustle . My brand is center around women that wants to create generational wealth for them and their family’s and wanted to make a change for women around the world . Read more>>

Ryan Miller | Brew Theology Co-Director, Pastor!

As someone that spend most of my adult years working vocationally in the institutional church, I realized that people were looking for a different kind of community outside of conventional religious groups. I enjoy community, beer and theology. People across the western world visit pubs and coffee houses in droves. And fluid conversation always happens in a bar or a coffee house. That being said, I have had multiple people tell me that the kind of honest and raw conversations being held at these venues are lacking substance and intentional focus for many individuals. Sure, there’s a lot of prosting going on; it’s a lot of fun and real, but there’s something missing. Read more>>

Tania Rios | Founder & CEO at Atl Fun Booth LLC

I came with my business as an outlet for my current 9-5 job. I was bored and unmotivated there so I had to find something that I loved and could paid my bills. I’ve always had a passion for photography, so instantly I knew a camera would have to be involved. The photography market is saturated in Atlanta so I decided to go with something different and fun. That is when Atl Fun Booth LLC, a photo booth company began. Read more>>

Alicia Darian | Candle Making Queen

I have always had a love for arts and crafts, creating things with my hands, and an appreciation for the city where I was born and raised–Atlanta. Setting moods and creating a vibe while listening to music, or writing, and burning scents that relax me, are a few of my favorite pastimes. So, around March of 2020 when Atlanta received a “Shelter in place” advisory, I had more time on my hands and I decided to play into one of my many interest that I had been considering since Fall 2019, and that was to learn how to make my own candles from scratch. Read more>>

Ember Griffis | Herbalist and Business owner

I was hanging out with my cousin making bath bombs about 5 years ago and we had the idea to start selling them. I have always been interested in plant biased medicine so mixing the scents was my side of things. my cousin made them look good. Due our lack of free time and money with me a collage student and my cousin being a single mom it never really got off the ground. After I graduated and got my first enginering position I had the money to invest in getting Faerie Apothecary off the ground. It was slow going at first because neither of us had much free time. Then the covid19 pandemic hit and I was laid off. Read more>>

Jalaa’a Brinsley | Conceptual Artist & Designer

My initial thought was “How can I be self sufficient, practice healing, and enjoy all of my creative passions?”. The solution I found, is to use creative passion to become self sufficient and heal. I needed to figure out how to put all of my artistic practices into a creative order. The name E.T.H.E.R. is abbreviated for Essence, Texture, Height, Evolve, and Rouse. To represent the objective of the business. Read more>>

Hidden Creator | Fashion designer

Today the fashion industry for males in particular is bland and non creative. HiddenCreator is here to bring back the urban creativity. I was originally working on a completely different clothing line. My first clothing line idea was taking me so long because I wanted to be perfect and so detailed. I wanted a 100 percent positive review feedback. Well long story short, it’s almost impossible to have a product that every single person like. I was already beating myself up so much because time was just passing me by and the pandemic caused a major boost in small Business support and growth of E commerce. Read more>>

Jurnee Davis | Author of Grandpa Has My Back

Growing up, I used to co-write fiction books with a childhood friend. I loved creating fantasy stories and lifestyles. I found joy in writing and creating new stories that had nothing to do with my personal life. It was a true passion of mine that I found exciting and drama-free. Over the years, my school and work-life changed and I was unable to dedicate as much time to reading and writing these little fantasies. Read more>>

Diana Townsel | Owner, Yoni Steam Practitioner, Master Herbalist

In 2006, I lost my mother to female reproductive issues while under a traditional doctor’s care. At the age of 62 and 63, they proposed surgeries, which she fearfully had, and she did not heal properly. Unfortunately, she passed soon after. My mission is to improve feminine mental health and prevent infectious disease through yoni steam education. This is a personal mission for me that I share with my clients young and old. Read more>>