Many books on startups and business talk about how there are right and wrong reasons for starting a business. So, we asked a handful of successful founders about their reasons and the thought-process behind starting their business.

Anais Childress | Educator & Entrepreneur

OfficiallyLMD was birthed through an experience I had as an educator. Firstly, I have always love style and started a blog about my own personal style as an educator because I struggled with the narrative of what one “should look like”. Then people started asking me to style them and give them advise so that is when Le Monde a la Mode LLC was born. It means “The Fashionable World” in French as that is the other language I speak. I was only styling clients for vacations, transitional wardrobes and the like, until I realised that I needed to break through the travel world. You see I have always believed in travel for scholars and wanted to take a group of my scholars on a trip, so I did. There are countless companies out there that make it easy for educators to plan this type of thing and I went with one of them. We had a great experience however, I quickly learned that the company was not maximizing the investments my scholars were making and they had been working so hard to make their trips happen so that annoyed me. I figured, can I do this on my own? I have a lot of travel experience but never dreamt about curating trips for others. I planned a graduation trip for 22 to Milan Paris and Barcelona, actually, we were supposed to being going to Japan but COVID so within 3 months I had to change the trip. It was that moment I decided that I could help others live the lifestyle they wanted to without throwing their money away at useless nonsense .Since January 2022, I have been blessed to help people through discovering themselves after divorce, to planning their dream trip with their girlfriends, to helping strangers become friends and make life-altering travel decisions that they will remember forever through our group experiences. Read more>>

Veronica Edwards | Mindset + Life Coach

What initially started out as an attempt to win the affections of my ex back, slowly transformed in to the realization that I had a lot of healing to do. My healing journey began with an attempt to better understand why I had taken rejection so hard in the past, and why time after time, I had many failed relationships. The questions I was asking myself lead me down the path of self-discovery and introspection. I found myself delving into memories, examining my past actions and reactions, trying to decipher the patterns that had led me to where I was. It was like untangling a messy knot, slowly teasing out each strand to understand its role in the bigger picture. Read more>>

Alejandra Pedroza | Owner of Doña Ale Salsas

When I thought about starting a business, it was right after my daughter was born during the COVID pandemic. I stopped working to take care of her, and my main goal was to find a way to make money while staying home with her. Plus, cooking is my passion, especially sharing yummy Mexican food with others. Read more>>

Fabio Simoes | Vending Machines

My reason for starting my own business is due to a few facts and the biggest one being that I value freedom! I simply hate being trapped in an office for 8 to 9 hours a day. I am also not a very politically correct person and the whole corporation concept makes me very uneasy, especially now-a-days with all the nonsense going on Freedom is more important to me than money. Read more>>

Sance Nspire | LiEF Coach x Blockchain Consultant

There’s wasn’t much of a thought process to be honest. It was more of a realization. I realized one day that I lacked true inspiration. I realized that I didn’t have it in me and I wondered why. What came to my mind was the word loser and how that was associated with my ancestry. This made me feel as if there was nothing good about my lineage let alone my life. I’m a loser! This is what I thought because where did it show that we had done anything worth inspiring, that we had contributed in a way that would inspire? I realized that what we had known was only what we were shown. It’s not that it didn’t exist but that the information needed to be uncovered. Uncovered by those who sought it. We can’t look for it to be taught to us by another we had to understand it in order to command it. After reading deeply into culture, history, and spirituality I finally realize that Losers inspired Everyone! The same group that they associated with losers, not contributing meaningfully to history, not being worth learning about was actually the group that inspired everything this country did. Not only that after 2020 we saw that same group inspire the world. Now if they only believe iN themselves. That’s when i decided to take a risk and prove myself right. That we are more than the sum of our fears. Loss is the catalyst for inspiration therefore, we lose in order to iNspire. Read more>>

Hannah Freeman | Small Business Owner & Social Media Specialist

I’ve always been into fashion, styling & finding ways to express myself. As a kid, I never pictured myself being in the jewelry business or working for myself so I’d have to say that’s a pretty new thought process for me and has been the last few years! Read more>>

Aaron Jones | Sneaker care specialist/ customizer

Originally it started as a side hustle because my job wasn’t paying enough. I was always into shoes, but I wasn’t quite “ambitious” enough to be a reseller. I would buy sell and trade for things I wanted but not necessarily for profit. One day my girlfriend and friend suggested to me to try out cleaning shoes, and I did. I got good at it within a few weeks and by my first 2 weeks taking orders I had made a quick maybe $1,000. The more I taught myself about cleaning and sneaker care, the more I fell in love with the whole aspect of it other than just making money. I wanted to create an experience for people. I wanted for them to see their favorite pair that they’ve had for years come back to life. I wanted to see the joy in people’s faces when they hand me a pair of all white Air Force Ones and I turn them into art. Read more>>

Grace Bergstedt | Manual Therapist & Trainer

Ever since the beginning of my schooling, I had a vision for what I wanted to do and how I wanted to go about accomplishing that goal. Finishing school, working my first job once licensed, and checking off continuing education all just further pushed me more towards that vision as it grew clearer – I knew that I had to take advantage of my own unique background and utilize it in a way that would enable me to help those I work with even more. I knew it was no coincidence that prior to deciding on this career, I had become a trainer and coach and loved the aspects of those roles that allowed me to educate people and empower them to find sustainable, life-changing fitness. Read more>>

Amber Wallace | Mom & Baker

My husband and I had just moved To Dallas from Houston Texas due to a career change. Two weeks after the move, I found out I was pregnant with our third baby. I became very desperate to stay home, but also help contribute financially. I decided to open my cottage home bakery. Without much planning I signed up to join a farmers market. I had no former Knowledge or even many recipes but I wasn’t going to stop! I was overwhelmingly surprised and nervous when I got accepted. After that very first market (A SOLD OUT ONE) I was hooked. I knew it would be difficult but knew baking was my passion. It is so apparent to me now that God had placed this business on my heart and his grace has been abundant for Mud Puddle Co. Read more>>

Aliya Baggia | Fashion Stylist & Corporate Account Manager

Attire by Aliya LLC, stemmed from observing the genuine struggles that people around me faced such as the daily stress and time commitment involved in choosing an outfit, the challenges of maintaining a stylish yet modest appearance, having a closet full of clothes with nothing to wear and finding time for a wardrobe update. Read more>>

Jazmyn Wilson | Licensed Cosmetologist & Small Business Owner

I’ve wanted to start my own business because of the freedom it affords me to pursue my other passions and skills. I also enjoy the flexibility and balance that being your own boss can facilitate. Read more>>

Shri Akshayaa (Shria) Lakshmikumar | Founder/CEO at HERAglobal

When I was starting my nonprofit, I knew I wanted to work on bridging critical gaps in healthcare in rural communities, particularly within women’s health and cervical cancer. I noticed that a lot of existing organizations focused their efforts on social media campaigns, awareness fundraisers/drives, etc. However, there was still a lack of efforts being made towards real hands-on work in communities. That’s why I decided to start HERAglobal to address this gap and provide free screening for women in rural communities alongside cervical cancer awareness campaigns in hospitals abroad, rather than focusing just on awareness campaigns. Read more>>