Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Britani Mansell | Owner & Esthetician of The Experience Spa

My intention was to always have my own spa. My dream was to always create a space that I could pour my authenticity into fully without fear or boundaries of someone else’s vision to honor. I wanted relationships, safe spaces, no rushed appointments, work life balance, conversations, vulnerability, I just wanted to be able to be me. After 2020 everything changed, my eyes opened and my fear left. It was a hard year with not only what the world went through but my family as well. With this I had a testimony of Gods healing, grace, love, comfort and promise. I knew I had something special to share and I was ready to jump in. Which is how “The Experience Spa” came to be. Read more>>

Paula Desimio | Antique Dealer

At the time I was working long hours as a waitress and that’s when I decided I wanted to start my own business. I wanted to work in a field that I was passionate about and work on my own terms. I have loved antiques and vintage items ever since I was a little girl. My mother use to take me to antique malls because she knew I loved them. I started my business during Covid after I was laid off from my jobs due to them shutting down. I started my business by selling items online and local markets doing popups. Read more>>

Lakisha Clark | Waistbead Practitioner

I’m a very creative person. I was going through a hard time caring for my mother with cancer and I wasn’t working. So creating waistbeads was a creative outlet for me. I would post them online and then suddenly was getting dm’s of orders. Read more>>

Brett Emmers | Founder, President, CEO

Plus 3 Golf represents more than a business venture – it embodies the resilience of my personal transformation. My journey took an unexpected turn in 2006 as a member of the East Carolina University golf team, where I suffered an ACL injury during my freshman year. This injury triggered deeper mental health challenges, leading to a battle with substance abuse and a diagnosis of Major Depression Disorder. After redshirting my freshman year, I faced further setbacks, including another sprained ACL in my left knee, which ultimately resulted in the loss of my scholarship. Over the next several years, I battled those mental obstacles, which eventually took their last swing. Read more>>

Jamie Stickler | Owner

Horses have always been an important part of my life, but as a child, while my parents did their best to indulge my horse crazy brain, there were not many regular riding options available to those of us that did not own our own horse in the suburbs of Fort Worth.
Starting Texas Star Equestrian Academy was partly to make sure other children in our area had access to something that was virtually non existent when I was a kid (pre internet). Healing that inner child, so to speak! Read more>>

Dedrick Wea | Actor/Serial Entrepreneur

Over the course of many years being apart of other companies shows and marketing for their shows/events I would look at certain things that were very curious or troubling. Obviously, if anything was egregious, I would go to my union rep, but nothing ever happened to that extreme, it was the mere fact of how business was ran for the sake of “It’s business, this is how the industry operates.” I’m a firm believer in not creating a campaign of gossip and hear say, I feel solutionary action was my outlet. Hence, the creation of my company, Super BAD Theater COMPANY. This is a company that would give extremely talented individuals opportunities when the industry has told them “No, Not ready, etc” but not on the basis of talent but on personal or political purposes. Read more>>

L’aqua Asberry | Business Owner & a Full-Time employee

I always knew I wanted to be a business owner, but I wasn’t sure what kind or when I would take the leap. During the pandemic, I started making masks to keep my family and me safe. What began as a simple solution to a pressing need quickly turned into something bigger. I didn’t realize at the time that this small act would lay the foundation for my business. It was an unexpected start, but it showed me the power of meeting a need and creating with purpose. Read more>>