Ideas aren’t everything, execution matters greatly, but starting often requires an idea and so we asked folks to think back and tell us the story of how they came up with the idea for their businesses. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite stories below.

Rev. Duncan Teague | Minister and founder of Abundant Love Unitarian Universalist Congregation

I was in a class at seminary, just between 2008 and 2011, and I was thinking about the places our Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations are planted. None of them where in the Atlanta metro area and south of I-20, even though we are committed to racial justice and equality, and even though we are usually at every liberal cause with some ferocity. Read more>>

Nycole Mason | Entrepreneur & CEO of Elegant Boutique Beauty Supply

I came up with the idea durning the pandemic when I initially wanted a brick and mortar but everything was shut down due to COVID-19. I thought about how many times I would get my hair done and how the braider would run out of hair or couldn’t make it to the beauty supply stores due to them being closed. I thought, “how dope would it be to have your haircare products and accessories delivered?” And that’s when the idea came to me to start a hair store that would be mobile. Read more>>

Kelly, Ali, & Chris | Atlanta Wood Foundation – Nonprofit Sawmill

The idea for the Atlanta Wood Foundation came about during the waiting process of getting our Woodmizer Sawmill. Ali and I own a small woodworking business, and as wood prices got crazy during Covid, we thought, we should get a mill and mill our own wood. So we ordered an LT15 Wide from Woodmizer in December of 2020. Like all things Covid, it took over 7 months to receive it. During that 7 months, we reached out to Chris, a coworker of Ali’s, about starting a portable milling service business with us. Read more>>